New England Forest Rally

Last updated
Ramana Lagemann during the 2010 New England Forest Rally Ramana Lagemann New England 2010 004.jpg
Ramana Lagemann during the 2010 New England Forest Rally

The New England Forest Rally is a performance rally event in New Hampshire and Maine, United States. Originally known as the Maine Forest Rally, it first appeared in 1991 as a winter rally. In the past, the event was part of the SCCA ProRally and Rally America schedule, now it is sanctioned by the American Rally Association.

Contents

The event is held mainly on logging roads with some of the longest stages in North America rallying. As the event is held during July, the road conditions are often dry and dusty.

In 1994 the Maine Summer Rally was added. The event ran as a 60% National/Divisional and as a full National event starting in 1995. In 1996 an in-town spectator stage was added to the summer event to the delight of the spectators. The most recent in-town stages, held at the Mexico Recreation Area, have featured a 1 meter high man-made jump.

At its peak, the Maine Forest Rally had the highest number of starting cars in the SCCA ProRally series. The 2001 event, with 121 National and ClubRally starting teams, broke the 111 car starting record held by the 2000 Maine Forest Rally. As a bellwether of the event's success, it was voted the SCCA's ProRally of the Year in 1992 and again in 2001.

In 2007, the name of the event was changed to the New England Forest Rally to better reflect the continued growth of the event by expanding to include stages in the city of Berlin, New Hampshire.

Notable competitors

Ken Block during the 2010 New England Forest Rally Ken Block New England 2010 009.jpg
Ken Block during the 2010 New England Forest Rally

The 1999 event saw 1984 World Rally Champion Stig Blomqvist drive the late Carl Merrill's Ford Escort Cosworth to victory over 83 National and Divisional teams.

In 2007, freestyle motocross star turned rally driver Travis Pastrana drove a Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STi to victory.

Ken Block, co-founder of DC Shoe Co. and rally driver competed at the New England Forest Rally regularly.

John Buffum, the most successful American-born rally driver ever, was a key organizer of the event, and in 2008, he drove his Group B Audi Quattro on the first stage of the event.

Past winners [1] [2]

YearDriver / NavigatorVehicleTimeNotes
1994Paul Choinere
Jeff Becker		 Audi S2 Quattro 1:15:43
1995Carl Merrill
John Bellefluer		 Ford Escort Cosworth 1:57:41
1996Paul Choinere
Jeff Becker		 Hyundai Elantra AWD 1:55:31
1997Frank Sprongl
Dan Sprongl		 Audi S2 Quattro 1:48:30
1998Paul Choinere
Jeff Becker		 Hyundai Tiburon 1:37:47
1999 Stig Blomqvist
Lance Smith		 Ford Escort RS Cosworth 1:39:58
2000Paul Choinere
Jeff Becker		 Hyundai Tiburon AWD 1:27:52
2001Seamus Burke
Frank Cunningham		 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI 1:28:44
2002 Mark Lovell
Steve Turvey		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:51:18
2003 David Higgins
Daniel Barritt 		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 1:40:42
2004Paul Choinere
Jeff Becker		 Hyundai Tiburon AWD 1:29:24
2005Patrick Richard
Nathalie Richard 		Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1:15:22
2006Ramana Lagemann
Michael Fennell		 Ford Escort RS Cosworth 1:06:08One stage cancelled.
2007 Travis Pastrana
Christian Bjorn Edstrom 		Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1:11:40
2008 Niall McShea
Marshall Clarke		 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 1:26:23
2009 Travis Pastrana
Christian Bjorn Edstrom 		Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1:06:552 stages cancelled.
2010 Antoine L'Estage
Nathalie Richard 		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1:31:41
2011 Antoine L'Estage
Nathalie Richard 		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1:32:34
2012 Antoine L'Estage
Nathalie Richard 		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1:10:11
2013 Ken Block
Alessandro Gelsomino		 Ford Fiesta RS WRC 1:34:34
2014 David Higgins
Craig Drew 		Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1:24:53
2015 David Higgins
Craig Drew 		Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1:30:19
2016Seamus Burke
Martin Brady 		Mitsubishi Evolution IX 1:29:33
2017 Travis Pastrana
Robbie Durant & Grzegorz Dorman		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1:29:36
2018 David Higgins
Craig Drew 		Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1:13:283 stages cancelled.
2019 David Higgins
Craig Drew 		Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1:22:30
2020not held
2021 David Higgins
Craig Drew 		Ford Fiesta S2000 1:23:11
2022 Brandon Semenuk
Keaton Williams		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1:27:27
2023 Brandon Semenuk
Keaton Williams		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi 31:11Second leg cancelled
due to a fatal accident. [3] [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "NEFR Past Winners". New England Forest Rally. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  2. ↑ Shacki. "New England / Maine Forest Rally - eWRC-results". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  3. ↑ Evans, David (2023-07-15). "New England Forest Rally canceled after co-driver fatality". DirtFish. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  4. ↑ Shacki. "Stage results New England Forest Rally 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
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