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2020 ARA Sno*Drift Rally

Published on 28 Jan, 2020 By: David Cosseboom

Once again, the American Rally Association National Championship season begins on the snow and ice covered roads around Atlanta, MI at the appropriately named Sno*Drift Rally. Last year the temperatures dipped well below zero, adding another element to the challenge of the event. Conversely this year, nature decided to show some compassion and provided much milder weather, with temperatures even rising above the freezing point for much of Saturday. However, snow was still on the menu as the first stages got underway Friday night.

2020 American Rally Association Season Preview

Published on 16 Jan, 2020 By: David Cosseboom

The new year brought with it the start of a new decade, a new rally season and a big announcement from last year’s ARA champions. With the first event of the season, Sno*Drift, just a few weeks away, Craig Drew released a huge announcement. David Higgins and himself would not be returning with Subaru to defend their crown in 2020. The announcement marked the end of an era for the duo with Subaru Motorsports USA. An era that resulted in 10 championships for Higgins and 8 for Drew. With Oliver Solberg most likely heading to the WRC for the season, this leaves both Subaru seats open for 2020. As of this time, there has been no official announcement as to who will be behind the wheel for Subaru Motorsports USA. However, I am fairly confident we will be seeing a rather large dose of a familiar face (Travis Pastrana) behind the wheel of one of the Subaru cars.

2019 ARA Lake Superior Performance Rally

Published on 28 Oct, 2019 By: David Cosseboom

Oliver Solberg and Subaru Motorsports USA flying to victory at LSPR.

The 2019 American Rally Association National Championship season would come to a close amidst the colorful autumn foliage of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at the Lake Superior Performance Rally. David Higgins and Craig Drew had already wrapped up another championship for Subaru Motorsports USA at the previous event, STPR, so the focus shifts to the battle for second place. Barry McKenna and Piotr Fetela enter LSPR tied for 2nd, while the rookie phenom, Oliver Solberg, was well within striking distance and should things go awry for those 3, Cameron Steely was mathematically still in the hunt.

2019 ARA Ojibwe Forests Rally

Published on 31 Aug, 2019 By: David Cosseboom

Jeff Seehorn flying over the Red Bull Crossroads jump at American Rally Association Ojibwe Forests Rally.

Mosquitos and wolves and bears, oh my, that was the story of the 2019 American Rally Association Ojibwe Forests Rally. The mosquitos were unrelenting, as they swarmed around the road and if you dare sneak a few feet deeper into the woods their numbers doubled and tripled. Some speak of a pack of mosquitos, the size of feral hogs, roaming the forest. A bear was spotted on recce, a wolf on a transit, and, oh yah, there was some exciting rally action as well.

2019 ARA Rally in the 100 Acre Wood

Published on 24 Mar, 2019 By: David Cosseboom

The 2019 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood marked my tenth trip to the rally held on the fast and flowing roads that intertwine the forests in the heart of Missouri around Salem, Steelville, and Potosi. I’ve witnessed many exciting moments during that time: from Travis Pastrana sliding sideways through the corner at my very first rally stage, to Crazy Leo flying over the cattle guard missing a front tire, Ken Block claiming his record 7th 100 Acre Wood victory and Fetela’s crazy wreck after sending it over the now aptly named Fetela’s Crest and that’s just to name a few. With the American Rally Association taking over the duty of running the event and a stacked entry list of over 80 cars, that included the debut of Petter Solberg’s son Oliver with Subaru Motorsports, last year’s ARA champions David Higgins and Craig Drew, Ken Block’s brand new Cossie V2, an AWD Chevy Sonic with a V8, and a whole cast of other exciting cars and drivers, this year was shaping up to be one of the most exciting years in recent memory.

2019 American Rally Association Season Preview

Published on 2 Mar, 2019 By: David Cosseboom

The 2019 American Rally Association season got off to an early start with the late addition of Sno*Drift Rally in late January to the schedule. The short notice made it difficult for a few teams, including Subaru Motorsports and last year’s champions David Higgins and Craig Drew, to make the event, as they had already set their schedules and budgets for the year. That didn’t stop it from being an eventful one in the snow and ice of Michigan, with the Fetela Rally Team Ford Fiesta EVO taking home the victory.

2018 ARA New England Forest Rally

Published on 29 Jul, 2018 By: David Cosseboom

The 2018 American Rally Association season has been an exciting one and New England Forest Rally was set to be no exception. Known for its jumps, kicks and big orange (painted) rocks, NEFR is almost always filled with drama and excitement. Last year, there was an extra dose of both as Travis Pastrana’s co-driver, Robbie Durant suffered a back injury on the first day and he continued on with a different co-driver on Day 2, stirring up some controversy as Pastrana took the victory after his Subaru Rally Team teammates Higgins and Drew suffered some bad luck.

2018 WRC Rally Italia Sardegna

Published on 14 Jun, 2018 By: David Cosseboom

We had planned a trip to Rome for the beginning of June and I was searching for things to do, when I realized that my trip was going to overlap WRC Rally Italia Sardegna. While Rally Italia is in Italy, it is not on the mainland, making attendance a bit more tricky than it might normally be. Rather than taking a car or hopping on a train, you either must take a 14 hour ferry ride or a short one hour flight from Rome to get to Alghero on the island of Sardinia. After informing my wife of the added travel and complications of getting to the rally, she said there was no way we could not go, at least for one day, after all how often are we this close to a WRC event.

2018 ARA Oregon Trail Rally Recap

Published on 24 May, 2018 By: David Cosseboom

Oregon Trail Rally is one of my favorite events in the U.S. The stages are fast, with lots of elevation and beautiful landscapes as a backdrop. The rally spans 3 days, starting on Friday night at Portland International Raceway, before moving west to the Colombia River Valley near The Dalles. While it was a bit disappointing that last year’s winner, Travis Pastrana, wasn’t going to be making the trip this year, there was plenty of excitement to make up for it. Sitting in for Pastrana in the ‘other’ Subaru Rally Team USA car would be former WRC and current Subaru Rallycross driver Chris ‘Atko’ Atkinson. As if that wasn’t enough, Oregon Trail would mark the return of Ken Block, who also has some WRC experience under his belt. Block would be piloting a vintage Group A WRC Escort Cosworth, sporting one of the best wings in the history of wings I might add. It would be interesting to see how the older Cossie would match up against the newer Subaru of Higgins and Atkinson and McKenna’s Fiesta.

2018 RALLY AMERICA 100 ACRE WOOD RALLY RECAP

Published on 21 May, 2018 By: David Cosseboom

Piotr Fetela in his Ford Fiesta Proto on his way to victory at Rally in the 100 Acre Wood

This year marked my ninth consecutive trip to the Salem, MO area for Rally America Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. Next year will mark a full decade of attending rally in the forests surrounding Salem, Steeleville, Potosi, and all the other towns that surround the event, so I guess I’ll save most of my reminiscing until then. However I will say that there is a new adventure every trip.