This year’s 100 Acre Wood Rally was one of the most exciting U.S. rally events in years. A star-studded field of 75 teams from around the world descended on Missouri this past weekend to take on round 2 of the American Rally Association championship.
Barry McKenna and Leon Jordan of McKenna Motorsports won the 2019 100 Acre Wood Rally in an incredibly close finish. The M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 Turbo drivers bested U.S. rally newcomers Oliver Solberg and Aaron Johnston of Subaru Motorsports USA by a mere 6.8 seconds to earn their first win in American Rally Association competition.
If the Solberg name sounds familiar, that’s because Oliver is the son of 2003 WRC champion Petter Solberg, the last man not named Sebastien to win a WRC drivers' title. The 100 Acre was the 17-year-old rally phenom’s first in the U.S. as a Subaru factory driver and, believe it not, his first time driving a 4WD car on gravel.
Other close battles were fought up and down the field, but none more evenly matched than in the Open 2WD class. Lexus IS350 drivers Mike Hooper and Claudia Barbera of River City Rally brawled the entire weekend with 2018 O2 champion Seamus Burke and Darragh Mullen in their JRD Rallysport USA prepared V6 MKII Ford Escort.
The 100 Acre Wood Rally saw teams tackle 125 miles of competitive stages March 15-16 in Missouri’s Ozarks region, a forested mountain range 100 miles from the Midwest city of St. Louis and 225 miles from Kansas City. Stage mileage was evenly split between 10 stages on Friday and six on Saturday. The rally, now in its 25th year, is known for its high-speed straights, deep water crossings, extreme elevation changes and the famous cattle guard jump.
Rainy weather in the week leading into the event set the stage — soaked roads, bigger than normal water splashes and rough dried-out sections dotted the racing surface. The conditions made the traditionally fast gravel roads of the 100 Acre Wood Rally tricky to drive by creating unpredictable grip levels, sapping drivers’ confidence.
At first, the Subarus had the advantage. The longer wheelbase and slight power advantage made them more stable than the competition in the rally’s high-speed sweeping corners. David Higgins and Craig Drew took the early initiative to win six of 10 stages on Friday and earn a 45-second lead by the end of the day, while Solberg and Johnston took wins on a further three of Friday’s stages. But Solberg ran into trouble midway through Friday when he clipped a large rock and suffered a tire blowout, dropping a minute and causing minor body damage to the car. McKenna and Jordan took advantage of Solberg’s struggles to finish day 1 holding second overall with time in hand.
The battle between McKenna and Solberg continued throughout Saturday’s six stages and 63 stage miles as the two crews traded stage wins behind a leading Higgins. But on stage 14, a big shakeup at the front saw McKenna take on the rally lead and Solberg move up to second as Higgins was forced to stop on stage for five minutes with an electrical issue.
McKenna, in the Ford, entered the final stage loop separated from Solberg, in the Subaru, by 45 seconds with just two stages and 22 miles to the finish. Solberg knew he had to push hard and took 15 seconds from the Ford on the penultimate stage, putting pressure on McKenna. On the final stage, a spin for McKenna nearly ended it all, but a quick recovery saw him cross the flying finish while holding a 6.8-second lead.
The win is McKenna and Jordan’s first in the American Rally Association. While they’ve won stages at nearly every event they’ve driven and held multiple rally leads in the past, their best drives have been cut short by bad luck until this weekend.
The Open 2WD (O2) class win at 100 Acre was one of the most exciting fights we’ve seen in ARA. Lexus IS350 drivers Mike Hooper and Claudia Barbera of River City Rally brawled the entire weekend with 2018 O2 champion Seamus Burke and Darragh Mullen in their JRD Rallysport USA prepared V6 MKII Ford Escort.
Neither team held an advantage of more than 30 seconds at any point during the rally as both drove at their limits for 125 stage miles. The drivers jockeyed for position on Friday morning until Burke’s Ford Escort lost power steering midway through the day. The advantage went to Hooper, who used the opportunity to take the class lead — a position he fought to maintain for the rest of the rally.
Burke never backed off despite the troubles; he won several stages on Saturday to narrow the gap from 30 seconds at Saturday’s start to 16 by the rally’s final stage. Burke pushed so hard over the rally’s famous Cattle Guard Jump that he damaged his front left suspension on the landing, the front wheel barely staying attached. He finished the last mile of stage road after the incident and transited 15 miles back to the podium to finish second in O2 despite the damage.
With a fourth overall finish, Sno*Drift Rally winners Piotr Fetela and Dominik Jozwiak maintain their ARA championship lead. Fifth overall were RKT Motorsports drivers Paddy Brennan and Matt James. In a career-best class finish with ARA, the Mitsubishi Evo IX drivers won the Limited 4WD class.
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