PINKER AND DURANT WIN STPR!  - Sunday, June  3, 2007
Andrew Pinker and Robbie Durant top the podium at STPR and have secured an invitation to the X Games. After a close battle two weeks ago when the team settled for a very close second place at Olympus, they are thrilled to win here.

Ramana Lagemann and Mark Williams finish in second place; they have also secured an invitation to the X Games with this finish. “This was excellent, way more than we expected, planned, or wanted. Fifth place would have secured us an X Games invite, so that’s all we were going for.” With a tight budget, the team plans to skip the New England Forest rally so they can have a well prepped car to bring to the X Games.

Travis Pastrana and Christian Edstrom round out the podium in the third position. With motor issues on the last set of stages, the team feels lucky to have made it to the finish. As last year’s X Games gold medal winners, the team is guaranteed an invitation to return this year to defend their title.

Matt Johnson and Jeremy Wimpey finished sixth overall in a Subaru WRX and earned the Production GT class win, while Group 5 went to Kyle Sarasin and co-driver Mikael Johansson in a Ford Focus. Christopher Duplessis and co-driver Martin Headland took the Group 2 win in a Volkswagen GTI and the sole Group N finishers were Josh Chang and Donald DeRose in a Subaru WRX.

FLAT TIRES CAUSE MAJOR DAMAGE  - Sunday, June  3, 2007
Burke and Fries, #25, made it to the finish, but not without some damage. The team had a flat tire that destroyed the left front fender of the car on stage nine. Burke didn’t seem too worried about the damage; they were able to hold on to finish fifth overall. Comrie-Picard and Goldfarb, #20, suffered similar damage after flatting a tire when they hit a tree on stage six. They made it about a mile down the road on the flat before it caused enough damage to the wiring loom to force them to retire.

Lots of trouble in PGT  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
Despite leading, Car 46 Johnson/Wimpey have had brake problems from the time they began the practice stage on Friday. Driver Matthew Johnson stated "we have tried everything, but the fronts seem to be overheating and basically, after 10 stages, they are not working well at all."

Car 59 Moro/Rossey and Car 28 Pritchard/DeMotte were having intercooler hose issues that also started at the practice stage. Car 59 is pressing on and trying to make it last through to the end of the rally. Car 28 DNF'd with an unrelated steering issue.

Car 523 Hanson/Hanson, just coming back after a bad wreck at 100 Acre Wood, are working off very little sleep given they have just recently finished the re-prep of the car that included: new control arms, subframe, wheel assemblies, etc. Their challenge lay in getting to this event and despite some niggling car issues, they have run a clean rally, which was their goal.

Car 686 Nunnemacher/Nunnemacher drove 6 hours toward STPR before realizing they had left the key back at home. They got over that and are too hoping for a clean rally. "We are having a great rally despite being down on power" stated driver Heath Nunnemacher. Seemingly, the power issue is related to a issue of bad fuel. The team would like to thank their crew, Chris L and David, as well as Rick Rick.

Car 429 Verdier/Crouch had a challenge just getting to the rally. Due to the short time between events, they were unable to finish car preparation before coming out and the car was not running when it was put on the trailer earlier this week. On top of that, they broke an axle on their trailer on the way here, which required the purchase of another trailer. They have ultimately DNF'd for mechanical issues.

SARASIN LEADING G5  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
After a challenging couple of events, Car 55 Sarasin/Johansson are sitting in the 9th position overall and are leading Group 5. They have had a few niggling issues, but overall, a great weekend. If the team does win, they will have little time to revel in their win here, as Kyle needs to fly back home on the first flight possible in order to make his high school graduation tomorrow.

LIVE UPDATES FROM THE DAY  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
In a live update form, Car 931 Kennedy/Kennedy stated "On stage 1, new front brakes faded, but SS2 through SS4 were great - we had no moments - we are having fun and the car is good". The team would like to thank their sponsors - Steve Moyer Subaru and KAM Specialties."

In a live update form, Car 188 Havas/Dillon stated "We were flying and the car was finally running awesom until we lost the intercom. Then we lost all function the clutch hydraulic system. We could continue driving on the stage but starting with our tall first gear ratio is not possible. The cars was towed out of the stage by Greg Healey and John Macleod."

CARS ARRIVE TO FINAL SERVICE  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
The cars have transited stage seven due to spectators and have arrived to their last service of the rally. They will have a 30 minute service before they run the final three stages. It has been reported that #774, Dimiters and Ockwell, are off and OK on stage six. #91, Bottoms and Bosley, have retired from the rally as well. We will try to get more information on the teams that have failed to finish.

