For Subaru Motorsports USA, it was no surprise that driver Brandon Semenuk and co-driver Keaton Williams secured their second win in a row for the 2022 season at Olympus Rally in April. The two drivers were so skilled, they earned a total of six stage wins including the five-point bonus for the Power Stage and extending their dominance in the American Rally Association (ARA) competition. Fellow Subaru teammates Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino also finished well, earning second place in the title race with six rounds left in the nine-event calendar.
“Olympus is one of my favorite events on the calendar,” said Semenuk after the victory. “These forest stages are the kind of roads I learned to rally on, so I feel right at home here. Last year I was putting together a solid rally and just got caught out with a crash in a really slick section, so to get my first Olympus victory and some redemption this time out is an awesome feeling.”
Semenuk and Williams had a strong initial showing on the first day of the rally, topping the first stage competition and getting second place on the next two to keep the overall lead. While Pastrana and Gelsomino stayed near their teammates in second, rival Barry McKenna fell back with a spin and stall on SS2 and Ken Block unfortunately crashed on SS3. The two Subaru groups secured the top two positions during the day’s second three-stage loop, with Semenuk getting closer to Pastrana’s time with 7.9 seconds, all while McKenna worked hard to reduce the gap from third place. The remaining two Saturday stages brought trouble for Pastrana, who had a spin on SS7 followed by an electrical issue on SS8 that dropped the defending champion to third overnight, but Semenuk maintained the rally lead into Sunday with a 32.7-second margin over McKenna.
The day’s last event carried more attrition, with McKenna going off the road during the first running of the notorious Wildcat stage while striving to narrow the gap. The 2020 winner’s retirement made room for the two Subaru teammates at the top of the field and set up a showdown on the event’s final stage for Power Stage bonus points. Semenuk and Williams capped their dominant performance with a 15-second win over Pastrana and Gelsomino, securing the maximum points for the weekend and increasing their championship points total to 52 ahead of Pastrana and Gelsomino with 37, McKenna and Leon Jordan with 19 and Block and Alex Gelsomino with 17.
Subaru Motorsports USA is scheduled to return to the rally stages at Oregon Trail Rally, May 20-22.
