COLLISION WITH DEER COSTS TRAVIS PASTRANA VICTORY AT 2008 SNODRIFT RALLY
Subaru Driver Travis Pastrana Hits Deer While Leading the SnoDrift
Rally, Teammate Ken Block finishes 5th Overall At Season Opener
(January 28th, 2008) Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana had
victory snatched shockingly away from him in the final moments of the
SnoDrift Rally when a deer collided into his competition car.
Pastrana, the 2006 and 2007 Rally America National Champion was
leading the event comfortably with just eleven stage miles remaining
when the rally-ending collision occurred. His Subaru Impreza WRX STI
rally car sustained heavy engine damage and was unable to continue,
though both Pastrana and his co-driver Christian Edstrom were
uninjured.
The SnoDrift Rally, round one of the nine-round 2008 Rally America
National Championship, was held on over 117 miles of snow and
ice-covered roads in northern Michigan. Constantly changing weather
and road conditions historically make this rally extremely
challenging, and this year was no exception. The forest roads featured
fresh snow over layers of ice, making tire choice and road position
huge factors in the results.
Subaru Rally Team USA drivers Travis Pastrana and Ken Block, each
driving 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally cars, were the class of the
field for most of the rally, together winning thirteen of the event's
sixteen stages. Pastrana pulled away from all competitors on Leg 1,
including teammate Ken Block, and amassed a lead of over 46 seconds.
He then started Leg 2 with a conservative mindset while the rest of
the field battled for the remaining podium spots. "Because of the
lead we built on Friday it meant we could just sit back and relax on
the final leg, which for me isn't very exciting," said Pastrana. "But
on the second to last stage with a huge lead and just a few miles to
the finish we hit a deer at over 60MPH! It all happened so quickly, we
were shocked. The engine on our Subaru was badly damaged and we
coasted to a stop, game over. What amazingly bad luck!"
Luck wasn't on teammate Ken Block's side either, when earlier on Leg 2
he dropped from 2nd to 8th place overall after his Subaru became stuck
in a snow bank. Block and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino lost over ten
minutes, a near eternity in rallying. But the duo fought back to a
5th Overall finish and secured crucial championship points by winning
all but one of the remaining six stages.
"We had the speed here; we won over half of the sixteen stages and
could have been on the podium or even won." said Block. "It's
upsetting because we were not really pushing hard and it wasn't a big
mistake, we just got sucked into the inside snow bank of an easy left
turn. Now I can't wait until the 100 Acre Wood Rally next month since
I've won there the past two years, and I have a lot of confidence on
those roads."
Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc.,
Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT),
DC Shoes, BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, Motul, PIAA, Exedy, Boost Mobile,
Alpinestars and Vermont SportsCar. For Subaru Rally Team USA team
news and exclusive photo galleries please visit www.subaru.com/rally
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