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| Sebastien Loeb celebrating with Ken Block as they take Gold and Silver at X Games RallyCross Photo: Neil McDaid |
Los Angeles,
California. It was just another day in
the office for eight-time WRC Champion Sebastien Loeb as he masterfully steered
his Citroën DS3 to overall victory at X Games RallyCross. Not only was it his
first time at the X Games, it was also the first time Loeb participated in a
RallyCross event and the French rally ace still took home the gold medal.
A man of few
words, Loeb commented on his victory, "We know it's a high level event and
I'm really pleased to win, but maybe my main rival, Marcus Grönholm, wasn't
able to race. I'm just happy he's OK."
But the real
story of the RallyCross final was Monster World Rally Team driver Ken Block.
After dismal showings in Charlotte and Texas, Block surprised many with his hard-charging,
fast pace as he tightly chased Loeb on the opening laps of the RallyCross
final. Block picked up a flat on lap three finally letting Loeb pull away from him, Block kept his focus and hit the
best possible line through every turn to hold a sizeable lead on third place.
The reverse
course layout for 2012 RallyCross aided Block as there were only two real left
turns that he had to fight through when his right rear went flat. Not daunted
by this adversity, Block threw caution to the wind and attacked the course and
jump regardless of the flat. Somehow Block managed to stay ahead of a charging
Brian Deegan to grab the silver medal.
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| "Tire Slayer" Ken Block shows us the remains of his right rear tire. Photo: Neil McDaid |
Deegan, who would
eventually finish in the bronze medal spot, had battled from the rear of the
field to close the gap on a hindered Block.
As Ken took the checkered flag
the Metal Mulisha “general” was right on his rear bumper; another lap and silver
would surely have been Deegan’s.
“This is incredible for me,” said Block. “This season of
GRC has been tough; I’ve had some mechanical issues and bad luck. But, to come
out yesterday and qualify first, ahead of the legendary Sébastien [Loeb], then
come from starting on the second row in the final to work my way into silver
medal position—and to hold onto it after suffering a puncture and losing my
right rear tire? The feeling is amazing. I’m super stoked on how this race went
for me!”As Loeb, Block and Deegan celebrated their medal victories; they all wished a speedy recovery to Marcus Gronholm who had been injured during a hard crash in qualifying.
How the X Games RallyCross unraveled for others:
OlsbergsMSE /Ford Racing
With the exception of Deegan’s bronze medal, just about anything that could
go wrong did go wrong for the most successful team to date in the 2012 Global
RallyCross Championship. Things started
to unravel for the team on Friday evening when team driver Toomas Heikkinen
came up short on the large metal jump, taking himself and his Ford Fiesta out
of the games. Just barely 24hours later the team would lose yet another driver
and car from the competition. WRC Champion Marcus Gronholm, who is currently
leading the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship points, clipped a concrete footing
for a light post during qualifying and took a front wheel off his Best Buy
sponsored Fiesta. Marcus was knocked unconscious by the impact and was rushed
from the scene by ambulance. Marcus was a
hot favorite for the gold coming into X Games 18.
British driver David Binks, in the second of the Best Buy
Fiestas, had a rough time in the heats on Sunday. He first got caught in the
wreck that took out Travis Pastrana [see below]. After the track was cleared of Pastrana’s car,
David took victory over fellow Brit David Higgins in a Subaru. This was a short
lived victory as Binks, while sitting fourth in the final, spun backwards into
the wall while battling with Hyundai driver Rhys Millen. Binks retired a short
while later.
With the team’s leading driver in the hospital, the torch
was passed to Tanner Foust and Ford team mate Brian Deegan to bring it home for
OlsbergsMSE /Ford Racing. Tanner got off to a flying start in his RockStar
Energy sponsored Fiesta in the first of two attempts at the final. Tanner was able to get tucked in behind leader
Loeb until the race was red flagged. On the restart Ken Block got the hole shot
on Tanner and grabbed second behind Sebastian Loeb, pushing Tanner to third. Steering
problems eventually slowed his progress and he conceded third to a hard
charging Deegan.
Deegan’s incredible run from the back of the starting
grid to the bronze medal spot on the podium was the only bright spot for a team
that had high expectations of sweeping the podium at X Games RallyCross.
Puma/Subaru
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| Sverre Isachsen aka “The Viking Warrior” holding off Brian Deegan in the heats. Photo: Neil McDaid |
Although Subaru USA is making strides in the development of their first RallyCross-specific
STI, they still have a ways to go on their road to a podium.
Dave Mirra is experiencing some awful bad luck in RallyCross
this year. He has DNFs in both of the opening rounds of the GRC and X Games 18
proved no better. Mirra would tangle with long time sponsor and friend Ken
Block in the heats and would retire on just the second lap. Subaru mechanics
would work furiously to get Mirra out for the last chance qualifier (LCQ) only to
see his STI retire with further mechanical issues.
