The 2015 Rally America championship was the eleventh season of the Rally America series. The Rally America series is currently the premiere stage rally championship in the United States. The championship was won by the team of David Higgins and Craig Drew, representing Subaru Rally Team USA in their #75 2015 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The team completed a perfect season, having won all 8 events.[1] Higgins scored only six points shy of double the score achieved by championship runner's up, Subaru Impreza driver Piotr Fetela. Another Subaru driver, Lauchlin O'Sullivan was third in the championship at season's end.
More than just Higgins, Subaru drivers dominated the championship with only two of 24 podium results not collected by Imprezas. Mitsubishi Lancer driver George Plsek was third at the Oregon Trail Rally and Ford Fiesta driver Ken Block was second at the New England Forest Rally.
The victory was Higgins fifth consecutive title, overtaking Travis Pastrana to become the most successful driver in the history of Rally America.
Race calendar and results
The 2015 Rally America Championship was as follows:
| Round | Rally name | Podium finishers | Statistics | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Driver | Car | Time | Stages | Length | Starters | Finishers | ||||
| 1 | Sno*Drift Rally, Michigan (30–31 January)[2] |
1 |  David Higgins |
Subaru WRX STi | 2:21:34.5 | 17 | 208.32 km | 13 | 9 | ||
| 2 |  Nick Roberts |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 2:30:40.0 | ||||||||
| 3 | Lauchlin O'Sullivan |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 2:32:47.7 | ||||||||
| 2 | Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, Missouri (27–28 February)[3] |
1 | David Higgins |
Subaru WRX STi | 1:33:58.8 | 14 | 145.38 km | 17 | 14 | ||
| 2 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} David Sterckx |
Subaru Impreza STi | 1:39:41.4 | ||||||||
| 3 |  Piotr Fetela |
Subaru Impreza STi | 1:47:07.6 | ||||||||
| 3 | Oregon Trail Rally, Oregon (24–26 April)[4] |
1 | David Higgins |
Subaru WRX STi | 1:43:57.2 | 18 | 185.92 km | 19 | 14 | ||
| 2 | Adam Yeoman |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 1:46:56.3 | ||||||||
| 3 | George Plsek |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | 1:55:05.8 | ||||||||
| 4 | Olympus Rally, Washington (16–17 May)[5] |
1 | David Higgins |
Subaru WRX STi | 2:06:18.7 | 14 | 204.33 km | 15 | 14 | ||
| 2 | Adam Yeoman |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 2:08:08.0 | ||||||||
| 3 | Nick Roberts |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 2:11:17.8 | ||||||||
| 5 | Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally, Pennsylvania (5–6 June)[6] |
1 | David Higgins |
Subaru WRX STi | 1:44:44.2 | 13 | 179.56 km | 15 | 12 | ||
| 2 | Adam Yeoman |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 1:50:15.9 | ||||||||
| 3 | Nick Roberts |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 1:52:43.0 | ||||||||
| 6 | New England Forest Rally, Maine (17–18 July)[7] |
1 | David Higgins |
Subaru WRX STi | 1:30:19.9 | 13 | 187.97 km | 24 | 16 | ||
| 2 | Ken Block |
Ford Fiesta H.F.H.V. | 1:35:52.2 | ||||||||
| 3 | Travis Pastrana |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 1:39:40.5 | ||||||||
| 7 | Ojibwe Forests Rally, Minnesota (27–29 August)[8] |
1 | David Higgins |
Subaru WRX STi | 2:10:33.9 | 15 | 213.74 km | 15 | 10 | ||
| 2 | Travis Pastrana |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 2:13:58.1 | ||||||||
| 3 | Nick Roberts |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 2:19:01.8 | ||||||||
| 8 | Lake Superior Performance Rally, Michigan (16–17 October)[9] |
1 | David Higgins |
Subaru WRX STi | 1:35:50.7 | 14 | 178.22 km | 16 | 13 | ||
| 2 | Adam Yeoman |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 1:37:42.0 | ||||||||
| 3 | Lauchlin O'Sullivan |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 1:43:19.9 | ||||||||
Championship standings
This table represents the championship standings from the 2015 Rally America season. Competitors that start each event get one point, competitors that finish get another point, and then further points are determined by placing order at the end of the event. 1st place receives 20 points, 2nd place receives 15 points, 3rd receives 12 points and so on. The table to the underneath shows how points are distributed.[10]
