BEMIDJI, MN -- Defending Rally America champion Travis Pastrana is narrowly in the lead as the battle for the 2007 title heats up at Day 2 of Minnesota’s Ojibwe Forests Rally.

Subaru Rally Team USA’s Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom began the day leading the Syms Rockstar Energy team of Tanner Foust and co-driver Chrissie Beavis by 42 seconds. But a flat tire on Stage 12 cost them much of that margin and, by the mid-afternoon service break, their lead had shrunk to just 11 seconds.

“This is the most frustrating rally,” said Pastrana on Saturday. “I think the tire was low for the first couple of corners on Stage 12… then it went flat.”

Pastrana said he opted to continue through the remaining 10 miles of the stage on the flat tire, rather than making a two-minute stop to change it. It was a risky move, as running on a flat tire can damage to a competition vehicle. But the gamble paid off. The team lost only about 35 seconds and their Subaru pulled into the mid-day service stop without any obvious signs of damage.

With much of the day’s racing still to go – including a final stage measuring more than 20 miles in length -- Pastrana and Edstrom’s misfortune opened the door to a win for Foust and Beavis.

“We have to try and capitalize on their bad luck,” said Foust. “The last stage will make the race – everything else is just setting up for it.”

This event marks a return to the series for Foust and Beavis, who earned a gold medal at the X Games Rally earlier this month. Foust, who is also a top threat in the Formula D drifting series, had to miss the two previous rounds due to scheduling conflicts.

With three stages remaining, Pastrana’s Subaru Rally Team USA teammates Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino were in third place, some 17 seconds behind Foust and Beavis.

Bad luck befell Foust’s Syms Rockstar Energy teammates Andrew Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant. They pulled into the afternoon service break trailing plumes of white smoke from their Subaru and the team’s mechanics immediately set to work changing the turbocharger.

Pinker said the car lost boost on Stage 12, but that he felt they had been losing power all day. The turbo trouble put them more than a minute out of podium contention and could threaten their championship lead. A win by Pastrana at this race could topple Pinker from the top of the standings.

“We’re just going to take a conservative setup and try and get to the end,” said Pinker. “We need to try and take maximum points.”

Dry conditions in the northern Minnesota area meant dust was a factor and teams said they struggled with poor visibility.

In fifth place by mid-day Saturday were the Production GT class leaders Stephan Verdier and Scott Crouch.

This rally features nearly 150 miles of stage miles spread over two days. The roads are smooth and fast, but marked by soft, sandy spots that can spell trouble.

It appeared that the Production GT class teams found most of that trouble. Matt Johnson and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey rolled over early on Day 1, Tim Penasack and co-driver Scott Putnam had an off-road excursion, and “Cowboy” Kenny Bartram and co-driver Dennis Hotson also had a rollover. There were no injuries reported.

Entering this weekend’s rally, the top three drivers in the 2007 Rally America standings are separated by just 12 points. Pinker and co-driver Durant lead the standings, 86-77, over Pastrana and co-driver Edstrom.

Block and Gelsomino are third, while Pinker’s RockStar Energy Drink teammates Foust and Beavis are fourth with 55 points.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads. The Rally America national championship consists of nine events nationwide.

Rally America, a Minneapolis, Minnesota based corporation, holds the sanctioning and marketing rights to the Rally America Championship and also organizes the marquee X Games Rally Car Race.

Complete television coverage of the 2007 Rally America Championship and the 2007 Summer X Games airs on ABC and ESPN.