The ARA champion made an uncharacteristic mistake on Friday morning in Ohio
Words by Luke Barry
Brandon Semenuk has explained the “stupid mistake” that led to his crash from the lead of Southern Ohio Forest Rally.
Triple American Rally Association presented by Kubota National champion Semenuk had won all four of the events so far in 2025 prior to SOFR, and a degree of pressure was removed from his shoulders after the first street stage, when Conner Martell was ruled out due to a back injury for co-driver Alex Gelsomino.
After four stages it was business as usual for Semenuk and co-driver Keaton Williams who established a lead of over a minute, but SS5 Toasted Disco Inferno would catch the Subaru Motorsports USA pair out.
“Just a stupid mistake,” Semenuk told DirtFish.
“[I] was kind of just expecting the car to turn in more but it was really slow to turn in and we got caught on the loose a bit which just slowly dragged us out. I almost saved it but it was a bit too late, ran out of road and we basically just went down the bank backwards.
“The car mechanically was sound, it was more just cosmetic [damage].”
The accident forced Semenuk out for the day, but he is restarting on Saturday in a bid to rescue five powerstage points.
“The focus is powerstage points, just to get something from the event,” he confirmed.
“But OK the stages are really fun today so we’ll go out and try to just enjoy it too.”
Semenuk’s exit opened the door for Ryan Booth to take the lead of the event ahead of Patrick Gruszka and Semenuk’s team-mate Travis Pastrana, who’s competing in the Limited 4WD class.
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: ARA, ARA 2025, Brandon Semenuk, Southern Ohio Forest Rally, Southern Ohio Forest Rally 2025
Publish Date June 14, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/06/506692349_1119874183502166_6563028327392584207_n-780x953.jpg June 14, 2025
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