Heavy rain lead to some slippery roads in and around Salem, MO this past weekend, but that didn’t slow down Antoine L’Estage. The 2010 National Champion set impressive times right from the start and was able to hold off Subaru Rally Team driver David Higgins to take the victory.
L’Estage jumped out to an early lead in the opening Super Special stage and ended Day 1 with a 22 second lead. L’Estage was able to keep his Rockstar Mitsubishi EVO X going just as quick on day 2 and Higgins had no chance of catching up. David Higgins got his first championship points of the year in his Subaru Rally Team STI, after having engine issues at Sno*Drift. Third place went to Dave Mirra, in his Subaru Rally Team STI, who took his 2nd podium in a row. Travis Hanson who became the first Super Production competitor to win a National Rally America event overall at last month’s Sno*Drift, took 4th overall and first in Super Production.
Travis Pastrana drives his Boost Mobile 2007 Subaru STi at 100 Acre Wood Rally
Travis Pastrana made a last minute entry in a 2007 Subaru STi prepared by Vermont Sportscar and formally driven by one, Colin McRae, but his appearance did not last long. After successfully competing the first Super Special Stage on Friday, Pastrana rolled his car on the 3rd corner of stage 2. The corner was not a right turn as many people joked about, referring to Pastrana’s foray into Nascar. The roll badly damage the car and force him to retire from the event.
The slippery stages also claimed Ramana Lagemann’s STI on Saturday. The crash and subsequent fire caused the cancellation of the stage after just 3 cars passed through.
Wyatt Knox drove his 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 to 2WD victory at 2011 100 Acre Wood
Wyatt Knox took the win in the 2WD class in his 2008 MazdaSpeed 3. 2nd place in 2WD went to Chris Greenhouse, who looked very fast throughout the event in a 1995 Plymouth Neon. Dillon Van Way took 3rd in his Ford Fiesta after suffering mechanical issues early on in the event.
Team GotCone driver Christy Carlson, had a rough weekend, but was able to set some very fast times in her 1992 Nissan Sentra SE-R before suffering electrical issues and being forced to retire from the event half way through Saturday’s event. Look for more details coming soon…
Rally America’s season continues April 30th with the Olympus Rally in Washington.
See more photos in the 2011 Rally America 100 Acre Wood photo gallery
