Images via Matt Kalish

The American Rally Association (ARA) season kicked off its Pacific Northwest swing with Olympus Rally, round 3 of their 2023 season. The former World Rally Championship (WRC) event is often compared to the wet and twisty stage roads of Wales Rally GB by drivers like Travis Pastrana, and this year’s edition of the event lived up to that accolade.

From drizzles to downpours, the rain came down for two straight days.

Car 1: Brandon Semenuk & Keaton Williams

Hot off the heels of one of the closest rally finishes in ARA history, championship leaders Brandon Semenuk and Keaton Williams showed why their doors display the number 1. The 2022 ARA champions quickly put their dominant pace on full display by taking the event’s first stage by 24 seconds. From there, the Subaru factory drivers led each of the subsequent eleven stages to win the storied event by nearly 12 minutes; their third win in as many rallies.

Jeff Seehorn is one of the few drivers looking to replicate the Subaru Motorsports USA formula for car design. Instead of taking the usual path to speed of buying a WRC2-class Ford Fiesta, Seehorn has been building and racing a VA-chassis Subaru WRX STI since 2017. The car/driver combination has been getting faster and faster. Fast enough to earn a second overall finish at Olympus.

Rounding out the podium in third overall was the RC2-class winner, Patrick Gruszka, who traded stage-advantage with Seehorn all weekend long. In the end, he fell just 12 seconds short of the second step on the podium. Still, taking the class win in his WRC2-spec Hyundai i20, a car otherwise not seen in the US, is a strong accomplishment.

A big shift from the dry dusty stages at the 100 Acre Wood Rally in March, Lia Block spent the majority of Olympus Rally’s first day driving with a steady foot while getting to know the her high-powered turbocharged Subaru BRZ’s behavior in the slick conditions. Wrapped in the snow-camo livery made iconic by her father, Block began to channel his sideways tail-out driving style as the rally went on and her comfort-level grew. The breakout drive from Block alongside former champion co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino earned the pair their maiden Open 2WD class win.

The head of the Block House Racing squad, Lucy Block is one of the only people to bring a 4WD Rally3-spec vehicle to the US. She and co-driver Alex Gelsomino challenged for third in the class throughout the weekend, but just missed the podium to finish ninth overall on the road before receiving a 4m30s penalty that moved them into tenth. Still, a top 10 overall is a solid result for the pair’s first finish in the car.

What’s there even to say about this project? Sam Albert set the internet on fire last month when he unveiled a GD Subaru WRX STI with the naturally aspirated F136 V8 from a Ferrari California sticking through its hood. First the bad news; the car had a wheel fall off on the launch from its first competitive green flag. The good news? Albert will be back in a repaired Ferrarbaru when the Oregon Trail rally starts in a few weeks’ time.

The youngest heir to a Pacific Northwest racing dynasty, Henry Tabor won the 43 Institute’s Ken Block Flat Out 43ver tribute award for a weekend that saw him conquer the challenges of a last-minute co-driver change, mechanical issues, and a tow from a fellow competitor.

…And it was a better end to a weekend than rally legend Tim O’Neil experienced. He’s lately been out there for fun, and the V8 roar from his ’69 AMX is nice to hear in a forest dominated by turbocharged four-cylinders. Unfortunately, the fun ended with a trip into a ditch about three-quarters through the event.

A similar story unraveled for Tom Williams, who had a solid grasp on second overall before rolling it on the Power Stage, just three miles shy of the final flying finish of the event.

But one driver who was able to overcome was DirtFish’s Head of Strategy Josie Rimmer. The new driver managed a strong recovery from early mechanical issues to not just complete her first national rally, but to improve her pace on nearly every stage along the way. A solid debut in our books.

The American Rally Association is back in action later this month at the Oregon Trail Rally, May 19-21.

SNAPSHOTS: ARA OLYMPUS RALLY

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