L'ESTAGE IN SECOND  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
After taking the rally lead on stage five, L’Estage and Richard retired on stage six of the rally. The team went wide and hit a bank with the left rear of the car knocking it out of alignment. Just down the road they went off again, this time hitting the right rear. Unfortunately, in their effort to get back on the road they burned up the car’s clutch. “We were really here to win” said Richard, “it’s not worth damaging the car further.” With problems throughout their day, the team chose to retire.

L’Estage did earn some good rally karma today when they stopped to tow #18, Iorio and Holter, to service after they suffered a gearbox failure. Ironically, at this rally last year, Iorio towed L’Estage into this service when they suffered mechanical problems.

LEADERBOARD AFTER SS7  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
With all the DNF's in the last series of stages, the leaderboard has seen a lot of changes. Currently, it sits as follows:

Car 5 Pinker/Durant 39:04.2
Car 74 Lagemann/Williams 39:22.5
Car 199 Pastrana/Edstrom 39:29.1

Car 5 Pinker/Durant had the lead this morning. The team made the choice of running first on the road, hopeful that choice would result in a competitive advantage. "We had the choice between running 1st or 5th in start order, so with the dust, we felt we would be better off running 1st - so far it has worked out" stated Car 5's team manager.

Car 74 Lagemann/Williams are ecstatic with their position. "We wanted to come out of here with a 4th or 5th place finish - we don't want to take any unnecessary chances as we want to maintain our position in order to be invited to the X Games" stated Co-driver Mark Williams.

TROUBLES FOR MORE  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
Further reports from net control are as follows:

Car 18 - Iorio/Holter - DNF due to transmission
Car 17 - L'Estage/Richard - mechanical DNF
Car 20 - Comrie-Picard/Goldfarb - mechanical DNF
Car 28 - Pritchard/DeMotte - DNF

DUNKIN’ GOES RACIN’ IN THE DIRT  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
Dunkin’ Donuts and Wazoo Motorsports Marketing today announced that it has partnered to create the Dunkin’ Rally Team (DRT). The DRT will compete in the remaining events on the 2007 Rally America schedule, beginning here at Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally.

The DRT will also visit numerous Dunkin’ Donuts stores and college campuses throughout the U.S. to promote the exciting sport of rally racing and Dunkin’s involvement the fastest growing form of motorsports in the world. The DRT Tour will kick off this summer and continue throughout the 2007 rally season.

“This is a tremendous announcement for Wazoo Racing, as well as everyone involved in Rally America,” said Tim Penasack, president of Wazoo Motorsports Marketing and driver of the No. XX Subaru WRX rally car. “Dunkin’ Donuts has become a premier brand of choice among the largest audience who watches and participates in rally racing, so we believe our new partnership with Dunkin’ Donuts will be a winning combination.”

Currently, the team is sitting 3rd in Production GT class.

Troubles for some  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
As of the end of SS6, in reports from net control, cars that were having troubles are as follows:

Car 91 has reportedly limped to the end of SS6 and will be withdrawing
Car 774 and 487 are reported as off of SS6.

More details to follow as they become available.

Havas loses time  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
We received an update from the crew of #188 Havas and Dillon.

“After SS1-3, Andrew had problems setting brake bias and getting used to the RX-7 again. He feels he has been driving poorly. On stage one the crew slid wide and nearly went broadside into a tree. On stage two, the crew overshot a junction and came to rest tipped up against an embankment. It took nearly a minute to get pushed out, and when attempting to restart, they stalled fouling the plugs. On stage three the car wouldn’t rev over 6,000 rpms due to the plugs. At service Andrew changed the plugs and adjusted the brake bias. After stage four Andrew feels like he's once again comfortable with the Mazda, he said the stage was awesome! They are looking forward to the last stages of the day."

The team is currently second place in Group 5.

SECOND HALF OF STPR SET TO START  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
The cars have been reseeded and are lined up to start the second half of the day. We are headed to Germania where the cars will have their final service of the rally around 8:00pm tonight.

BULL POWER VERSUS HORSEPOWER?  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
In case you were wondering where “Cowboy” Kenny Bartram and his PGT Subaru are this weekend, he’s on a bull. Kenny is taking part CMT's new series, Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge, which is filming in Texas. The celebrities will be taught how to mount a bull in the chute and how to take a fall from a bull. I’m sure he’ll have some interesting stories when he returns to rally next month at the New England Forest Rally.

