SALEM, Mo. – Barry McKenna and Leon Jordan of McKenna Motorsport won the 100 Acre Wood Rally over the weekend in a close finish.
The M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 drivers bested U.S. rally newcomers Oliver Solberg and Aaron Johnston of Subaru Motorsports USA by just 6.8 seconds to earn their first win in American Rally Ass’n competition.
David Higgins and Craig Drew rounded out the overall podium in third after overcoming electrical issues late in the rally.
Round two of the ARA National Rally Championship presented by AMSOIL brought intense competition and a lot of surprises throughout the field.
Seventy-five rally teams took on 125 miles of Missouri stage road outside of St. Louis this weekend, with stage mileage evenly split between 10 stages on Friday and six on Saturday.
Rainy weather in the week leading into the event set the stage, with soaked road surfaces, big water splashes and rough dried out sections dotting the way. The conditions made the traditionally fast gravel roads of the 100 Acre Wood Rally tricky to drive, sapping drivers’ confidence through unpredictable grip levels.
The fight for the overall podium steps was primarily between three cars: McKenna and Jordan, defending ARA champions Higgins and Drew and their teammates at Subaru Motorsports USA, 17-year-old rally phenom Solberg and Johnston.
At first, the Subarus had the advantage. Higgins and Drew won six of 10 stages on Friday, taking a 45-second lead by the end of the first day of competition, while Solberg and Johnston took wins on a further three of Friday’s stages.
Solberg was the first to run into trouble, when midway through Friday he clipped a large rock that caused a tire blowout. McKenna and Jordan took advantage of Solberg’s struggles to finish day one holding second overall with time in hand.
The battle between McKenna and Solberg continued throughout Saturday’s six stages and 63 stage miles as the two traded stage wins behind a leading Higgins.
However, on stage 14, a big shakeup at the front saw McKenna take on the rally lead and Solberg move up to second as Higgins was forced to stop on stage for five minutes with an electrical issue.
McKenna entered the final stage loop separated from Solberg in the Subaru by 45 seconds with just two stages and 22 miles to the finish. Solberg pushed hard to take 15 seconds on the penultimate stage, putting pressure on McKenna.
On the final stage of the rally, a spin for McKenna nearly ended it all, but a quick recovery saw him cross the flying finish with a 6.8 second lead.
While McKenna and Jordan have won stages at nearly every event they’ve driven and held multiple rally leads in the past, their best drives have been cut short by bad luck until this weekend.
Piotr Fetela and Dominik Jozwiak of the Fetela Rally Team took fourth overall at the 100 Acre Wood Rally. The pair fought a hard battle against two-time Limited 4WD champions Jeff Seehorn and Karen Jankowski of the AMSOIL Seehorn Rally Team.
The close fight ended with Seehorn’s retirement on stage 13 due to an engine failure. The fourth place finish maintains Fetela and Jozwiak’s lead in the National Rally Championship.
Fifth overall and first in the Limited 4WD class were Paddy Brennan and Matt James in the RKT Motorsports Mitsubishi Evo IX. The pair ran a consistent and clean rally while battling sixth overall and class runners-up Tim Rooney and Anthony Vohs of PMR Motorsport.
Brennan held the advantage for much of the weekend, but was almost caught by Rooney on Saturday morning after trying to run at a position maintenance pace. Rooney used the opportunity to gain over 30 seconds on Brennan, but it wasn’t enough for the class lead.
The battle for seventh overall and first in Open 2WD was between Lexus IS350 drivers Mike Hooper and Claudia Barbera of River City Rally, who brawled the entire weekend with reigning O2WD champion Seamus Burke and Darraugh Mullen in their V6 MKII Ford Escort.
Neither team held an advantage of more than 30 seconds at any point during the rally as both drove at their limits for 125 stage miles. The drivers jockeyed for position on Friday morning, until Burke’s Ford Escort lost power steering midway through the day.
The advantage went to Hooper, who used the opportunity to take the class lead and win.
Burke never backed off, narrowing the gap from 30 seconds at Saturday’s start to 16 by the rally’s final stage. Burke pushed so hard over the rally’s famous Cattle Guard Jump that he damaged his front left suspension on the landing, sending his front left wheel to 45 degrees positive camber.
He finished the last mile of stage road after the incident and transited 15 miles back to the podium to finish second in O2WD despite the damage.
Ninth overall and winners of the Naturally Aspirated 4WD class were newlyweds Nate and Marianna Usher in their Subaru WRX wagon. A recently replaced motor increased the team’s performance while also enhancing the reliability of their car.
While 75 cars started the event, 35 succumbed to the challenging conditions of the 100 Acre Wood Rally.