PORTLAND, OR — Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana took his first win of the 2008 Rally America season at the Oregon Trail Rally this weekend.

“It was a wild, wild event,” said Pastrana at the finish. “We definitively needed this win.”

Pastrana and co-driver Derek Ringer put in a consistently fast performance throughout the brutal three-day contest, while many other contenders crashed out or fell victim to mechanical problems.

Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard and co-driver Marc Goldfarb earned second place in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, vaulting the team into the overall championship lead.

“We’re ecstatic to be leading the championship right now,” said Comrie-Picard. “So far this season we’ve been aiming for consistent finishes to earn solid points, and now we’re looking forward to turning up the heat.”

Third place went to Carl Jardevall and co-driver Amity Trowbridge in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII. The veteran west coast driver isn’t a regular in the series, but has a history of success at this event.

“I don’t know if I feel that I belong here,” said Jardevall. “But we’ll take it.”

The contest was a battle of attrition and many teams took a beating over the weekend. The area roads are technical in nature, featuring what’s known as a crown – where the road is higher in the center and slopes down to the ditches – that can easily unbalance a competition vehicle if the driver strays off the ideal line.

Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block and up-and-comer Matt Johnson both found themselves out of the contest on Day 2 after off-road excursions. Johnson’s Hankook-Rallispec Subaru went off road on Stage 6, while Block retired his Monster Energy Subaru one stage later. BMX superstar Dave Mirra also slid his Subaru off the road on Day 2. Young driver Kyle Sarasin also crashed out of the contest, winding up off road on Day 3 while battling for third place.

The Rockstar Energy team again struggled with the reliability trouble that has plagued their competition cars this season. Both Tanner Foust and Andy Pinker failed to finish.

After battling engine trouble on the first two days, 2007 X Games gold medalists Foust and co-driver Chrissie Beavis were holding strong in second place. But they left the second service break of Day 3 with ailing brakes and then crashed out on a tough corner.

Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant – who have earned the win here in each of the two previous years - were off the pace from the start, and were out of the contest by Day 2.

An exciting duel between drivers Stephan Verdier and Pitor Wiktorczyk for the Production GT lead ended in a pair crashes on Day 3. Both Verdier, and co-driver Scott Crouch – who ended Day 2 in the class lead – and Piotr Wiktorczyk, and co-driver Benjamin Slocum, were both out of the contest early on the third day.

In the end it was Pat Moro and co-driver Mike Rossey who took the Production GT class win, and a finish of fourth-place overall in their Subaru WRX.

“I feel bad for Stephan and Pitor,” said Moro. “It was a battle of attrition.”

Rounding out the top-five were Nathan and Brandye Conley, in their Production GT Subaru WRX wagon.

It is expected that the top teams after the first five championship rounds will receive an invitation to compete at the X Games.

Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant entered Round 4 of the Rally America championship in a four-way tie for 19th overall in the standings. A poor showing at this event makes the duo a long shot for the high-profile Los Angeles contest this summer.

But Comrie-Picard, Johnson, Kyle Sarasin and Moro were all optimistic about their chances. It would be the first X Games for Johnson and Sarasin. Comrie-Picard competed in 2006 and 2007, while Moro was at the 2007 contest.

The Oregon Trail Rally also served as Round 1 of the Max Attack! Triple Crown Rally Series, a three-event series is set up to reward drivers of two-wheel drive vehicles.

Andrew Havas and co-driver Pete Pollard drove to the two-wheel drive victory in their Group 5 Honda Civic.

The Group 2 class victory went to Michel Hoche-Mong and co-driver Jimmy Brandt in their Volkswagen GTI, while the father-daughter team of Jim and Marianne Stevens were the sole finishers in the Production class in their 2004 Suzuki Swift.

The three-day contest included 14 competitive stages, with the action starting at the Portland International Raceway on Friday, before moving to the challenging logging roads near Vernonia, and Hillsboro on Saturday and Sunday.

Unpredictable weather in the area often means damp conditions, but drivers arrived at the Portland International Raceway on Friday to temperatures hovering in the 90s. Heat and dust were a factor – even though snow threatened the region just weeks ago.

All results are considered informational pending official rally procedures Sunday night.

The 2008 Rally America National Championship series consists of nine exciting events throughout the country in many different weather and road conditions spanning the forest logging roads in Minnesota, the high-altitude Yampa River Valley in Northwest Colorado to the Pacific Northwest forest and coast paths.

About Rally America
Based in Golden Valley, Minn., Rally America sanctions the premier rally racing series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2008, Rally America will conduct nine National Championship events at venues across the country, from Pomeroy, Wash., to Bethel, Maine. Rally America competitors reach speeds well over 100mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses of gravel, dirt or snow. Additionally, through a partnership with ESPN, qualifying Rally America drivers will be invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the annual leading action-sport event that is broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. For more information, visit www.rally-america.com.