L'ESTAGE IN SECOND  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
#17, L’Estage and Richard, had numerous problems on the first leg of their rally. The car was overheating, they had no anti-lag, were low on boost, and the Terratrip didn’t work. On top of all of that, they spun the car a couple of times. “The tires are wearing very quickly” said L’Estage, “the car is not handling the best.”

On SS4, the overheating problems seemed to be solved, but there was still no Terratrip. Considering their problems, they are only 4.9 seconds down to #5, Pinker and Durant, the current leaders.

BLOCK SUFFERS MECHANICAL PROBLEM  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
Ken Block's rally was disappointing to say the least. Despite the fact that their intercom wasn’t working, the team ran well on stage one. They were able to fix the intercom, and were excited to see what they could do on stage two. But, about a mile into the stage the car started to hesitate and eventually sputtered to a stop. They were able to coast off of the stage and are out of the rally.

“The team worked really hard last night, they were up until 5:30 this morning getting this car ready. I’m disappointed that we didn’t get to see how well John (Buffum) and I could’ve done” said Block.

At the start of the rally Block was leading the championship; by the end of the day, that is likely to change.

MINOR ISSUES FOR ACP  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
#20, Comrie-Picard and Goldfarb, was not set-up for the extremely dry conditions that they found on the stages this morning. They have had handling issues all morning leaving the car “squirrelly”. They spun more than once in the hairpins on the course; one spin resulted in the car stalling. The car sustained some minor damage and lost their wing when they went wide and tapped an overhanging bank with the left rear of the car. The crew plans to take some time during the parc expose to make some changes including softening up the rear suspension.

LEADERBOARD AFTER SS3  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
The cars have started to come into the service area here at the Wellsboro Johnston Airport. Right now, the leaderboard is as follows:

#5 Pinker/Durant 24:30.1
#17 L'Estage/Richard 24:39.3
#74 Lagemann/Williams 24:50.8
#199 Pastrana/Edstrom 25:00.0
#20 Comrie-Picard/Goldfarb 25:02.6
#18 Iorio/Holter 25:49.8

Some problems relayed to us by net control are as follows:

Car 43 Block/Buffum - reported mechanical problem
Car 780 Cosgrove/Kihurani - reported transmission problem
Car 210 Lynch/Skeffington - reported problem on transit

BURKE NEEDS REPAIRS  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
It has been reported from the finish of SS1 that #25, Burke and Fries, is in need of a new windshield. The crew is scrambling to find a replacement before the car arrives to service. We do not know the cause, but we do know that Burke passed the car in front of him on stage.

NEW CAR FOR BLOCK  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
Ken Block has a new car today after a crash in yesterdays practice. The Vermont Sportscar team worked through the night to prepare the car Block used in his Stunt Junkies record setting jump for his STPR run. Sitting in the co-drivers seat will be John Buffum, 11 time National Champion; regular co-driver Alex Gelsomino will be sitting out as a precautionary measure.

STPR IS ON!  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
After a morning parc expose at the Wellsboro town square, known as “The Green”, the cars head to the forest to run the first three stages of the day. Teams will have a short service at the Wellsboro Johnston Airport, then run the fourth and final stage of the morning portion of the national rally; this will conclude the Sherwood Forest Regional Rally. There will be an afternoon Parc Expose at The Green before returning to the forest roads. The evening portion of the rally will consist of six more stages with one service break in Germania, and then finish back at the airport. The field is once again stacked with excellent competition; look for close racing and plenty of action as STPR unfolds.

JOHNSON TO CONTINUE WORKING ON NEW DRIVING STYLE  - Saturday, June  2, 2007
Matthew Johnson, driver of the Hankook Tires Subaru WRX Car 46, is a fan favorite as much for his charisma as for his aggressive driving style.

Unfortunately for fans, Matt is trying a new driving style and states his goal for the weekend is to “drive smart and continue his learning curve from Olympus Rally. I am going to be practicing a style with more patience…sorry, fans – it might not be as exciting as it has been previously.”

Currently, Johnson is in 2nd position in Production GT standings and the reigning Production GT champion, and Johnson is looking to continually improve his driving style to ensure an encore of last year.

Johnson would like to thank Hankook Tires, ElitePro, and BW Racing for all their help and support.

NEW MOTOR FOR IORIO  - Friday, June  1, 2007
The crew for Matthew Iorio, #18, has been working overtime in an effort to replace the motor in their 2001 Subaru. The motor was “tired” after last month’s Olympus rally, so it was time for a new one; unfortunately, the engine block just arrived last night. Despite any testing, they are optimistic they will be ready to go by the 10:30 start tomorrow morning.

