#75 Subaru WRX STI Wins NEFR; Watch Ken Block’s Car Burn to a Crisp [Video]

It was an exciting weekend at the New England Forest Rally. David Higgins and Craig Drew are the New England Forest Rally overall winners, with 2nd going to Jeff Seehorn and Karen Jankowski and Travis Pastrana and Robbie Durant rounding out the podium.

David Higgins in the #75 Subaru WRX STI led from start to finish and never looked back. Travis Pastrana in the #199 Subaru WRX STI was close behind in second place. Higgins and Pastrana were just 7.4 seconds apart after the first three stages but with the combination Pastrana missing a corner and Higgins turning up the heat on stage 4, the gap extended to 50.3 seconds by the end of the day.

The big news was Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino suffered heartbreak when the team's 1991 Group A Escort Cosworth burned to the ground immediately following a crash on the day's fourth stage. Block says the Cossie's transmission failed to downshift while setting up a corner sending him and Gelsomino over a large rock, and rolling twice before landing on its wheels. The car immediately caught fire from under the hood. The pair jumped out as the fire spread too quickly to save the car, and it burned to the ground. Before the accident, Block had been competing for an overall podium position and was setting strong stage times.

Day two saw Higgins and Drew push the pace as another Subaru WRX STI driven by Jeff Seehorn and co-pilot Karen Jankowski passed Pastrana and Durant to move into second place. It was a strong finish for the Subaru brand as they finished the New England Forester Rally one-two-three as Higgins keeps the lead in the ARA Championship standings. Next up for the factory SRTUSA Subaru WRX STIs is Ojibwe Forests Rally August 24 -25, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

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Photo credit: Subaru Motorsports