Freeze Frame: Stephan Verdier cleans up after Global Rally Cross

I love seeing the privateers do what they can to stay competitive and even after the event, they have to clean up. Seattle was a wet, muddy, and dirty and he has to clean up. Here’s Stephan’s snapshot of him cleaning up his Subaru in his driveway.

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Interview: Stephan Verdier talks to Subie-Life.com about his 3rd Place win at Global Rally Cross!

Our friend Stephan Verdier keeps impressing us with his driving skills, being the only Privateer to compete in the main event at Global Rally Cross in Irwindale, CA this past weekend. We had a chance to talk with Stephan as we always do after his performances and get more info on his win!

Q: Fresh off his 3rd place podium at the Global Rally Cross main event, we have Stephan Verdier! Thanks for joining us again at Subie-Life.com. So please tell us when you started converting your drifting / rally cross Subaru STi into a full dedicated Rally Cross vehicle and how that process went:

A: Always nice to talk to you Yukio. At the end of FD season I knew that needed a new car to be competitve in that sport, unfortunatly during the winter I wasn’t able to findd any money to build a new car and do the season of FD (at the same time). In the other hand my Subie was a great car to run in Rally Cross. Beginning of February I decided to strip the entire car and do some major modification to lose about 200 lbs. All the work was done at GTI in San Clemente. Crawford Performance supplied the engine, transmission and Motec ECU, Tein suspension, Cooper tires / the rallycross tires, Exedy clutch, Garrett Turbo, Ignite fuel with the E85 and Enkei Wheels. Converting the car back to awd was pretty simple, the car was pretty much stock in FD so I just needed to put the center diff and front diff in the gear box and voila!

Q: How did the build into a full Rally Cross Vehicle differ from the Drift Car Build this time around?

A: The build wasn’t that much different. We cut right in front of the shock tower and built a full tubular frame front end that can be change or remove really easily in case of damage. We took some weight off the A, B, and C pillar,  and I had GP Motorsport build me a full custom wiring harness but otherwise it’s the same car as last year.

Q: A couple of weeks leading up to the Global Rally Cross at Irwindale, how did you prepare yourself and your vehicle to compete? Did you have time to practice?

A: Because I don’t have much of a budget, all the work has to be done for free from my sponsors. They dedicated as much time as they could but they have to take care of there customers too. I had to work a lot during the last month so I couldn’t spend a lot of time on the car. We were way behind on the prepartion and we worked like mad men within the last 10days. We finished the car on Thursday at 2:00 am. I went into the first event with no practice and bunch of untested parts. We put a steering quickner but the pump is too slow. It was like driving without power steering. It was hard for me to get any feed back from the car with such a hard steering. We also added a pedal box but I we put the wrong size master in it,  so I had to push so hard on the brake pedal (to stop)! My right foot is still sore from it (pedals). We didn’t have time to set up the antilag and launch control and the center differential was stuck in open mode. We are fixing all this problems for the next race. It’s nobody’s fault, we just ran out of time to test the car. No big deal.

Q: Tell me how different Global Rally Cross from the Formula Drift events that you competed in for several years.

A: The main difference, there is no judge. You can’t argue with the clock. It makes easier to see how to improve, if your too slow you need to go faster, pretty simple. In drifting you have to adapt to a person (judge’s) view of what is perfect, and you have 3 people to please with different view of what is perfect, it’s kind of tricky!

Q: Let me set the record straight, do you like Rally Cross / Rally or Drifting more as a driver and competitor?

A: Rallycross/ Rally has always been my favorite. I love drifting too, it gave me so many new skills and made me a better driver.

Q: So day 1 of Global Rally Cross, you and the other competitors didn’t get much practice on the actual course so, how did you adjust to be competitive in a completely new course?

A: You’re right we didn’t get much practice but it was the same for everybody. The bank was the hardest to set up your car for and the most important part of the track. We were behind since I had to learn the car before I could make any changes. I wasn’t concern about the race on Friday, I took Friday event as a test day in preparation to Saturday.

