Brandon Semenuk Earns Fourth Consecutive ARA National Championship at Ojibwe Forests Rally
- masonrunkel
- Aug 27
- 9 min read
(Detroit Lakes, Minn – August 25, 2025) ~ Subaru Motorsports USA’s (SMSUSA) Brandon Semenuk and Keaton Williams survived pressure from a hard-charging rival, mechanical issues and a small fire to secure their fourth consecutive American Rally Association (ARA) National Championship at the Ojibwe Forests Rally, wrapping up the title with two rounds remaining in the 2025 ARA National Championship Presented by Kubota.
The win came after 145 of the most challenging stage miles the ARA has seen this year, spread across 20 stages over three days. Thirty-five teams battled terrain, weather, mechanical failures, and offs, pushing each other for every second on the sandy, flowing roads of northern Minnesota.
With dusty conditions on Friday, damp and rainy conditions on Saturday, spectator stages at both the start and finish of the rally, and some of the best roads North America has to offer, the 2025 Ojibwe Forests Rally delivered excitement from start to finish across the field.
Semenuk Wins Despite Early Lead from Martell
Despite Semenuk and Williams’ dominance during much of the 2025 National Championship, the Ojibwe Forests Rally proved to be one of their biggest challenges of the year.
At Thursday evening’s “Rock, Roll, and Rally Super Special” at Soo Pass Ranch in Detroit Lakes, the No. 21 2C Compétition Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 of Conner Martell and Alex Gelsomino came out on top, carrying a slim lead of half a second into Friday’s forest stages.
While the SMSUSA crew reclaimed the lead on SS3 Friday morning, it was short-lived as the Martell Racing duo racked up multiple stage wins, leading the rally by 15.6 seconds after SS9.
Facing a puncture on SS9, however, Martell lost about a minute of time to Semenuk and fell back to second, but Martell and Gelsomino rebounded Saturday morning with a stage win on SS11, the first stage of the day.
Unfortunately, the battle ended on the very next stage when a soft roll forced Martell into retirement, opening the door for Semenuk to take and hold the lead through power steering issues and a small fire on the second loop, clinching his fourth consecutive ARA National Championship.
“Nice to wrap up the championship early," Semenuk said after the rally. "Ojibwe is always a fun rally, but a really tricky one. It always feels like a big job for me, and probably an even bigger job for Keaton with how busy the notes are and how fast it is. It was eventful, but we got there in the end, and it’s another win and another championship, a good feeling."Williams added: "We haven’t lost a championship since we’ve been working together, so that's a big thing to be said. I’m happy for Subaru, happy for all the boys. They worked really hard in service after the little issue we had today, so kudos to them. I’m over the moon.”
After waiting for the second loop to finish so Martell’s car could be recovered from the forest, the 2C Compétition crew went to work, re-prepping the Fabia and sending Martell and Gelsomino back out to run the Power Stage and Bemidji Street Stage non-competitively.
The 2C Compétition team were awarded the 43i Institute Ken Block FLAT OUT 43VER Award for their efforts to repair the car. Their performance showed the press-on-regardless attitude to enable Martell and Gelsomino put on a show in the final few stages of the rally.
“It was a really good weekend,” Martell said after the rally. “I have a lot of learning to take away from this, and a lot of confidence to take away from this. [Saturday], obviously, didn't go the way we wanted, and we had a bit of an off and a really fast turn, got really lucky. But the car wasn’t in bad shape, so the guys threw some new doors on it, put a new windshield on, and we finished the last two stages.
“We won a lot of stages this weekend; we proved my pace, and we proved the Skoda and Rally2 class pace against an open class Subaru, so we'll be back in Tennessee, ready to battle again.”
Martell remains a strong contender to take second in the National Championship heading into the final two rounds, starting with Overmountain Rally Tennessee, Sept. 19-21.
Pastrana Tops LN4, Beats RC2 Field to Take Second Overall
In addition to Semenuk and Williams clinching the National Championship and overall rally win, SMSUSA’s other entry, with Travis Pastrana at the wheel and Rhianon Gelsomino alongside, brought home second overall, outpacing not only their Limited Four-Wheel-Drive class (L4WD) and Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel Drive class (NA4WD) rivals but also the highly competitive five-car RC2 field (including Martell).
