Ojibwe Forests Rally this weekend in USA

The Rally America National Championship season has two rounds remaining of the eight events with the Muscatell Ojibwe Forests Rally coming up next on August 21-23 in Detroit Lakes, MN.
 

Organisers added a Thursday, August 21 super special stage at the Buffalo River Race Park in Glyndon, MN to extend the Muscatell Ojibwe Forests Rally to three competitive days; a first for this great, historic event.  Fans will get to see the nation's top rally drivers competing from start to finish on a twisty closed dirt course from the comfort of their seats beginning at 7pm CT. More information can be found at ojibweforestrally.com.
 
The Muscatell Ojibwe Forests Rally stages continue on Friday and Saturday with plenty of spectator viewing locations. (Download a free spectator guide HERE) The event ends with the first ever Detroit Lakes, MN street stage, which is an all-tarmac stage along the town's lakefront. It is the perfect opportunity to watch rally cars in an urban environment before crowning the event champion at the Detroit Lakes Pavilion victory circle.
 
This year's Rally America National Championship victors, Subaru Rally Team USA's David Higgins and Craig Drew (pictured), have already wrapped up their sixth U.S. rally title at last month's New England Forest Rally, but the team remains highly motivated to add more event wins. It is not in Higgin's nature to take a back seat to his rivals, especially with the Muscatell Ojibwe Forests Rally's extremely quick and smooth sandy roads awaiting him. Fans can still expect an all out assault from Higgins, and a great show from action sports icon Travis Pastrana and co-driver Chrissie Beavis as they seek their first overall win this season.
 
"This is the only Rally that my co-driver Craig (Drew) has not won!" said Higgins, "So we aim to try go there and treat it like every other event and get the win. Also, if we could win it would give us the perfect score in the Championship, since we drop our two lowest scores we would guarantee that all counted scores would be wins."
 
Notably, the Muscatell Ojibwe Forests Rally will be the first event for David Sterckx to let loose his newly built Open Class 2011 Subaru WRX STI. Sterckx has been a familiar face in the Super Production Class and is a 2013 class champion. He stepped away the last few events to upgrade his Subaru and fans will now get to see this quick driver in even a faster car.
 
This season's 2WD and B-SPEC national titles have also been finalized with Ford Racing's Andrew Comrie-Picard securing 2WD honors, and Honda Performance Development's James Robinson winning his second consecutive B-SPEC national title.
 
However, a few titles remain to be settled with the Super Production Class and the Rookie of the Year battles getting even hotter at the Muscatell Ojibwe Forests Rally.
 
In Super Production (SP) Dillon Van Way and Andrew Edwards have built a commanding 35 point lead over Minnesota native Nick Roberts and co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino. Van Way is fresh off two consecutive class victories to place pressure on Roberts to go for absolute victory. Roberts must win the next two rounds for any chance to overtake Van Way. Both are seeking their first ever Super Production titles.
 
"Ojibwe is definitely a tough rally with the technical roads and typically dusty conditions," commented Van Way,  "And this year I am feeling a bit of pressure coming into it because a win here would wrap up the SP Championship. Also. Ojibwe being the local event for our main competitor, Nick Roberts, makes winning there a tall order. He was fast there last year and I expect he will be again this year. That being said, we have been close all year and I don't think this event will be different."
 
The Muscatell Ojibwe Forests Rally will feature two separate one-day regional rallies.
 
Returning 2013 regional champs, Henry and Cynthia Krolikowski are the favorites to win it again this year, but their task will be made harder with brothers Mark and John Heubbe moving up into the Open Class with a 1991 Subaru Legacy. The Huebbes are better known as the drivers of the classic 1970 Volkswagen Beetle, which is often a crowd favorite due to the car's iconic status and unusual choice of car in rally racing.
 
Be sure to check the Muscatell Ojibwe Forests Rally schedule and follow stage results on August 21-23 at www.rally-america.com.

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