Tuesday 2nd August 2011

X Games Brings LA Glamour To Rallycross

How to make the bobble hat cool...

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If someone were to say the word 'rallycross' to you, you'd probably think of muddy, wet circuits, rear-wheel-drive Escorts or, if you are a little younger, Group B refugee monsters driven by irascible Norwegians.

What you almost certainly would not think of is sunshine, the streets of Los Angeles and the effortlessly cool (if a little self-conscious) X Games.

But that is where rallycross shone last weekend, with X Games 'vets' such as Tanner Foust, Travis Pastrana and Brian Deegan getting their mettle tested against some tough competition from the 'Old World'. This came in the form of double World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm, and European rallycross superstar Liam Doran.

In recent years rallycross, which was once such a captivating spectacle, has been looking a bit tired, so could a spot of X Games glamour herald a revival for one of the most potentially exciting forms of motorsport? Have a look at the video below and decide for yourself...

But while it's nice to see our cousins across the pond embracing rallycross (even if they did call it SuperRally in 2010), we just hope they remember who invented it, back on a winter's Saturday in February 1967 at Lydden Hill in Kent...

 

[sinbaddio]

Go on then - who was it??....

[Riggers]

sinbaddio said:

Go on then - who was it??....

Well, us, ie the Brits...

(but if you're talking more specifically, then you would say ITV's World Of Sport...)

[Y282]

34 seconds in, i believe that move is called an "austin powers".

[Dr G]

Cricuit looks a bit crap and seems to have caused a lot of needless carnage.

[djone101]

Shameless plug time: - all top three finalists powered by Mountune engines

[RemainAllHoof]

Y282 said:

34 seconds in, i believe that move is called an "austin powers".

[louiebaby]

RemainAllHoof said:

Y282 said:

34 seconds in, i believe that move is called an "austin powers".

Your comment is the only reason I watched the video.

Well named.

[johnpeat]

Dr G said:

Cricuit looks a bit crap and seems to have caused a lot of needless carnage.

You've never watched Rallycross before have you?

Carnage is it's alternate title...

[johnpeat]

Yesterday, I was just saying to someone that if motorsport had been invented for TV it would consist of

a - competitors who are highly strung weirdos and not exactly the best people for the job
b - cars with things like loose wheelnuts and other things intended to add drama and spectacle

and now I realise it already happened

[JonnyFive]

I watched this on Saturday.. Very cool, 600bhp per car.. Razzing it around the streets of LA

[gforceg]

What a goat rodeo.

[Amizade]

Made me think, that these cars in Macau plus a liberal layer of dirt would be superb to watch after the F3 GP

[JonnyFive]

Just incase anyone didn't watch it.. Travis Pastrana (Orange Impreza) crashed his Moto X bike on Thursday and broke his tibia and some other bones.

The team modified the car to run using a hand throttle and he learnt on the Saturday to take part in the racing on Sunday.

Excellent!

[IndyAndy777]

Y282 said:

34 seconds in, i believe that move is called an "austin powers".

[The Wookie]

johnpeat said:

Yesterday, I was just saying to someone that if motorsport had been invented for TV it would consist of

a - competitors who are highly strung weirdos and not exactly the best people for the job
b - cars with things like loose wheelnuts and other things intended to add drama and spectacle

and now I realise it already happened

Sounds like the bridge between Caterham Club racing and Carrera Cup

[dean_ratpac]

Y282 said:

34 seconds in, i believe that move is called an "austin powers".

Ha ha -

is it me or does the old late 80's early 90's rally cross trump this completely.

impressive stuff from Travis Pastrana thought driving with broken bones...

[JonnyFive]

dean_ratpac said:

Y282 said:

34 seconds in, i believe that move is called an "austin powers".

Ha ha -

is it me or does the old late 80's early 90's rally cross trump this completely.

This was created on a normal set of roads in Los Angeles, they've done quite a good job of it imo.

[zebedee]

johnpeat said:

You've never watched Rallycross before have you?

Carnage is it's alternate title...

yeah but I've seen a fair bit of rallycross but never so many straight-ons or spins into things in one race, unless that is an edited clip showing a fair few races highlights. The surface looks very powdery and loose, not like British rallycross courses where the mud or dirt doesn't act like talc!

[EDLT]

Channel 4 occasionally shows some rallycross at stupid o'clock in the morning (its on 4OD though), I think its better than this tbh. Whenever I watch the x-games I keep expecting someone to say "Radical, doooood".

[thechosenfamily]

To make this whole thing right would require the return of the likes of a certain Mr. Will Gollop and his mighty 6R4 and a few of the other B
Group B protagonists I believe.

Just my 2C

Edited by thechosenfamily on Tuesday 2nd August 12:41