Subaru Motorsports USA driver Travis Pastrana and co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino placed first in the Limited 4-Wheel Drive (L4WD) class and took third place overall at this year’s Southern Ohio Forest Rally (SOFR). Defending American Rally Association (ARA) champion Brandon Semenuk and co-driver Keaton Williams had an off during the rally’s second day but came back strong with a Powerstage win to close the weekend with valuable championship points.
The 2025 SOFR kicked off with Thursday evening’s tarmac stages in downtown Chillicothe, ending with a jump that saw some competitors landing interesting angles — in one case crossing the finish line backwards. Friday’s forest stages proved challenging for many drivers – conditions shifted from dry, where gravel was loose and marble-like, to wet with periodic rain – sometimes from one end of a stage to the other. Semenuk and Willams found themselves off-course during Friday’s SS5, ending their efforts for the day.
The team was able to get their WRX ARA25 back out for Saturday’s final stages. “Obviously, yesterday wasn’t a great day for us but we came back today,” said Semenuk early Saturday. “The boys got the car back together and it was awesome.”
Pastrana and Gelsomino’s new WRX ARA25L, affectionally known as “Stitch”, had its own challenges to face. “Started off the day really well,” said Pastrana on Friday, “super excited by how the car is handling – unfortunately we had a little bit of a mechanical issue,” Pastrana noted as the hot, humid Ohio June tested the ARA25L. These teething problems are to be expected when developing through the season – despite them, the car is proving to be everything expected and then some, competing with many of the much faster Rally 2 cars even before all the kinks are worked through.
The skill and experience of the pair allowed them to push the ARA25L to a first-place finish in class (L4WD) and third place overall. In a nice throwback, Pastrana’s fellow Marylander and once Subaru Rally Team USA driver Bucky Lasek finished second in L4WD. “A lot of stuff happened to a lot of people,” said Pastrana afterwards, “but at the end of the day we’re super excited. Learned a lot, had a lot of fun.”
Semenuk and Williams’ Saturday was a vast improvement over Friday: “Really enjoyed the driving, really enjoyed the stages,” said the three-time ARA champ, who remains focused on winning his fourth in a row. “The Powerstage, it rained but we managed to win that and get the points. We’ll look forward to Ojibwe.”
The Ojibwe Forests Rally takes place August 21-23, after a short summer break for ARA National events. Pastrana, Gelsomino, and Stitch will be back in L4WD action at the ARA Super Regional Rally Colorado event, July 19-20.
