Milton, VT

8.5.2024

Conner Martell was triumphant for the second year in a row at the Boone Forest Rally, taking on the expanded McKee, Kentucky-based ARA East regional round with Co-Driver Alex Gelsomino in Vermont SportsCar’s VT22r Subaru WRX STI Open class car.

Martell was the class of the field, winning every stage on the event – which has more than doubled in size for this year – to claim overall victory with a healthy margin of 2 minutes 56.5s over nearest rival Patrick Gruszka.

Martell led the first pass by 23.6 seconds over Gruszka. A minor brush with a bank didn’t hamper him at all, although he took a more measured run for the second pass as a result.

Four more stages followed in the afternoon, and with the surfaces being a mix of gravel and tarmac, managing the Yokohama tires was going to be key to success. Again, Martell was untouchable out in front, completing a clean sweep of the first day’s stages to lead Gruszka by 1m 36.7s overnight.

On the final day, the team picked up where it had left off, with Martell crushing the first stage of the day by 37.9s. But tire wear was becoming an issue, and an off road excursion on the second stage of the day, SS8, reduced Martell’s lead. Nevertheless he still completed it quickest, but by a slender 0.4s ahead of Gruszka.

The car might not have looked its best after the brief venture into the trees but it was still performing well, and another stage win followed before the final service break enabled the team to give the car a refresh.

After that break, Martell took the final two stage wins as well to claim overall victory by just under three minutes.

“Alex and I did exactly what we needed to,” said Martell. “We were there for seat time and to get dialed in for Ojibwe.

“Our speed was great and the team did a great job with the car. Looking forward to battling with the works team in a few weeks time!”

Martell will next be taking on the Ojibwe Forests Rally on August 23-24 in Minnesota.