The Rally America National Championship racing calendar is about to heat up here real soon. On August 23-24 the sixth round kicks off with the Ojibwe Forests Rally. And PIAA is proud to be sponsoring two teams competing in the race this year, the
Subaru Rally Team USA and the FY Racing Team.
The location for the
Ojibwe Forests Rally is set amidst the towering cedar trees and picturesque lakes of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. This is the first time the race has been held there, but many drivers know of the area’s twisting and turning roads from practice runs and other races. The course can be challenging due to sandy spots in the roads that slow drivers down. The
PIAA HID lights that both teams are using will help them spot those rough spots before they become problems.
There will be plenty of teams competing in the event and the competition for the
Subaru Rally Team USA and the
FY Racing team will be tough. Let’s take a look at how both teams have fared this year so far.
Subaru Rally Team USADavid Higgins and Craig Drew lead the
Subaru Rally Team USA and they’re set on a victory. Already the team’s won two consecutive Rally America National Championships, and they could be poised to take a third as well.
The teams had some setbacks this year, and some real close finishes. Once you might even say they were robbed! We’ll see if those earlier setbacks this year against the Ford Rally Team piloted by Ken Block can be reversed later this month. Block took first in the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally in late May and the New England Forest Rally in late July. Both races saw the
Subaru Rally Team USA nearing a victory when first place was lost to Ken Block. You can be sure that the #75 of Higgins and Drew won’t let the same thing happen again in August.
Prior to that it’s been a great year for the team so far. Higgins and Drew took first place at the Oregon Trail Rally at the beginning of May and third at the Susquehannock Trail Rally at the end of the month. They came in second at the New England Forest Rally, just 6/10 of a second behind first place. It must have been agony coming so close just a few weeks ago, and you can bet that the Subaru Rally Team USA won’t be doing that again.
FY Racing TeamFY Racing Team will really have their work cut out for them when it comes to the
Ojibwe Forests Rally this month. Drivers Adam Yeoman and Jordan Schulze had some troubles last year, the main one being a monumental crash in the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally.
The team roared off the road going 75mph and slammed right into a medium-sized tree. Yeoman was knocked-out when both the door frame and roll cage collapsed, and it took Schulze a good 30 seconds to wake him up. Instead of winding up at the finish line they wound up in the hospital.
Both Yeoman and Schulze are ready to get back out there and tear up the track, as they’ve been doing all year. They will be taking a page from the playbook they were using earlier in the year, and show resiliency once again in the upcoming race.
The year got off to a decent start for
FY Racing Team with a 5th place finish at the Sno*Drift Rally in January and an 8th place finish at the 100 Acre Wood Rally in February. Things quickly went downhill from there. Over the course of the next five months Yeoman and Schulze did not finish a single race. They’ll have their work cut out for them when they take to the roads at Objibwe.
PIAA Sponsorship
At
PIAA we’re proud to be sponsoring these two great teams. We manufacture only the best racing lights and racing professionals all agree they’re top of the line. Our lenses are computer designed and or strong enough to withstand the rough and tumble road conditions that you’ll find on the
Rally America National Championship circuit.
The
PIAA HID Lights will help out both
Subaru Rally Team USA and
FY Racing Team when they take to the stages at the Ojibwe Forests Rally this month.