When you mention the name Travis Pastrana, what comes to mind is his skill at “dancing” in the air as a freestyle supercross athlete. Then his skills in the world of rallying as one of the Subaru Rally Team USA drivers, and a slalom gymkhana athlete who made 360 degree donut turns that made the audience transfixed to the point of headaches.
As a versatile automotive athlete, a figure whose full name is Travis Alan Pastrana, who was born in Annapolis, Maryland, United States on October 8 1983, has triumphed on two wheels and four wheels.
Quoted from various sources, Travis Pastrana first shocked the world when he was 13 years old competing in freestyle motocross, and at the age of 14 he won the World Freestyle Motocross Championship title in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. His title in this two-wheeled branch lasted from 1999-2003.
Travis Pastrana wrote humorously for his post presenting his skills in doing cool freestyles, “Age 40 feels like 70 when you’re done flying around like this” [Instagram screenshot courtesy Travis Pastrana]. Apart from that, he also enriched his championship titles in the X Games championship series such as MotoX Best Trick, MotoX Freestyle, and also entered the four-wheeled racing category in the rally category. Continued with typical American stock car racing, NASCAR, and most recently the gymkhana slalom championship.
Travis Pastrana’s first rally appearance was in the Race of Champions, and the Subaru-backed Vermont SportsCar Rally Team (2004).
Two years later, he was signed by Subaru and became captain of Subaru Rally Team USA. Down as pilot, Travis Pastrana was side by side with veteran co-driver Christian Edstrom.
One of the cool achievements he achieved in the 2006 X Games rally was beating the late Colin McRae (died 2007) by a margin of 0.53 seconds. Both rely on Subaru products.
After that, Travis Pastrana took part in the 2007, 2008, and 2009 World Rally Campionship rounds.
For the 2007 season, he took part in three P-WRC championships in the Group N class, with the Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
In September 2008, Travis Pastrana took part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally memorial championship, during the Rally of Scotland round in Perth, Scotland.
He was paired with co-driver Derek Ringer, one of Colin McRae’s former navigators (McRae’s other reliable co-driver was Nicky Grist). His mainstay at that time was the legendary Ford Escort RS1600.
Starting in 2011, Travis Pastrana competed in the Global RallyCross Championship, then fast forward to this year, on August 2 2023 Subaru Motorsports USA introduced the newest Subaru WRX Rally to compete in the Open 4WD class in the American Rally Association (ARA) Championship. Travis Pastrana will be one of the pilots for the 2024 ARA competition season.
“Subaru’s new platform is truly extraordinary and I am happy to be on the same team as fellow driver Brandon Semenuk who is the defending champion. I have only been away from the world of rallying for a year but there are many things going on changed and I am ready for a new challenge,” he explained as quoted from the official Subaru USA release.
That’s just discussing Travis Pastrana’s excitement as a rally driver. So what about his role as head of the household?
Earlier this month, as uploaded on Instagram social media under the name of his personal account, Travis Pastrana just bought a Subaru WRX for household needs with his wife, Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins Pastrana–a skateboarding and snowboarding athlete–and their two daughters.
“Thank you to Subaru Annapolis and James Tate for helping us get a Subaru WRX today. I promise I won’t drive it like I’m racing a gymkhana,” he wrote accompanied by a laughing emoji.
Travis Pastrana’s expression when scoring 360 degree donuts with the Subaru WRX [Instagram screenshot courtesy TopGear/Travis Pastrana]. known as donuts.
In Indonesia, Arie Christopher, Chief Executive Officer of Subaru Indonesia, stated that Subaru consumers buy this product not as a means of transportation, but as a driving sensation.
Quoted from the Antara news agency, Arie Christopher emphasized that the characteristics and segmentation of Subaru car consumers are quite different compared to buyers of other vehicles.
“Consumers really like driving, driving experience, and really appreciate the technology in Subaru cars,” he explained, adding that Subaru users in Indonesia range from young people to those over 50 years old.
In Indonesia, cars like Travis Pastrana’s can be purchased with prices starting from IDR 849,500,000.