July 28, 2011
, Los Angeles, C.A.
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DAVID HIGGINS WINS BRONZE MEDAL AT ESPN X GAMES 17 RALLY CAR RACING EVENT
Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins conquered the streets of downtown Los Angeles to earn a Bronze medal at Saturday’s ESPN Summer X Games 17 Rally Car Racing event. Higgins piloted his 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Rallycross car to three head-to-head victories on the dirt and tarmac course held on the streets surrounding the Staples Center to claim his first X Games medal.
“Words cannot describe it,” Higgins said of the racing. “The atmosphere, the whole thing. There is no room for error anywhere with the brick walls and cars and everything. It is probably the most wild thing you can do in a car, but it is brilliant.”
One of the highlights of the event, broadcast live on ESPN, was the Quarterfinals where Higgins and his Subaru teammate Dave Mirra went head-to-head driving identical Subaru STI Rallycross cars. Higgins beat Mirra off the start line but Mirra slowly reeled in Higgins and attempted to pass him on the final lap, briefly making contacting with Higgins’ Subaru.
“He got a great start but I saw that I was slowly getting closer to him and then had a great shot at making a pass but wasn’t able to pull it off without risking too much damage,” explained Mirra.
The ESPN Summer X Games Rally Car Racing featured drivers racing production-based cars on street course in downtown Los Angeles. The goal in Rally Car Racing is to accumulate the lowest elapsed driving time while racing in two-car, head-to-head heats. The three-quarter mile long Rally course, alongside the concrete cityscape of Los Angeles, includes two sections of raw dirt. In each heat, drivers complete two laps of the entire course, which must include one traditional Rally Joker lap. The Joker lap forces drivers to launch their car over a 52-foot dirt-to-dirt gap jump.
The highly anticipated X Games Rallycross main event takes place on Sunday. Utilizing the same street course, drivers will battle in four-car head-to-head heats and then in the finale an eight-car field will battle for X Games gold.
Competition Schedule
• Sunday July 31st
o Rallycross Final 2 – 4 PM (PST) to be aired on ESPN (TV) and ESPN3.com (web) 5 – 7 PM (ET)
About Subaru Rally Team USA
Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru TecnicaInternational (STI), Subaru PerformanceTuning (SPT), BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, Vision X, Alpinestars, Motul,Exedy, VP Fuels and Vermont SportsCar. For more information on SubaruRally Team USA, as well as exclusive photo and video galleries visit subaru.com/rally and for the latest news follow the team on Twitter: twitter.com/srtusa.
About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 dealers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit www.subaru.com.
“Words cannot describe it,” Higgins said of the racing. “The atmosphere, the whole thing. There is no room for error anywhere with the brick walls and cars and everything. It is probably the most wild thing you can do in a car, but it is brilliant.”
One of the highlights of the event, broadcast live on ESPN, was the Quarterfinals where Higgins and his Subaru teammate Dave Mirra went head-to-head driving identical Subaru STI Rallycross cars. Higgins beat Mirra off the start line but Mirra slowly reeled in Higgins and attempted to pass him on the final lap, briefly making contacting with Higgins’ Subaru.
“He got a great start but I saw that I was slowly getting closer to him and then had a great shot at making a pass but wasn’t able to pull it off without risking too much damage,” explained Mirra.
The ESPN Summer X Games Rally Car Racing featured drivers racing production-based cars on street course in downtown Los Angeles. The goal in Rally Car Racing is to accumulate the lowest elapsed driving time while racing in two-car, head-to-head heats. The three-quarter mile long Rally course, alongside the concrete cityscape of Los Angeles, includes two sections of raw dirt. In each heat, drivers complete two laps of the entire course, which must include one traditional Rally Joker lap. The Joker lap forces drivers to launch their car over a 52-foot dirt-to-dirt gap jump.
The highly anticipated X Games Rallycross main event takes place on Sunday. Utilizing the same street course, drivers will battle in four-car head-to-head heats and then in the finale an eight-car field will battle for X Games gold.
Competition Schedule
• Sunday July 31st
o Rallycross Final 2 – 4 PM (PST) to be aired on ESPN (TV) and ESPN3.com (web) 5 – 7 PM (ET)
About Subaru Rally Team USA
Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru TecnicaInternational (STI), Subaru PerformanceTuning (SPT), BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, Vision X, Alpinestars, Motul,Exedy, VP Fuels and Vermont SportsCar. For more information on SubaruRally Team USA, as well as exclusive photo and video galleries visit subaru.com/rally and for the latest news follow the team on Twitter: twitter.com/srtusa.
About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 dealers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit www.subaru.com.