The second round of the 2012 Rally America Championship is in our past and Subaru has managed to hold their lead, but it wasn’t easy. Eating at the heels of David Higgins, Craig Drew and their 2012 WRX STI rally car was a legit menace: Mr. Ken Block. Locked in a three-way battle which included Antoine L’Estage, the front running teams had the daunting task of tackling the 100 Acre Wood Rally located in the deep forest of Missouri. After the first three stages were complete, the trio was separated by just seconds, but a mechanical failure on L’Estage’s car rendered him exempt. This meant that it was Higgins v. Block for the rest of the rally and Ken has won the 100 Acre Wood even before; five times.
“It was a great battle and ultimately I’d like to have been able to win but Ken [Block] is very fast here, and it simply became a matter of safety to push too much in the dust,” said Higgins. After day one was complete, Block and his Ford were 18 seconds ahead of Subaru. A large gap by rally standards, Higgins hit a break on day two when Block suffered a tire puncture, hurting the Fiesta’s time. Dry conditions meant that the dust levels were massive and try as he might, David and his Subaru simply couldn’t bridge the time gap, ultimately ending up in second place. Even still, the flat four wonder earned enough points to add to Subaru Rally Team’s overall win at last month’s Sno*Drift Rally and continue their lead in Rally America.
“David and Craig confirmed the pace capable from our Subaru WRX STI and drove a smart rally to consolidate our championship points position under very challenging driving conditions,” said James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America.
Source: Subaru