On Saturday, while Semenuk and Martell’s battle raged, Pastrana moved into third by overtaking the Green APU Hyundai i20 R5 of Pat Gruszka and John Hall, who had held the spot at the start of the day.
On SS4, “Crossroads,” the NA4WD entry of Stephen and Katie Gingras slid off the road and needed to be pulled out. Meanwhile, the Open Four-Wheel-Drive (O4WD) Ford Focus RS of Cam Steely and Steve Harrell rounded a blind corner to find a massive rock—dragged onto the road by a previous competitor—and were unable to avoid it, ending their rally on the same stage.
The fifth stage brought even more drama as the RC2 Audi A1 Maxx Rally of Roberto Yglesias and David Ma caught fire, forcing retirement and triggering an SOS that stopped the stage.
As Pastrana built a gap, Gruszka and Hall traded stage wins with the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Javier Olivares and KJ Miller, who held fifth overall.
Despite dealing with power steering issues of their own, Pastrana and Gelsomino in the No. 199 Subaru ended the day in third overall, with Gruszka and Olivares close behind in the battle for the podium.
Electrical issues on Saturday’s opening stage forced Gruszka to retire, promoting Olivares to fourth. Martell’s retirement on the very next stage then elevated the Fiesta Rally2 into third, while Georgie Megennis and Michael Szewczyk’s Limited Four-Wheel-Drive (L4WD) Fiesta Rally3 climbed to fourth, and the Green APU Hyundai i20 R5 of Alastair Scully and Stefan Trajkov moved into fifth.
Despite a few shakeups in stage results, the overall standings at the top of the field remained unchanged through the rest of Saturday’s stages, allowing Pastrana and Gelsomino to secure second overall and the win in their combined Limited Four-Wheel-Drive and Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel-Drive class, LN4.
Megennis and Szewczyk secured second on the LN4 podium, improving on the pair’s third-place finish at their previous outing at Olympus Rally. Rounding out the class podium, Vincent Trudel and Glen Ray brought their 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STi home in third, also earning a $1,000 award as the highest-placing non-factory Subaru.
Third overall went to Olivares and Miller, who outlasted their competitors to claim the RC2 class victory alongside their overall podium finish.
“It was a really fun weekend!” Miller said. “Lots of drama that worked in our favor. We had a great time battling with Pat [Gruska] and watching Conner [Martell]. We are looking forward to the next one!”
Competitors Scully and Trajkov joined them on the RC2 podium, taking second in class.
Henry Tabor Earns First National Victory
In the Limited Two-Wheel-Drive (L2WD) class, the year-long battle between Mark Tabor and his son, Henry, added another chapter—this time with Henry and co-driver Dylan Hooker taking their Ford Fiesta ST to Henry’s first-ever national-level victory.
With L2WD class championship leader Chris Cyr undefeated so far in 2025 but absent from the Ojibwe Forests Rally, the door was open for a fresh face atop the podium. Having already notched three runner-up finishes this year, Henry seized the opportunity and went all-in.
Winning all but three stages, including a win on the Power Stage, Henry Tabor and Hooker dominated the rally. Building on Henry’s first national class podium last year at Ojibwe, they walked away with a perfect 25 points toward their L2WD championship campaign.
Second in the L2WD class went to Mark Tabor and co-driver Kathryn Hansen in their Ford Fiesta ST, taking the three stage wins that eluded Henry Tabor.
Mark spent much of the rally clawing back after a nearly two-minute time loss on SS3, but ten stages later, he overtook the Lexus IS250 of Scott Pedersen and Ryan Scott to move into second behind his son. Pedersen, running in his second rally ever, and co-driver Scott earned third in class.
In the Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) class, Seamus Burke and Gary McElhinney moved into the championship lead after winning an attrition-filled class battle by driving smart and keeping a steady pace.
Burke led the class after the first two spectator stages but dropped to third on Friday morning’s opening forest stage, as the BMW M3 of Matthew Nykanen and Lars Anderson moved into the lead and the Argonaut Motor Club Peugeot 208 Rally4 of Sean Donnelly and Zach Pfeil took second.
