Comprised of more than 130 miles of twists and turns on the ice-filled roads of northern Michigan was the first round of the 2012 Rally America Championship. The Sno*Drift Rally was broken down into 24 stages and nearly 70 teams took the challenge in order to prove that they had the guts to take on something rightfully dangerous. Taking 15 of those stages and winning overall was Mr. David Higgins, Craig Drew and their 2012 Subaru WRX STI rally car. This may be the first of six rounds, but it is a strong start to a tough season and solid indication of Subaru’s rally heritage.
“Our Subaru was perfect all weekend and allowed Craig [Drew] and I to just concentrate on the job under these wild conditions,” said driver Higgins. For the first round of the 2012 season, drivers and teams had an interesting challenge to overcome. Studded or spiked tires were not allowed and January’s bi-polar weather patterns caused ice to present itself more than once. “The icy roads combined with lack of spiked tires makes this one of the toughest rallies and a challenge I think that is unique in rallying anywhere in the world.” By the end of day one, Higgins and Drew had gained a two-minute lead on the second place car but one the morning of day two, things got a little tricky. Based on the previous day’s conditions, the decision was made to run their STI rally car on ice tires and as luck would have it, snow presented itself. Their lead quickly shrank as rival Antoine L’Estage had picked snow tires instead. Once at the first service, the ice tires were ditched for a better suited set and the lead quickly grew once again. At the end of the event, the Subaru won by nearly two whole minutes.
“David and Craig drove prudently to a tremendous result, and Subaru Rally Team USA prepared a car in our 2012 Subaru WRX STI that has proven to be the class of the field this weekend,” said James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc. Higgins, Drew and their STI can rest for a bit as they get ready for round two of Rally America. Their next challenge will be the high-speed gravel roads of central Missouri for The Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. The event starts February 24.
Source: Subaru
