The News Wheel
No Comments

Subaru Drivers Higgins and Pastrana Survive the Oregon Trail (Rally)

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page
David Higgins Oregon Trail Rally
David Higgins kicks up dust on the fast, sweeping stages of Oregon Trail Rally
Photo: Subaru

Subaru Motorsports USA drivers Travis Pastrana and David Higgins competed in the Oregon Trail Rally over the weekend, nabbing the top two podium spots at the end of the event. Higgins earned his first win of the American Rally Association season thanks to his powerful WRX STI. Meanwhile, in his 2019 rally debut, Pastrana had an early lead but was beaten by his teammate to earn the second place finish.

The event started Friday evening with two 3.2-mile special stages at Portland International Raceway, where Higgins and Pastrana were neck and neck after the first stage. But when Higgins clipped a rock on the side of the raceway, his tire was punctured and he lost significant time, putting him and his co-driver Craig Drew 12.7 seconds behind Pastrana and his co-driver Robbie Durant.

“We felt really good in the car and had a lot of fun out on the stages – just seemed to lose little chunks of time here and there,” said Pastrana. “Made a mistake on day two and that pretty much put the win out of reach, but I have to give it to David. He was just really, really good this weekend.”

Higgins was quick to get back in the race, cutting the gap on Saturday morning in half by the third stage and achieving a 16.1-second lead over Pastrana. It was really only a race between the two Suabru teammates on Saturday, as the nearest competitor was more than two minutes behind.  

“It’s a great feeling to be on top of the podium again here at Oregon Trail,” said Higgins. “Craig and I have had some small mechanical issues so far this season that have kept wins just out of reach, and it’s tough when you feel like luck isn’t on your side. This weekend we switched out our usual number 75 for the defending champions’ number 1, so maybe that helped change our fortunes just a bit. Either way, it’s good to get the win and put our season back on track.”

The next race for Higgins and co-driver Drew will be the Idaho Rally International this month along with Subaru teammates Oliver Solberg and Aaron Johnston. Pastrana and Durant will make their return at the Ojibwe Forests Rally in August.