Subaru Motorsports USA Win Oregon Trail Rally
Subaru Motorsports USA driver Brandon Semenuk and co-driver Keaton Williams continued their winning streak in the 2023 American Rally Association (ARA) championship with a fourth win for the season at the Oregon Trail Rally. The team led from start to finish, taking wins on each of the rally’s 19 stages.
The action started with two very well-attended Friday evening stages at Portland International Raceway, where several thousand spectators watched as Semenuk and Williams jumped out to an early 28.4 second lead. Saturday brought on unseasonably warm weather, with temperatures reaching into the high-80s outside and much higher inside the cars. Starting first, Semenuk and Williams did the job of sweeping the very dusty stages, adding another layer of difficulty while kicking big rocks and loose dirt away for the competition to follow. The tenth stage ended the day with Subaru Motorsports USA holding a nearly four-minute overall lead.
To the relief of drivers, temperatures dropped on the final day of racing, but sweeping remained a challenge for Semenuk and Williams. Boyd Loop and Shadow Buck – Stages 11 and 12 – opened the day without much difficulty. “A fast start to the final day. Fastest stage of the day (Stage 11, Boyd Loop), with a huge jump from the start,” said co-driver Williams. The dust became more of an issue at stage 13 – Nagle’s Revenge – and as the day went on the action became rougher and more intense: By the time the Subaru Motorsports USA car came in after the penultimate stage – Starveout – a cracked bumper and damaged fender were tallied among its scrapes and scratches. None of that kept Semenuk and Williams from their goal, as they won the power stage and completed the rally with a commanding lead for the team’s fourth straight win in this year’s championship. “We had a blast today. A lot of fast stages. I think the overall speed was like, almost 80 mph – fast. The car is in great shape, it’s got a week back in the shop before we head to Ohio so it will be tip-top for the next round,” said a confident Semenuk.
It’s four rounds down with four remaining in the eight-round 2023 calendar, with Semenuk and Williams currently leading the championship. Catch Subaru Motorsports USA back in action atthe Southern Ohio Forest Rally from June 8-10.
About Subaru Motorsports USA
Subaru Motorsports USA is managed by Vermont SportsCar and proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., MOTUL, KMC Wheels, Yokohama Tires, DirtFish Rally School, KÜHL, AT&T Business, weBoost and PepLink. Follow the team online at www.subaru.com/motorsports.
Follow Subaru Motorsports USA on Facebook, on Instagram @subarumotorsportsusa, onTikTok @subarumotorsportsusa, and on Twitter @subarums_usa.
About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 630 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company’s vision to show love and respect to everyone, and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA and the SOA Foundation have donated more than $300 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged nearly 88,000 volunteer hours. As a company, Subaru believes it is important to do its part in making a positive impact in the world because it is the right thing to do.
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