RallyCross rookie Bucky Lasek continues to make improvement in his driving, but despite the passion to win, he still lacks the experience and speed to be in the hunt. A surprising last minute entry from the Subaru’s Rally America ace David Higgins did not yield the team any better luck. Higgins, although fast on the track, was clearly uncomfortable pushing on the large jump. Higgins would also retire in the final with mechanical issues.
As we had predicted, Sverre Isachsen aka “The Viking Warrior” was the best bet
for a podium finish for Subaru at X Games. Sverre delivered in his heat. In
classic European RallyCross style, he dove across the front of the pack from
the outside to take the lead into the first turn. He held off Brian Deegan in a
bumper-to-bumper battle to win the heat and grab a front row starting position
in the final. Despite a good start in the final, Sverre would retire with damaged
steering, ending any chances for a podium for Subaru.
Dodge /
Redbull / Discount Tire
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| Fans got to see Travis Pastrana take several practice runs before Andy Scott took him to the wall. Photo: Neil McDaid |
The woes at Team Dodge / RedBull have carried over from the GRC right into the X
Games. Travis Pastrana, who jumped on board with Dodge in the new Dart with
high hopes of taking the new platform to victory, just cannot seem to catch a
break. Travis had one of the fastest cars in qualifying and was clearly the favorite
in his group to take a heat victory. But
a “racing incident” put Pastrana in the wall in the first corner of his heat
race ending his X Games. Andy Scott in the Saab, who had a poor start off the
line, quickly made up ground on Pastrana heading into the first turn, but the
Saab did not seem to have the stopping power of the Dodge.
"Amazing. I had the inside lane on the
start, got to my standard braking spot and I was starting to turn in and picked
up 30 mile-per-hour. The guy behind me (Andy Scott) forgot to brake. Just incredible,” explained a frustrated
Pastrana. "I started inside, pole. We had a great start and I was clear of
everyone heading into Turn 1 and got punted. The next thing you know I'm in the
wall and my heat race is over."
Bryce Menzies, in the second of the Dodge Darts, definitely showed some great promise during qualifying, in his first ever drive behind the wheel of a rallycross car. “These Dodge Darts are really fast and great to drive. It's one of the fastest cars that I've ever driven," explained Bryce. He goes on to explain his departure from X Games in the LCQ. "It was crazy. I had a great start but Andy (Scott) jumped the start and got red-flagged…On the second restart, I let my foot off the clutch just a touch too quick and jumped the green flag which forced a third restart. I got a great jump and was ready to give them a great run. I went off the little dirt jump and either a shock or tire blew out. It stuffed me into the wall and ended our day. Just a bummer."
Rhys Millen Racing:
Team principal Rhys Millen faired the best of the two Hyundai cars the team fielded at X Games.
Stephan
Verdier, in the number 12 Motorcity Hyundai, had hoped to have a new, updated engine
for the DisneyXD car coming into X Games. Unfortunately for Stephan, it was not
to be and he was clearly down on power as he struggled to match the pace. "I
had a lot of fun here at X Games driving the Motorcity car. Special thanks to
DisneyXD and the team at Motorcity for their help in making this door-to-door
rally action possible," said Verdier.
Scott
Eklund Racing:
If you want to piss off NASCAR fans just put Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the wall. Well, putting 11-time gold medalist Travis Pastrana in the wall has just about the same affect at X Games. I have no doubt that it was not an intentional act, but more adrenaline on the part of Andy Scott. I would go as far as to say if it were any other driver that Andy tangled with he may not have been black flagged.
Samuel Hubinette drove the second of the Scott-Eklund Racing Saab 9-3s with ENEOS Motor Oil as his primary sponsor.“I’m very excited once again to bring home a first place in the heat. I made a great start but after two laps my clutch started to go away, but luckily I had enough of a lead to keep Ken Block behind me. I’ve been fortunate now to win all my heats so far this season so that’s a great testament to the performance of the Scott-Eklund Racing Saab 9-3 with Eneos Motor Oil.
“But unfortunately in the final we had a red flag and while I was running third and feeling very strong about challenging for second, I got smacked from behind into the wall. But that’s racing, and sometimes that happens. But overall I’m happy with my performance and the car’s performance, the gear changes we made overnight were great, and having rally legend Per Eklund alongside me has been fantastic. I can’t wait for the next round and hopefully that will be my time to get on the podium.”
The next round of the Global RallyCross is at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 14. For tickets and more info check out www.nhms.com
http://www.nhms.com/schedule/nascar/global_rallycross_championship/
Photo © Neil McDaid / Rallyworldnews.com
Report: Neil McDaid, Donna M. Tocci
Source: Dodge/Fordracing/Scott-Eklund Racing/RMR
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