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Block/Gelsomino hang on for Rally win
  
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Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block, from Rancho Sante Fe, California set the fastest times on the Friday, June 5, opening stages of the Waste Management Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally® presented by Citizens & Northern Bank at Wellsboro and never looked back, taking his second win of the season on Saturday, June 6, at the 33rd running of this notoriously tough event. Of the 26 teams running in STPR®, 11 did not finish.
This year’s STPR® was 264 miles long with 114 competitive stage miles. Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino of Santa Clarita, Californian finished the event in one hour, 57 minutes and 33.4 seconds.
The duo have had their share of bad luck this season, with three DNFs in their previous four starts and Block said he was happy for the win – especially at an event that hasn’t been good to him in the past.
“I won here in 2005, but other years, things haven’t been so good,” said Block. “I’ve rolled here, I broke last year; the year before that I crashed in shakedown and then only made it a stage and a half.”
But the owner and president of DC Shoes wasn’t ready to say he’d managed to shake off the season’s bad-luck streak: “I’m driving better than I ever have before, but accidents and breakdowns have really put me out of the championship hunt for 2009,” said Block, whose rally car is a 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
Block’s teammates Travis Pastrana of Davidsonville, Md. and co-driver Christian Edstrom of New York, N.Y. – in an identical Subaru - took second place in one hour, 58 minutes and 45.4 seconds to finish one minute and 12 seconds behind Block. Pastrana and Edstrom lost a minute to suspension damage on Friday, but managed to claw back into second place and hold it there to the finish.
Pastrana, perhaps more well known for his MTV Show Nitro Circus and his extreme motocross activities, admitted the course was fast enough to be scary at times, but he was able to keep a cool head and extend his championship points lead. Pastrana increased his lead over Block to the point where Block would have to win every event the rest of the season – an unlikely scenario.
“Once we realized that we could not catch Ken without taking unacceptable risks on this very fast course, we concentrated on securing second place and getting those all-important points,” said Pastrana. He noted that he considers STPR® to be his hometown rally because it is the closest one to where he lives.
Third place went to Bill Bacon of Nashua, N.H. and co-driver Peter Watt of Peterborough, Ontario, their first U.S. podium result together, in a Mitsubishi Evo IX. They finished in a time of one hour, 59 minutes, 20.3 seconds - one minute, 46.9 seconds behind Block.
“We tried to push right from the get-go,” said Bacon. “Until now, our best finish in the States was fourth, so we’re happy. We gave Travis a run for his money, but were 35 seconds short.”
Bacon is running a limited season this year but with a pair of top-five finishes early on, he has secured enough points to be awarded an ESPN X Games invitation for the rally event. He is considered a privateer as his dad does all of the mechanic work on the car. He has over 50 rallies under his belt but no sponsors. If finances allow him to attend the X Games, this will be his first time in the high-profile Los Angeles contest which takes place in August.
Polish driver Andi Mancin and co-driver Ryszard Ciupka – who are also expected to receive an X Games invitation – finished fourth this weekend in their Mitsubishi Evo IX. The event started poorly for the duo, who took a rock to a brake line on Day 1 and were forced to run a stage without brakes, then lost even more time to an ailing clutch on Saturday. The finished in two hours, one minute, 47.5 seconds.
Six top drivers – Pastrana, Comrie-Picard, Block, Mirra, Foust and Matt Johnson – have already accepted first-round invitations to X Games. The results after the first five rounds of the championship mean that Mancin, Bacon, Wiktorczyk and Gruszka are expected to round out the field, with two other so-called “at large” drivers yet to be named.
In two-wheel drive class, Chris Greenhouse of Cincinnati, Ohio and co-driver Don DeRose of Grand Island, N.Y. took top honors in their Dodge Neon. This team finished 12th overall with a time of two hours, 27 minutes, 55.9 seconds.
Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard – who took the win here in 2008 – reported trouble with their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X throughout the contest. After losing time on Friday to a blown turbo hose, the team continued to battle a variety of mechanical issues well into Saturday. Their transmission failed before the final stage but they pulled into the final service of the day on a tow-rope hooked to Andrew Comrie-Picard’s NOS Energy Mitsubishi and were able to finish eighth overall in two hours, seven minutes, 14.7 seconds, which is nine minutes, 41.3 seconds behind Block.
For their part, Comrie-Picard and guest co-driver Marshall Clarke found themselves out of the running for the podium right at the start after receiving a penalty for fueling procedures and then suffering a soft rollover on the fourth stage. They were able to continue after the roll and the team’s finish was enough to boost Comrie-Picard into second-place in the Rally America championship. They finished 13th overall in two hours, 34 minutes, 20.8 seconds.