| Pos. | No. | Class | Position
In Class |
Driver | Co-Driver | Car | Sno*Drift | 100
Acre Wood |
Oregon
Trail |
Olympus | Sesquehannock | New England | Ojibwe
Forest Rally |
Lake Superior
Performance Rally |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 75 | Open | 1 | David Higgins | Craig Drew | 2015 Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 1st
22 Points |
1st
22 Points |
1st
22 Points |
1st
22 Points |
1st
22 Points |
1st
22 Points |
1st
2 Points* |
1st
2 Points* |
136 |
| 2 | 90 | Super
Production |
1 | Lauchlin O'Sullivan | Scott Putnam | 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 3rd
12 Points |
11th
3 Points* |
5th
10 Points |
8th
5 Points* |
4th
12 Points |
4th
12 Points |
4th
12 Points |
3rd
14 Points |
78 |
| 3 | 94 | Open | 2 | Piotr Fetela | John Hall | 1998 Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 4th
12 Points |
3rd
14 Points |
4th
12 Points |
5th
10 Points |
5th
10 Points |
7th
6 Points* |
5th
10 Points* |
4th
12 Points |
74 |
| 4 | 425 | Open | 3 | Adam Yeoman | Jordan Schulze | 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI | DNF
1 Point |
DNF
1 Point |
2nd
17 Points |
2nd
17 Points |
2nd
17 Points |
DNF
1 Point* |
DNF
1 Point* |
2nd
17 Points |
72 |
| 5 | 202 | Super
Production |
3 | Nick Roberts | Rhianon Gelsomino | 2013 Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 2nd
17 Points |
DNF
1 Point |
DNF
1 Point |
3rd
14 Points |
3rd
14 Points |
DNF
1 Point* |
3rd
14 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
62 |
| 6 | 22 | 2WD | 1 | Troy Miller | Ole Holter | 2011 Ford Fiesta R2 | 6th
8 Points |
6th
8 Points |
7th
6 Points |
12th
3 Points |
6th
8 Points |
9th
4 Points |
10th
2 Points* |
DNS
0 Points |
39 |
| 7 | 30 | Open | 4 | George Plsek | Nathalie Richard | 2006 Mitsubishi Evo IX | DNS
0 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
3rd
14 Points |
4th
12 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
5th
10 Points |
36 |
| 8 | 989 | Open | 5 | Brenten Kelly | Niall Burns | 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 7th
6 Points |
4th
12 Points |
6th
8 Points |
6th
8 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
DNF
1 Point |
DNF
1 Point |
36 |
| 9 | 824 | 2WD | 3 | Cameron Steely | Preston Osborn | 2014 Ford Fiesta 5D ST | 9th
4 Points |
5th
10 Points |
DNF
1 Point |
9th
4 Points |
DNF
1 Point* |
12th
3 Points |
6th
8 Points |
DNF
1 Point* |
32 |
| 10 | 199 | Open | 6 | Travis Pastrana | Christine Beavis | 2014 Subaru Impreza WRX STI | DNS
0 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
3rd
14 Points |
2nd
17 Points |
DNS
0 Points |
31 |
*In the above table, where noted, certain events and their points are dropped from the championship total. This is because there are only 6 allowed events in the national championship. This allows competitors that race in all 8 events to drop their two worst scores leaving them with 6 total races. In cases such as Higgins, there is little strategy involved since he won all 8 events and they all weighed equally on his score. In O'Sullivans case, however, eliminating the two worst races brings the score into balance. Without this measure, Piotr Fetela would have bested O'Sullivan because of total outright points. However, any starting and finishing points will count towards a competitors total, which is why Higgins' omissions are worth 2 points, for example.
| Position | Points |
|---|---|
| 1st | 20 |
| 2nd | 15 |
| 3rd | 12 |
| 4th | 10 |
| 5th | 8 |
| 6th | 6 |
| 7th | 4 |
| 8th | 3 |
| 9th | 2 |
| 10th-last | 1 |
References
- ↑ "Home".
- ↑ "Final results Sno*Drift Rally 2015".
- ↑ "Final results Rally in the 100 Acre Wood 2015".
- ↑ "Final results Oregon Trail Rally 2015".
- ↑ "Final results Olympus Rally 2015".
- ↑ "Final results Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally 2015".
- ↑ "Final results New England Forest Rally 2015".
- ↑ "Final results Ojibwe Forests Rally 2015".
- ↑ "Final results Lake Superior Performance Rally 2015".
- ↑ 2016 Rally America Performance Rally Rules. 2016. p. 72.