Burke then battled for third with the Lexus IS350 of Richo Healey and Michelle Miller, until Nykanen’s M3 caught a rock on SS5—bending a control arm, injuring Nykanen’s wrist, and the forcing the team’s retirement. Two stages later, Healey and Miller retired with a fuel leak, followed by Donnelly and Pfeil after an off on SS9, leaving Burke as the only O2WD car running at the end of the day.
When Healey and Donnelly returned on Saturday, Burke focused on managing his pace and securing the class win. Donnelly finished second; Healey came third and also claimed a Power Stage victory.
Dirty Urban Racing Team Takes First Win in Regional Rally
In another first-time winner story at Ojibwe, John and Aidan Hicks of the Dirty Urban Racing Team claimed their first-ever overall victory at the very same event where they began rallying five years ago.
Running alongside the national event and sharing all but the Power Stage, the 19-stage, three-day Ojibwe Forests Regional Rally offered entrants 134 stage miles and plenty of excitement.
Right from the start, Dustin Peterke and Robert Judge took the lead in their NA4WD 2000 Subaru Impreza, but after building only a 14-second advantage, an off on SS4 forced their retirement, allowing the Hicks’ NA4WD 1996 Subaru Impreza to inherit the lead.
From there, Hicks battled closely with the O2WD BMW 318i of Levi and Griffin Johnson, as little as one-tenth of a second separating the two after SS9, but an off at the very end of Saturday’s opening stage meant the BMW had to wait for a competitor to tug them out of the bushes, losing almost thirty minutes.
From there, the Dirty Urban Racing Team was largely uncontested for the overall regional lead, and after sliding around the wet Bemidji Street Stage to finish the rally, they were crowned the winners for the first time in their rally careers.
“We are so excited about our win,” Aidan Hicks said. “It was five years ago at the Ojibwe that we started rallying! The roads were fun, yet challenging, and it was great to have a clean event! It was just getting spicy this morning with Levi, and we were sorry to see that fight end early. Thanks to the competitors, volunteers, and organizers.”
Joining them on the NA4WD podium at the end of the day were second-place Jack Nelson and Isaac Zink, and third-place Matt and Jacqueline James.
Second overall went to the L4WD 2002 Subaru Impreza of Peter Farrow and Jackson Sedivy. The pair started third in class after Thursday night’s spectator stages but made quick work of their category on Friday, moving into second on SS4 and taking the lead on SS7, where they remained until the end of the rally.
"This was our fourth rally together, and Jackson was spot on," Farrow said. “We had a great time. Ojibwe is a cool combination of really fast areas and very technical, flowy stretches that keep it exciting. Fortunately, we were able to bring the car home. I'm excited to get our first overall podium! Big thanks to the organizers and volunteers for their hard work, and to the sponsors that keep it all going."
Sharing the L4WD podium with Farrow and Sedivy were Scott and Elizabeth Crouch in their 2002 Subaru WRX in second, and Jason Cook and Maggie Tu in their 2004 Subaru WRX in third.
Third overall went to the first-place O2WD finisher, the 1990 Volkswagen Jetta VR6 of Andy Cowan and John Vinti. The pair sat fourth overall heading into the final stage, but a missed turn from Crouch gave them the advantage they needed to take the podium spot by just seven-tenths of a second.
Cowan and Vinti entered Friday’s forest stages fourth in class after the opening spectator stages and steadily worked their way up, taking third on SS4 and finishing the day in second after moving up again on SS9.
Instead of inheriting the lead when Levi and Griffin Johnson went off on SS11 the following day, they were leapfrogged by the Chevrolet S10 of Scott Parrott and Shawn Silewski, who held the lead until their own off on SS14, handing the advantage back to Cowan and Vinti.
From there, the Jetta cruised to the finish, securing the class lead and an overall regional podium in the process.
Much like the National class, the regional O2WD category saw significant attrition, leaving just one other team on the class podium: the 2001 Ford Focus ZX3 of Drake Willis and Jacob Kohler in second.
Complete results: https://www.americanrallyassociation.org/event-results
~Mason Runkle for the ARA
Media Contact:
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