The rally ended early for BMX superstar Dave Mirra and co-driver Derek Ringer. The Subaru Rally Team USA’s Super Production class team took damage to their car after they struck a rock on Day 2 and were unable to continue.
The Swedish World Rally Team of Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson were out of the contest after only one stage with reported engine failure. It was tough luck for Sandell, who had been expected to challenge for the win at this contest. The driver has won two Production World Rallies so far this year, and was the Junior World Rally Champion in 2006.
Rally newcomer Brian Deegan and his co-driver Chrissie Beavis also had a tough event. The team’s crew repaired a broken driveshaft after a rough Day 1 stage, then the duo went off-road on Day 2 and did further damage before they lost their brakes on the second-to-last stage. But the team managed to cross the finish line in two hours, 36 minutes, 10 seconds to take 14th place overall. He was 38 minutes, 36.6 seconds behind Block.
In the Finger Lakes Regional event – for local or less experienced teams – Wyatt Knox of Franconia, N.H. and Martin Headland of Caledon, Ontario, Canada, in a Subaru STI, scored a six-minute win over the Greenhouse/DeRose Dodge Neon. Run in conjunction with the national event, these results were scored after the first six stages (47.4 competitive miles). They finished those six stages in 53 minutes, 22.4 seconds
The Jack Sherwood Forest Regional rally – scored for those same teams for stages 7–13 (79 competitive miles), was also won by Knox/Headland. They finished the Sherwood in one hour, 17 minutes, 26.2 seconds. Finishing five minues behind them to take second were Viorel Dobasu of West Bloomfield, Mich. and Marcel Ciascai of Staunton, Va. in a Subaru Impreza. Their time was one hour, 22 minutes, 59.2 seconds.
The Susquehannock Trail® event has been headquartered in Wellsboro since 1977, and has long been known as one of the most demanding events on the calendar. The 2009 running of the contest featured the popular two-day format, with a spectator-friendly daylight schedule and super special stages on each day. The Wellsboro Waste Management facility, Citizens & Northern Bank, the Mid-Atlantic Region of Subaru of America, and the Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce were all instrumental in making sure that the 2009 STPR® brought maximum entertainment to rally fans who came in from all over the country.
Local officials estimate that more than 3,500 fans came to the Tioga County Fairgrounds for the two days of activities there, and there were additional thousands of fans at the six spectator areas in the forest on Saturday. Another thousand fans swarmed “The Green” in Wellsboro on Saturday morning for the start of the event for day two.
This year’s STPR® was 264 miles long with 114 competitive stage miles. Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino of Santa Clarita, Californian finished the event in one hour, 57 minutes and 33.4 seconds.
The duo have had their share of bad luck this season, with three DNFs in their previous four starts and Block said he was happy for the win – especially at an event that hasn’t been good to him in the past.
“I won here in 2005, but other years, things haven’t been so good,” said Block. “I’ve rolled here, I broke last year; the year before that I crashed in shakedown and then only made it a stage and a half.”
But the owner and president of DC Shoes wasn’t ready to say he’d managed to shake off the season’s bad-luck streak: “I’m driving better than I ever have before, but accidents and breakdowns have really put me out of the championship hunt for 2009,” said Block, whose rally car is a 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
Block’s teammates Travis Pastrana of Davidsonville, Md. and co-driver Christian Edstrom of New York, N.Y. – in an identical Subaru - took second place in one hour, 58 minutes and 45.4 seconds to finish one minute and 12 seconds behind Block. Pastrana and Edstrom lost a minute to suspension damage on Friday, but managed to claw back into second place and hold it there to the finish.
Pastrana, perhaps more well known for his MTV Show Nitro Circus and his extreme motocross activities, admitted the course was fast enough to be scary at times, but he was able to keep a cool head and extend his championship points lead. Pastrana increased his lead over Block to the point where Block would have to win every event the rest of the season – an unlikely scenario.
“Once we realized that we could not catch Ken without taking unacceptable risks on this very fast course, we concentrated on securing second place and getting those all-important points,” said Pastrana. He noted that he considers STPR® to be his hometown rally because it is the closest one to where he lives.
Third place went to Bill Bacon of Nashua, N.H. and co-driver Peter Watt of Peterborough, Ontario, their first U.S. podium result together, in a Mitsubishi Evo IX. They finished in a time of one hour, 59 minutes, 20.3 seconds - one minute, 46.9 seconds behind Block.
“We tried to push right from the get-go,” said Bacon. “Until now, our best finish in the States was fourth, so we’re happy. We gave Travis a run for his money, but were 35 seconds short.”
