Travis Pastrana says that he’s ‘stoked’ to be returning to the Subaru Motorsports USA team for a full assault on this year’s American Rally Association series – which begins later this month at the 100 Acre Wood Rally.
A five time national rally champion with Subaru and one of the world’s best-known action sports athletes, Pastrana will look to capture his sixth U.S. title in his first full season since 2017.
Co-driven by Robbie Durant, Pastrana will team up with Canadian rally driver and freeride mountain bike legend Brandon Semenuk, who moves to Subaru Motorsports USA for his first full season of U.S. rally competition.
“I’m stoked to be back in a Subaru again,” said Pastrana. “The last couple of years I’ve been itching to get back in a rally car full-time and compete for a championship, and Subaru is where it all began for me in rally. I’m also really excited to have Brandon as my teammate. He’s got a ton of talent and I know he’ll be fast once he gets a feel for the car, so I’m expecting some great competition between the two of us.”
Pastrana debuted in a Subaru rally car in 2005 having already made his mark in motocross and supercross competition, and immediately established himself as a force on four wheels. At the 2006 X Games, Pastrana landed the first double backflip ever attempted in freestyle motocross competition and the next day took home the Games’ inaugural Rally Car gold medal, making him an instant two-sport star and helping to raise the profile of rally for a generation of young action sports fans. Pastrana would go on to win his first U.S. rally championship that year with Subaru Rally Team USA and repeat as champion three more times through 2009.
After moving on to other projects in 2010—including racing in rallycross and NASCAR, and co-founding the Nitro Circus action sports franchise—Pastrana returned to a WRX STI rally car for the 2016-2017 seasons, winning the inaugural American Rally Association title in 2017 and setting a blistering record of 5 minutes 44 seconds at the Mt. Washington Hill Climb. In 2018 and 2019 Pastrana joined Subaru on a part-time basis for rally events and the annual Nitro Rallycross (NRX) event, while also designing the outrageous NRX track layout with its NASCAR-style banked corners and signature tri-level jump complex, including a massive 90-foot gap jump.
British Columbia native Brandon Semenuk has been putting his mark on rally in the U.S. and Canada since 2010. Competing first in a production WRX and then in a Subaru Canada-supported Crosstrek rally car, Semenuk has racked up five overall Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) event wins and a pair of North American Rally Cup (NARC) titles in the last three years. His achievements in U.S. events include an impressive 4th overall at Idaho Rally in 2018 – competing in a UTV against bigger, more powerful Open 4WD Class cars – and another 4th place finish in a privateer car at 2019’s Oregon Trail Rally with co-driver John Hall.
Like Pastrana, Semenuk’s rally career hasn’t meant slowing down on two wheels. His freeride mountain bike highlights include three FMB World Tour Gold Medals, three Red Bull Rampage victories—most recently in 2019—and five Red Bull Joyride titles, making him one of the most decorated freeride MTB athletes in history. He also stars in the Raw100 video series produced by Red Bull and his production house Revel Co., performing groundbreaking MTB stunts.
Subaru Motorsports USA’s 2020 rally calendar
20-21 March….100 Acre Wood Rally
25-26 April….DirtFish Olympus Rally
29-31 May….DirtFish Oregon Trail Rally
19-20 June….Southern Ohio Forest Rally
1 August-31 July….New England Forest Rally
28-29 August….Muscatell Ojibwe Forests Rally
18-19 September….Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally
16-17 October….Lake Superior Performance Rally
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