PRACTICE STAGE PROBLEMS  - Friday, June  1, 2007
#59, Moro and Rossey, and #28, Pritchard and DeMotte both had trouble on the practice stage with intercooler hoses. Pritchard borrowed a spare from Matthew Johnson, and burned up the replacement as well. The cause of the problem is unknown; both teams are looking for replacement parts.

Also out on the practice stage is #508, Ottey and McGarvey. The team blew their turbo and has withdrawn prior to the start.

STARTING ORDER IS DECIDED - PINKER/DURANT TO BE FIRST  - Friday, June  1, 2007
The cars have arrived at the parc expose and a good turnout of workers and fans are having a chance to talk to their favorite drivers.

The midpoint of the parc expose was marked with the seeded draw for starting positions. Miss Wellsboro welcomed the competitors and drew numbers. From there, the competitors eligible for the seeded draw picked their starting order based on the number they received. The starting order, based on the seeded draw, is as follows:

Car 5 Pinker/Durant
Car 199 Pastrana/Edstrom
Car 43 Block/Gelsomino
Car 74 Lagemann/Williams
Car 17 L'Estage/Richard
Car 18 Iorio/Holter

STPR STARTS BADLY FOR KEN BLOCK  - Friday, June  1, 2007
Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block endured the variable and wet conditions of the Pacific Northwest to finish 4th Overall at the Olympus Rally. The strong points finish keeps Block in the lead of the hotly contested 2007 Rally America National Championship. “We still lead the Championship and hope to keep it that way for the remainder of the season!" stated Block.

Hopefully, an early practice stage incident here at STPR will not thwart his hopes.

The legendary STPR features smooth, high speed, tree-lined gravel roads in and around Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. It was one of those fast left-hand corners that caught Car 43 out. At about 1.7 miles into the practice stage this afternoon, Block took the corner too wide and struck a tree with the passenger side door causing significant damage to the door and ripping off the wheel and suspension in the process.

After much discussion, the team thinks their best option to be able to start the event is to bring a back up car from Vermont SportsCar’s headquarters in Colchester, VT. The car they plan to bring is the car that Ken jumped 170 feet for the Stunt Junkies TV show. The car will need a significant re-prep, but the team is confident that they will be able to give Ken a competitive car and maintain his lead in the Rally America Championship.

Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), DC Shoes, BFGoodrich Tires, Boost Mobile, Recaro, Alpinestars, Motul, Exedy, PIAA and Vermont SportsCar. Visit www.subaru.com/rally for Subaru Rally Team USA photo galleries, news and team information.

STPR BEGINS TODAY  - Friday, June  1, 2007
STPR 2007 is Round Five of the Rally America Championship Series. The Finger Lakes and Sherwood Club Rallies are part of the Northeast Division Rally America ClubRally Championship Series.

STPR regularly draws the top rally teams from the United States, Canada and abroad that enjoy putting their skills to the extreme test of performance rally.

STPR activities begin today with competitor registration and technical inspection, followed by a parc expose at the Wellsboro Johnston Airport. The competitive stages begin tomorrow at The Green in Wellsboro, PA at 9 AM and takes about 14 hours to complete. Competitors cover a total of 310 miles, including 125 competitive miles in 10 stages. Rally teams travel through two counties on generally smooth and twisty Pennsylvania State Forest roads, at times bordering the famous “Grand Canyon of the East” located 10 miles west of Wellsboro.

WELCOME TO STPR  - Friday, June  1, 2007
One of the oldest rally races on the schedule, Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (commonly known as STPR) first began in 1977. Not only one of the oldest, but also the fastest rally in North America.

With roads consisting of clay and gravel, the course is slippery, fast and extremely dangerous. Drivers travel at speeds reaching 100 MPH through densely wooded roads. The speeds combined with the dangerous course ensure that this rally is not for the faint of heart.

Conditions at Susquehannock are nothing short of a racer’s dream. Deep water crossings and slick, fast roads, ensure that all of the drivers need to bring their A-game if they want a chance at a place on the podium. Summer rains mean that the clay roads can turn into one of the most slippery surfaces known to man, and danger levels are brought to a fevered pitch with most of this rally occurring at night. STPR is always a crowd pleaser and not a rally to be missed!

STPR is held in Wellsboro, PA, a town settled by early New England colonists and steeped in rich tradition and history. Wellsboro is also located about 15 minutes from the famed 50 mile-long Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. Two national parks border this town, which leaves lots of thick woodland to be covered by the drivers.