Bacon is running a limited season this year but with a pair of top-five finishes early on, he has secured enough points to be awarded an ESPN X Games invitation for the rally event. He is considered a privateer as his dad does all of the mechanic work on the car. He has over 50 rallies under his belt but no sponsors. If finances allow him to attend the X Games, this will be his first time in the high-profile Los Angeles contest which takes place in August.
Polish driver Andi Mancin and co-driver Ryszard Ciupka – who are also expected to receive an X Games invitation – finished fourth this weekend in their Mitsubishi Evo IX. The event started poorly for the duo, who took a rock to a brake line on Day 1 and were forced to run a stage without brakes, then lost even more time to an ailing clutch on Saturday. The finished in two hours, one minute, 47.5 seconds.
Six top drivers – Pastrana, Comrie-Picard, Block, Mirra, Foust and Matt Johnson – have already accepted first-round invitations to X Games. The results after the first five rounds of the championship mean that Mancin, Bacon, Wiktorczyk and Gruszka are expected to round out the field, with two other so-called “at large” drivers yet to be named.
In two-wheel drive class, Chris Greenhouse of Cincinnati, Ohio and co-driver Don DeRose of Grand Island, N.Y. took top honors in their Dodge Neon. This team finished 12th overall with a time of two hours, 27 minutes, 55.9 seconds.
Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard – who took the win here in 2008 – reported trouble with their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X throughout the contest. After losing time on Friday to a blown turbo hose, the team continued to battle a variety of mechanical issues well into Saturday. Their transmission failed before the final stage but they pulled into the final service of the day on a tow-rope hooked to Andrew Comrie-Picard’s NOS Energy Mitsubishi and were able to finish eighth overall in two hours, seven minutes, 14.7 seconds, which is nine minutes, 41.3 seconds behind Block.
For their part, Comrie-Picard and guest co-driver Marshall Clarke found themselves out of the running for the podium right at the start after receiving a penalty for fueling procedures and then suffering a soft rollover on the fourth stage. They were able to continue after the roll and the team’s finish was enough to boost Comrie-Picard into second-place in the Rally America championship. They finished 13th overall in two hours, 34 minutes, 20.8 seconds.
The rally ended early for BMX superstar Dave Mirra and co-driver Derek Ringer. The Subaru Rally Team USA’s Super Production class team took damage to their car after they struck a rock on Day 2 and were unable to continue.
The Swedish World Rally Team of Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson were out of the contest after only one stage with reported engine failure. It was tough luck for Sandell, who had been expected to challenge for the win at this contest. The driver has won two Production World Rallies so far this year, and was the Junior World Rally Champion in 2006.
Rally newcomer Brian Deegan and his co-driver Chrissie Beavis also had a tough event. The team’s crew repaired a broken driveshaft after a rough Day 1 stage, then the duo went off-road on Day 2 and did further damage before they lost their brakes on the second-to-last stage. But the team managed to cross the finish line in two hours, 36 minutes, 10 seconds to take 14th place overall. He was 38 minutes, 36.6 seconds behind Block.
In the Finger Lakes Regional event – for local or less experienced teams – Wyatt Knox of Franconia, N.H. and Martin Headland of Caledon, Ontario, Canada, in a Subaru STI, scored a six-minute win over the Greenhouse/DeRose Dodge Neon. Run in conjunction with the national event, these results were scored after the first six stages (47.4 competitive miles). They finished those six stages in 53 minutes, 22.4 seconds
The Jack Sherwood Forest Regional rally – scored for those same teams for stages 7–13 (79 competitive miles), was also won by Knox/Headland. They finished the Sherwood in one hour, 17 minutes, 26.2 seconds. Finishing five minues behind them to take second were Viorel Dobasu of West Bloomfield, Mich. and Marcel Ciascai of Staunton, Va. in a Subaru Impreza. Their time was one hour, 22 minutes, 59.2 seconds.
The Susquehannock Trail® event has been headquartered in Wellsboro since 1977, and has long been known as one of the most demanding events on the calendar. The 2009 running of the contest featured the popular two-day format, with a spectator-friendly daylight schedule and super special stages on each day. The Wellsboro Waste Management facility, Citizens & Northern Bank, the Mid-Atlantic Region of Subaru of America, and the Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce were all instrumental in making sure that the 2009 STPR® brought maximum entertainment to rally fans who came in from all over the country.
Local officials estimate that more than 3,500 fans came to the Tioga County Fairgrounds for the two days of activities there, and there were additional thousands of fans at the six spectator areas in the forest on Saturday. Another thousand fans swarmed “The Green” in Wellsboro on Saturday morning for the start of the event for day two.
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