Subaru's reborn rally team beaten by privateer at season-opening Sno*Drift [w/video]
 

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[URL="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/02/subarus-reborn-rally-team-beaten-by-privateer-at-season-opening/#continued"][IMG]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/02/sno-drift-630.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[CENTER][B][I] Sno Drift Rally - Click above to watch the video [URL="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/02/subarus-reborn-rally-team-beaten-by-privateer-at-season-opening/#continued"]after the jump[/URL][/I][/B][/CENTER]

After losing both [URL="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/ken block"]Ken Block[/URL] and [URL="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/travis pastrana"]Travis Pastrana[/URL] last year, [URL="http://www.autoblog.com/make/subaru"]Subaru's[/URL] American rally efforts are undergoing a bit of rebuilding. The factory-backed Pleiades team took to the stages for the first time this season at Sno*Drift 2011 in Atlanta, Michigan, and despite a solid effort, driver [URL="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/dave mirra"]Dave Mirra[/URL] found himself three minutes and 53.1 seconds behind the father and son team of Travis and Terry Hanson in their 2007 [URL="http://www.autoblog.com/model/wrx+sti"]Subaru Impreza WRX STI[/URL]. Their win made United States rallying history as the duo became the first Super Production class effort to win a National Rally America event.

Day one saw Sno*Drift favorites Antoine L'Estage and David Higgins both forced to retire, leaving the Hanson duo to widen the gap between themselves and their closest competitors. Mirra, meanwhile, was handicapped by a tire puncture that saw the factory Subaru team fall all the way to fifth place before clawing its way back to take the silver.

The Hanson team was joined on the podium by Joseph Burke, another Super Production class contender. Burke was last year's Rookie of the Year, and managed to give Mirra a solid fight for second place despite limited experience on snow and ice. [URL="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/02/subarus-reborn-rally-team-beaten-by-privateer-at-season-opening/#continued"]Hit the jump[/URL] for an excellent recap video.

[Source: [URL="http://www.rally-america.com/news/868/"]Rally-America[/URL]][URL="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/02/subarus-reborn-rally-team-beaten-by-privateer-at-season-opening/"]Continue reading [I]Subaru's reborn rally team beaten by privateer at season-opening Sno*Drift [w/video][/I][/URL]

[URL="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/02/subarus-reborn-rally-team-beaten-by-privateer-at-season-opening/"]Subaru's reborn rally team beaten by privateer at season-opening Sno*Drift [w/video][/URL] originally appeared on [URL="http://www.autoblog.com"]Autoblog[/URL] on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:31:00 EST. Please see our [URL="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/"]terms for use of feeds[/URL].

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