Subaru takes double podium at Ojibwe Forests Rally

Subaru Motorsports U.S.A and Travis Pastrana have brought home the team's first win of 2020 at Minnesota's Ojibwe Forests Rally, the third round of the shortened American Rally Association (ARA) season.

Pastrana led wire-to-wire for his sixth career Ojibwe victory and first overall rally win since clinching the inaugural ARA driver's title on these stages in 2017. Teammate Brandon Semenuk meanwhile, also showed strong pace and picked up his first U.S. stage wins on the way to a third-place finish, his second straight podium in the WRX STI.

As the first full two-day event on the ARA calendar since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the Ojibwe Forests Rally offered Travis Pastrana an opportunity to return to form after an engine fire ended his 2020 debut at July's one-night Southern Ohio Forest Rally.

The five-time national champion came to the stages armed with a brand-new #199 WRX STI and a new co-driver in Rhianon Gelsomino.

The pair gapped the field by 23 seconds on the opening stage and took a follow-up win on the second special stage to build an early lead, although rival Barry McKenna would take back time over the next four stages to tighten Pastrana's lead to 20 seconds by the end of the first day.

Brandon Semenuk and John Hall in the #180 WRX STI drew first on the road for Friday's stages and were forced to contend with both the loose road surface and a tire puncture in the opening three-stage loop.

The Canadian duo fought back, finding better grip in the second loop to retake third place by the end of the day and keep within striking distance of McKenna.

Saturday brought another early charge from Pastrana, with the Maryland native winning the opening three stages to extend his lead to nearly 40 seconds by midday.

Pastrana adopted a conservative strategy in the afternoon to protect his lead, while Semenuk continued to push in pursuit of McKenna, building confidence and taking outright stage wins on stages 11 and 12 before a second puncture on the 13^th special stage relegated him to a solid third-place finish.