New England Forest Rally

The New England Forest Rally is a performance rally event in New Hampshire and Maine, United States. Originally known as the Maine Forest Rally, it first appeared in 1991 as a winter rally. In the past, the event was part of the SCCA ProRally and Rally America schedule, now it is sanctioned by the American Rally Association.

The event is held mainly on logging roads with some of the longest stages in North America rallying. As the event is held during July, the road conditions are often dry and dusty.

In 1994 the Maine Summer Rally was added. The event ran as a 60% National/Divisional and as a full National event starting in 1995. In 1996 an in-town spectator stage was added to the summer event to the delight of the spectators. The most recent in-town stages, held at the Mexico Recreation Area, have featured a 1 meter high man-made jump.

At its peak, the Maine Forest Rally had the highest number of starting cars in the SCCA ProRally series. The 2001 event, with 121 National and ClubRally starting teams, broke the 111 car starting record held by the 2000 Maine Forest Rally. As a bellwether of the event's success, it was voted the SCCA's ProRally of the Year in 1992 and again in 2001.

In 2007, the name of the event was changed to the New England Forest Rally to better reflect the continued growth of the event by expanding to include stages in the city of Berlin, New Hampshire.

Notable competitors

The 1999 event saw 1984 World Rally Champion Stig Blomqvist drive the late Carl Merrill's Ford Escort Cosworth to victory over 83 National and Divisional teams.

In 2007, freestyle motocross star turned rally driver Travis Pastrana drove a Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STi to victory.

Ken Block, co-founder of DC Shoe Co. and rally driver competes at the New England Forest Rally regularly.

John Buffum, the most successful American-born rally driver ever, is a key organizer of the event, and in 2008, he drove his Group B Audi Quattro on the first stage of the event.

Past winners[1]
Year Driver / Navigator Vehicle
1994 Paul Choinere
Jeff Becker		 Audi S2 Quattro
1995 Carl Merrill
John Bellefluer		 Ford Escort Cosworth
1996 Paul Choinere
Jeff Becker		 Hyundai Elantra AWD
1997 Frank Sprongl
Dan Sprongl		 Audi S2 Quattro
1998 Paul Choinere
Jeff Becker		 Hyundai Tiburon
1999 Stig Blomqvist
Lance Smith		 Ford Escort RS Cosworth
2000 Paul Choinere
Jeff Becker		 Hyundai Tiburon AWD
2001 Seamus Burke
Frank Cunningham		 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
2002 Mark Lovell
Steve Turvey		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2003 David Higgins
Daniel Barritt		 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII
2004 Paul Choinere
Jeff Becker		 Hyundai Tiburon AWD
2005 Patrick Richard
Nathalie Richard		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2006 Ramana Lagemann
Michael Fennell		 Ford Escort RS Cosworth
2007 Travis Pastrana
Christian Bjorn Edstrom		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2008 Niall McShea
Marshall Clarke		 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
2009 Travis Pastrana
Christian Bjorn Edstrom		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2010 Antoine L'Estage
Nathalie Richard		 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
2011 Antoine L'Estage
Nathalie Richard		 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
2012 Antoine L'Estage
Nathalie Richard		 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
2013 Ken Block
Alessandro Gelsomino		 Ford Fiesta RS WRC
2014 David Higgins
Craig Drew		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2015 David Higgins
Craig Drew		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2016 Seamus Burke
Martin Brady		 Mitsubishi Evolution IX
2017 Travis Pastrana
Robbie Durant & Grzegorz Dorman		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2018 David Higgins
Craig Drew		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi

References
  1. "NEFR Past Winners". New England Forest Rally. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
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