Oregon Trail Rally Preview - ARA ROUND 2

Rd2 of the 2017 ara championship

SRT USA posted in Rally Community

4y ago

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Oregon Trail Rally Preview - Round 2 of the 2017 ARA Championship

Eleven weeks after the inaugural American Rally Association (ARA) event at Rallye Perce-Neige in Quebec, Canada, SRTUSA heads to the west for one of the best scenic and fast flowing rallies in the championship. No snow tires are needed there but rain is always expected in Pacific Northwest. The Oregon Trail Rally is based in Dufur and The Dalles, Oregon however the rally kicks off at Portland Intl Raceway (PIR) on Friday evening for stage 1 through stage 4. Packed fans are expected at PIR and SRTUSA drivers, David Higgins and Travis Pastrana will give a good show for the crowds before they head to the proper gravel rally stages along the scenic Columbia Gorge where teams will experience the much faster closed county roads on Saturday and Sunday. Last year, David Higgins and Travis Pastrana's WRX STIs traded off the lead, and the fight for stage wins was intense, often separated by tenths of seconds. At the end, the duo were separated by a mere 9.5 seconds after the 115 competitive stage miles with Higgins and Drew coming out on top. Expect the #75 and #199 cars to be in maximum attack mode this year again but it won't be easy to beat the experienced eight-time Oregon Trail Rally winner, David Higgins. It's game on.

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When: 4/21/17 - 4/23/17

Host Towns: Portland, Dufur, The Dalles, OR & Goldendale, WA

Surface Type: Mostly gravel with some tarmac stages

Weather: Always rains but for short periods of time. Temperature is between 50-70F. Rain coats recommended.

Drivers: David Higgins (Co-Driver: Craig Drew) & Travis Pastrana (Co-Driver: Robbie Durant)

What's new: Between Higgins' and Pastrana's 2017 Subaru WRX STI Open Class Rally Cars, specs are identical between each other and there is no favoritism there. However, there are new ARA regulations applied the cars of the top drivers. For the fastest drivers, those with a speed factor over 94, of which currently only includes Higgins and Pastrana, the following new restrictions were put in place:
Cars are forced to be heavier, now at 3,200 lbs. minimum weight compared to 2,900 lbs. last year. Also turbo inlet restrictors are smaller, mandated to 33mm compared to last year's 34mm, and now Turbochargers must be off-the-shelf units, not special motorsports use turbochargers. Finally there is a 10 tires per event limit compared to the 14 tire rule. These new restrictions will surely slow down the #75 and #199 cars while adding a new challenge to Higgins and Pastrana. Can they adapt to the changes? Can they manage their tires while keeping their pace fast enough to win?

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