Oregon Trail Rally 2021 Results
The Oregon Trail Rally is the only 3 day event on the American Rally Association championship calendar with a wide variety of roads, that make it a favorite among competitors. A date change to November due to the pandemic added an additional challenge with some stages running in the dark for the first time.
70 competitors from all over the northwest and across the globe took the start in Portland including well known names in extreme sports such as Travis Pastrana, 4-time Red Bull Rampage Mt. Bike champion Brandon Semenuk, and Hoonigan’s Ken Block. Although Pastrana and his co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino locked up the overall championship earlier in the season, it also meant they didn’t have anything to lose and could go flat out from the start. Additionally the battle for second place between Semenuk and Block was still on, as were several national class titles and regional championships.
After 3 days and over 110 competitive stage miles, Subaru Motorsports USA’s Brandon Semenuk and co-driver John Hall took home the overall win. The pair took the lead after winning four of Saturday’s eight Goldendale area stages and didn’t look back. Brandon said “I really enjoyed the first stage of the day [Dalles Mountain]. It’s my kind of stage, really fun. The new stage, Great Horseshoe, we had a great time too, but it was a lot more slippery than I expected.” The combination of fast pace and no mistakes gave them their most significant victory to date.
The weekend started out well for Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino with an early lead under the lights and cheering crowds at Portland International Raceway. But Super Special Stages are short and their lead was a mere 4.2 seconds. Unfortunately a puncture on the first running of Dalles Mountain had them driving out on a bare rim and dropped 30 seconds to 3rd. They spent the remainder of the weekend trying to claw their way back up to the front which included 11 stage wins, but it wasn’t quite enough to catch their teammates and they had to settle for second. When asked which of the event’s stages was his favorite Pastrana said “The tarmac stage [Maryhill Loops]….we just linked drifts through the corners the whole way. I don’t know if it was fast, but we were foot to the floor sideways and it sure was fun!”
Hoonigan’s Ken Block and co-driver Alex Geslomino rounded out the overall podium in their Vermont Sportscar built Subaru WRX STI. For most of the rally they were in an all out fight with Pastrana for second place, and just 2.1 seconds separated them going into the final day. Unfortunately electrical gremlins put Block off his pace on some of Sunday’s stages, solidifying their 3rd position.
Fourth overall and first in the RC2 class went to the longest travelers to the event, Hamed Al-Wahaibi, who came all the way from Oman in the Middle East while his co-driver Tony Sircombe hails from New Zealand. Although their McKenna Motorsport run Ford Fiesta Rally2 wasn’t in the same class as the cars on the overall podium, his pace was not far off and impressed those at the top.
Just a few minutes behind in fifth overall and second in RC2 was another pair of far flung travelers, Javier Castro and co-driver Ulices Agesta of Argentina. They brought their unique RC Competicion Toyota Etios R4 in hopes that their R4 platform and proved it can be competitive in American rally competition. Rounding out the RC2 class podium were Irishmen Enda and Liam McCormack in their Hyundia i20 R5. McCormack’s third place points was just enough to win the national RC2 championship.
On a more local level, Derik Nelson of Seattle drove his rear-wheel drive Subaru BRZ to an impressive 9th overall and first in 2WD. North Bend, Washington resident Tony Torchia rounded off the top 10 and finished first in the LN4 class.
Full results can be found here: 2021 Oregon Trail Rally Results