Primitive Racing makes strong showing at Olympus Rally


The annual Rally America Olympus Rally took the Olympic Penninsula in Washington State with COBB Tuning Surgeline-sponsored ProRally team, Primitive Racing with driver Paul Eklund and co-driver Jeff Price, blazed through these difficult forest roads looking for a win in the Super Production class in their AccessPORT-tuned STI. While a tragic accident would cut the rally short, the team would soldier on to a somber finish, just off the podium in Super Production class and 12th overall.

Primitive set out to shake off the rust and to show off their upgraded 2008 STI at the Olympus Rally in Aberdeen, Washington over the May 1st weekend. The car had received some new alignment specs, improved custom mandrel bent 3-inch exhaust, a CNC machined 34mm turbo restrictor with a design run thru a flow modeling software package.  The biggest improvement came from a thorough tune from COBB Tuning Surgline in Tigard, OR that combined those elements and added over 20hp to the curve and had torque topping 338 lb/ft at an early RPM.

The Primitive team started out a bit slow on the first stage, but quickly came up to speed.  By the famous Brooklyn Tavern stage, the Primitive Racing Team was one of the few to set a time under 7 minutes for both directions. BOTH up and down the stage. That brought the team’s standings to 4th in the competitive Super Production class and 12th overall.

Sadly, the rally world was reminded of just how dangerous the sport can be when the car of Open Class competitor, 31-year old Matthew Marker, missed a turn, careened off the road and struck a tree. Marker was pronounced dead on the scene, while his co-driver survived with no serious injuries. Marker and Co-driver Christopher Gordon, traveled from their home of Michigan to compete in the third round of the Rally America Championship. According to official statements made by the Rally America Organization “The crash occurred when Marker’s car went off the road on a right turn during the 6th competitive stage of the event and impacted a tree on the driver’s side. Medical personnel responded to the scene quickly, but could not resuscitate Marker. The sport of rally in North America has not had a competitor-related fatality since 2003.” Mark was known as a generous, loveable personality that wouldn’t think twice about offering parts to other drivers.

Eklund and Price were the next car on stage behind Marker and Gordon and were the first team on the scene and the first responders to the crash. “We were looking to climb up a few more spots. Unfortunately the rally was then cut short due to a rare, and tragic accident involving another competitor just one stage later,” said diver Paul Eklund. “Their car (31-year old Matthew Marker) flew off the road on a tricky corner, struck a tree about 8 feet off the ground, and crashed into the ravine below killing the driver and shaking up the navigator. Emergency crews were on the scene within a minute with local paramedics and firefighters, but they were unable to resuscitate the stricken driver. We were the first rally car to stop and render aid, but it was too late. The stage was stopped and an ambulance dispatched. The regional rally continued the next day.”

The Rally America series continues on with the Oregon Trail rally which took place this last weekend of May 13th-15th. The team performed well and we will bring you more coverage of the Primitive Racing team as they tackled the trails around Mt. Hood in the Mt. Hood National Forest. For more information on the COBB Tuning AccessPORT for your Subaru, visit COBB Tuning.com.


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