ABERDEEN, WA — Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block was in the lead after the fast and flowing early stages of the Olympus Rally in western Washington.

After two stages Saturday, Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino had a five second lead over teammates Travis Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom.

In third place, another five seconds back, were Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard and co-driver Robbie Durant in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX.

The rugged 2009 course promises to test competitors’ range of skills, with roads that transition between flat-out fast on Day 1, to a twisty and tree-lined technical challenge on Sunday.

Teams were expected to push their engines to the maximum, hitting speeds over 120 mph on some of the long straightaways Saturday.

Weather in the region is notoriously unpredictable at this time of year, but the weekend promises to be clear and dry. Teams lined up in Aberdeen, Washington, for the opening Parc Expose under sunny skies Saturday morning and forecasters were predicting the good weather would hold until the end of the contest.

Rockstar Energy’s Tanner Foust and co-driver Chrissie Beavis finished the opening two stages in fourth place overall, with the Polish team of Andi Mancin and Maciej Wislawski rounding out the top five.

Heading into Round 3, Comrie-Picard and Foust are tied for the series lead, followed by the Subaru Rally Team USA drivers -- Pastrana and Block -- who are tied in second place in the championship.

The popular new Super Production class is also hotly contested at this event, with series regulars Dave Mirra, Matt Johnson and Piotr Wiktorczyk among those drivers battling it out on the challenging course.

Leading the Super Production charge after two stages was Mirra, the newest Subaru Rally Team USA driver, who is debuting a new Subaru WRX STi at this event.

The storied Olympus Rally is relatively new to the Rally America calendar, having returned to the national series in 2007. But the event has a lengthy history.

It was first run as a national event in 1973 and was a favorite stop on World Rally Championship calendar from 1986 to 1988. Rally racing legends including Rod Millen, Juha Kankkunen and American John Buffum are among those who have claimed victories at the famed contest.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

Top teams in the series are also invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. Eight top teams have already been invited to this August’s contest. Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

About Rally America
Based in Golden Valley, Minn., Rally America sanctions the premier rally racing series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2008, Rally America will conduct nine National Championship events at venues across the country, from Portland, Ore., to Bethel, Maine. Rally America competitors reach speeds well over 100 mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses of gravel, dirt or snow.

Additionally, through a partnership with ESPN, qualifying Rally America drivers are invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the annual leading action-sport event that is broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. For more information, visit www.rally-america.com.