Redd Tops Tour de Forest in Ford Fiesta R5
- masonrunkel
- Oct 9
- 5 min read
(Shelton, Wash., October 9, 2025) ~ Steven Redd and Dylan Hooker emerged victorious from a stacked 45-car field at this year’s Tour de Forest Rally (TDF) in Shelton, Washington, October 4. The one-day event is second-to-last of the 2025 American Rally Association (ARA) West Regional Championship.
Behind the wheel of their 2014 Ford Fiesta R5, entered in the Open Four-Wheel-Drive (O4WD) class, the pair won half the stages to secure victory by a margin of 30.1 seconds, marking their first win in their new-to-them R5.
The compact one-day schedule of Tour de Forest meant competitors had to push flat-out from the start, with little room to recover lost time across the relatively tight 34 special stage miles of Washington’s famed logging roads, shared with April’s Olympus Rally, round three of the ARA National Championship Presented by Kubota.
After completing reconnaissance on Saturday morning, teams tackled two loops of the “The Dirty Cowbell” and “Jackpot” stages, battling for the win in the penultimate round of the ARA West Regional Championship.
Redd and Hooker Dominate for First Win in the Fiesta R5
After making their maiden run in the Ford Fiesta R5 in May at the Oregon Trail Rally, Redd and Hooker returned for the second outing at the Tour de Forest Rally. Despite placing third in class in Oregon, they hit the TDF stages hard from the start and left nothing on the table in pursuit of victory on Saturday.
Right away, they jumped into the lead with a 13-second advantage on SS1 and widened that gap over most of the field on SS2, only being beaten by the 2007 Subaru WRX of Drew Coley and Chad Holloway. They followed that up with a narrow 0.4-second win on SS3 over Cooper Anderson and Ethan Curtis’ 2005 WRX.
Although the final stage of the rally went to Josh Gierman and Gavin Bowen in their Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel-Drive (NA4WD) 2000 Subaru Impreza, Redd and Hooker’s consistency across the stages earned them a commanding 30.1-second overall victory — their first win in the Steve Redd Racing Fiesta R5.
Tight Battles for the Overall Podium
Behind Redd and Hooker, a tight battle raged across multiple classes for the remaining podium positions.
Entering his first-ever ARA rally, Canadian rally stalwart Nick Wood, alongside co-driver KJ Miller, made an immediate impression in the Open Two-Wheel-Drive (O2WD) class Kamloops Race and Rally (KRR) Datsun 1200, placing second on the opening stage.
Despite competing in a two-wheel-drive car — and driving these roads for the first time — Wood maintained a strong pace throughout the event, finishing among the top five on every stage against some of Washington’s most seasoned competitors.
Meanwhile, Anderson and Curtis were locked in their own fight for both the Naturally Aspirated Four-Wheel-Drive (NA4WD) class win and an overall podium position with Gierman and Bowen. The pair pushed hard to close the 7.9-second gap to Wood, finishing just half a second behind Redd on stages three and four. In the end, Anderson and Curtis narrowly missed out, losing to Wood by just 1.1 seconds, while Gierman’s charge on the final stage vaulted him past Wood to finish second overall.
“The roads for this rally were awesome,” Gierman said. “It's different in a regional when you don't have the fastest national cars sweeping the road. We were starting fourth, so that was challenging. But that second pass really started to click, and we gained a little pace while also being more tidy. Had an absolute blast, took out some flamingos (plastic lawn ornaments set out as drift markers by TDF volunteers as part of local tradition) on the last stage while also putting down the fastest overall stage time!”
Anderson and Curtis landed second on the NA4WD podium, less than five seconds behind Gierman, while Michael Honn and Colin Katagiri’s 2005 Subaru Impreza rounded out the top three in class.
Wood Shines in O2WD Debut
Not only did Wood and Miller’s impressive performance earn them a spot on the overall podium, just 4.3 seconds off second place, it also secured victory in the largest class of the rally, the 12-car O2WD field.
“I am really happy to get such a great result for the KRR Datsun's ARA debut,” Wood said. “The roads are world-class. They really suit the car and my driving style. This one-day regional event was a fun chance to meet the local teams and have a great time. We're looking forward to coming south again to rally in the future.”
While there was a comfortable gap from the Datsun to the next car, the battle for second in class was much closer. The 1994 BMW 325i of Sage Van Tilburg and Julia Majors slotted into second after SS1 but spent much of the rally fending off the Ford Fiesta ST of Julien Sebot and Steven Harrell, who were on a determined push for the runner-up spot.
On the final stage, Sebot and Harrell made their move, edging ahead by 10.8 seconds to claim second in class, while Van Tilburg and Majors took a hard-fought third.
Miller and Coats Clinch L2WD West Regional Title at Tour de Forest
After four wins and five podiums in 2025, Chris Miller and Crystina Coats have secured the 2025 ARA West Regional L2WD Championship, earning victory at the Tour de Forest Rally in their Scion FR-S.
With Chris Miller battling against his wife, Michelle Miller, who was co-driving for circuit racer Michelle Abbate on her rally debut, the event carried extra excitement for the whole family. Chris and Crystina, in the 501c Rally Team car, were not only fighting for the championship but also for family bragging rights at the end of the day.
Despite the Volkswagen Golf of Lucas Chalcraft and Cody Crawford leading for most of the rally, a retirement on the final stage opened the door for Miller and Coats to move into the lead and take the win.
Behind them, Bruce Tabor and Erin Hooker took second in class in their 1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R, while Kristian Odegaard and Zachary Goldstein rounded out the L2WD podium in their 1994 Toyota Celica.
Although they didn’t finish on the podium, Abbate and Michelle Miller impressed in Abbate’s first-ever rally. Despite an issue on SS2 costing them nine minutes, they still managed top-three stage times on two of the four tests, leaving a strong impression for future stage rallies.
In the L4WD class, Nolan Abell took his first-ever class win in his Rally3 debut, piloting a Ford Fiesta Rally3. Abell and co-driver Leah Brisset won two of the four stages to secure a commanding 51.3-second victory at Tour de Forest.
Phil Clarke and Kendra Tym finished second in class in their 2003 Subaru WRX, while Jonathan Myers and John Vinti completed the podium in their 2006 Subaru WRX.
Jankowski Motorsports Gives first Junior Awards
Jankowski Motorsports continued to be a driving force in U.S. rally at this year’s Tour de Forest, introducing a new program in partnership with Friesen Group — the Jankowski Motorsports Junior Awards.
Created by long-time rally figure Karen Jankowski, a five-time national class champion and veteran organizer, the program was designed to recognize and reward rising stars in the sport. Open to drivers and co-drivers aged 25 and under, the awards offered cash prizes of $500 for first, $250 for second, and $125 for third.
In its inaugural running, the program highlighted some of the sport’s top emerging talent, all of whom finished within the top four overall. Gavin Bowen, co-driver of the runner-up team, took first in the Junior Awards standings, followed by KJ Miller, co-driver of the first-place O2WD team, in second, and Cooper Anderson, driver of the fourth-place overall entry, in third.
The ARA West Regional Championship will conclude next month at the Mike Nagle Regional Rally in Oregon.
~Mason Runkel for the ARA
