Purpose: To follow Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) and other Subaru teams at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood around Salem, Missouri, February 24-25, 2011
Start/Finish: Drive Performance headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Distance: 1,516.4 miles round trip
Distance:
- According to mapping services -- 1,016 miles point to point
- Actual (with drives to Parc Expose, service, and spectator stages both rally days) -- 1,516.4 miles
Major routes to Rally in the 100 Acre Woods:
- Wisconsin: State Trunk Highway 83, Interstate 43, Interstate 90
- Illinois: Interstates 90, 39, 55
- Missouri: Interstates 55, 44
Fuel consumption: 59.8 gallons
Mileage: 25.4 mpg
I've attended this rally four years in a row. Weather has always been a factor in the form of rain or snow.
For 2012, we contended with clear skies and breezy conditions. The stars appeared unusually bright along with the sliver of a moon in the clear sky Friday night. Only the cold hampered spectator comfort. (It figures that the thermometer hit the 70s the day before the rally and the 60s the day after. Temperatures were in the 40s on rally days.)
SRT USA driver/co-driver David Higgins/Craig Drew battled Ken Block/Alex Gelsomino all weekend, finally finishing 2nd only 29 seconds off the pace and almost 9 minutes ahead of the 3rd-place car. Find details and complete results at the Rally America site and video coverage on YouTube. For videos, photographs, and articles about SRT USA at Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, go to the Subaru rally website.
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SRT USA Performance in the |
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Round/Date |
Event/ Location |
Driver |
Finishing Position |
Driver Standings |
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Round 1 – January 27-28 |
Sno*Drift Rally Atlanta, Michigan |
David Higgins |
1 |
1 |
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Round 2 – February 24-25 |
Rally in the 100 Acre Wood Salem, Missouri |
David Higgins |
2 |
1 |
After two rounds in the Rally America National Championship, open-class driver Higgins leads the Drivers' Championship over 2nd-place Subaru racer Travis Hansen (competing in the Super Production class) by 15 points.
There are four rounds to go, with the next one in Portland, Oregon, May 4-6.
Travel in the Drive Performance (DP) WRX
This was one of the last trips that we'll have in the DP WRX. The first third of our trip south from Milwaukee took us through a rainstorm that would eventually dump 7 inches of snow back in Milwaukee. The rest of the trip took place on dry roads of various surfaces -- from paved interstate to one-lane gravel. The winter tires pulled the car through the water and gravel with ease, and I was happy to have them on the car.
However, southeastern Missouri has some great fun-to-drive roads that don't stop twisting, turning, climbing, and descending. Travel to the different stages throughout the weekend routed us onto some of these roads. I suspect you could drive that part of Missouri for weeks before taking on all of them. They made me yearn for the summer tires sitting in the closet back at headquarters.
Taking to the road in the DP WRX also reunited me with the sound of a subwoofer while playing music in the car. I've missed the bass notes provided by the Genuine Subaru Accessories® 10-Inch Powered Subwoofer in the car's trunk. Many of the miles traveled during the trip were spent listening to my favorite travel music.
High wind played a large role in the weekend's travel -- especially for the return trip to Milwaukee on Sunday. Most of the day, the wind was behind the car. As a result, it achieved more than 28 miles per gallon at interstate highway speeds. (According to the car's computer display, it was more than 31 miles per gallon for most of the ride through Illinois.)
I didn't want to park the WRX in its storage space on Monday. Part of my reluctance was the familiarity with the car and enjoying how it drives. Another part had to do with weather; a winter storm was predicted, and I like how the Bridgestone Blizzak™ tires handle in the snow. The car has carried me more than 35,000 miles, and I have become emotionally attached ...
Side Trip to Ha Ha Tonka State Park
In some extra touring before the rally started on Friday, I drove northwest of Rolla to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. It's worth a visit if only for its name!
The park features a number of trails, waterfalls, natural stone formations, and the stone walls of a burned-out mansion. Built in the first decade of the 20th century, the mansion was eventually leased as a hotel. It burned in 1942.
Like the roads encountered following the rally stages, the ones leading to Ha Ha Tonka are also worth the drive.
-- Ric Hawthorne