Q: How did you feel about your first day of competition?

A: It was prettty good. The car was reliable and fast, but needed a lot of work on handeling. The big part was me too, I only had an average of 4hours sleep/day for the past week. We made a lot of changes to the set up and it worked, the car was 3 seconds faster on Sat.

Q: Day two must have been exciting for you. We saw you get very aggressive and we even saw a few competitors get very close to your doors / bumpers. Tell me how the first few rounds went for you.

A: First I came in with a good night sleep. We got a lot more practice on the track and found some good speed in the set up. The competion was really exicting. Racing next to Marcus (Gronholm), Rhys (Millen) and Tanner (Foust) was a lot of fun. During the regular heat I wanted to be agressive to show the other drivers that I’m not going to be push around but I didn’t want to hurt the car either. In the Main (event) I didn’t care.

Q: During the last main event we saw you follow Tanner Foust and Marcus Gronholm for the first few laps and then you did your joker lap over the jump. Was that your strategy to keep close to those guys or did you see an opportunity that most of the viewers didn’t get to see then took the opportunity? And that is why you jumped when you did?

A: The strategy is always take the joker last if you’re not held up by the car on front of you or if you’re in the lead. Something bad can happen really fast on the big jump, so you want to keep it for last. Marcus (Gronholm) and Tanner (Foust0 were not slowing me down at all, so I choose to stay behind and hoping they would make a mistake.

Q: How did you feel when you realized that you were locked in as a 3rd place winner in the main event when you went around the last dirt turn?

A: It was aweome, coming out of the jump I saw Tanner and knew I could give him a run for his money in the last corner, but I over cooked the braking  and went wide. I was pretty mad about that but then as soon as I crossed the line I realize that I got 3rd and it was fantastic.

Q: Finally, how can our readers find more information about you and would you like to thank anyone that has helped you?

A: There is a couple place they can find info, Facebook, www.stephanverdier.com. I want to thanks all my sponosrs and firends, Crawford Performance, GTI, Cooper tires, Ignite Fuel, TEIN, RMR, Sparco, Exedy, Enkei, Block DCB, GP motorsport.

Thank you Stephan for taking time to talk to us at Subie-Life.com! Good luck on the rest of the season and we hope to see you at more events!

A behind the scenes look at Stephan Verdier’s Rally Cross STi

Ahh yes, Stephan Verdier. He’s been a really cool guy with us, taking time to talk to us and showing us great photos of his car and sharing his stories with us. Our friends at MotoIQ had an exclusive look at Stephan’s Rally Cross STi that was a former drift car. This car has seen a lot of action in the past few years but it looks like it’s going to stay as a Rally Cross car and we can’t be more excited for him!

Here are some images of the build:

The front end is business. Well, most of the car is business but it’s got a Crawford Performance built motor and also the entire front end is built for crash protection. Hence the whole entire front end is pretty much a bar. Of course it will covered by a bumper but this is pretty nice looking.

According to MotoIQ, Stephan had the whole entire chassis acid dipped to remove excess gunk, insulation, and debris to have a clean chassis. This actually lightens the chassis and you can see how “new” the car looks!

Suspension is vital in Rally Cross. Hence, Stephan went with the WRC Spec Tein Suspension. This is no ordinary coilover system too.

So what is this? Looks like an air conditioning unit? Maybe a tumble dryer? Nope! It’s the rear mounted radiator so it keep it from harm like some love taps that the cars get when they’re door to door against each other.

Want to see a super expensive transmission? Here it is. Dog engagement / sequential shifter keeps Stephan going around the track.

The cage is different from a standard roll cage. It doesn’t utilize a main hoop but it’s more of a enclosed cage. It’s supposed to disperse crash loads. Interesting since rally cars do roll intensely during competition.

Read more about it on MotoIQ HERE!

Interview: Stephan Verdier talks to us about his 3rd place win at Gymkhana Grid!

Q: We have Stephan Verdier again, 3rd place podium winner from Gymkhana Grid from this past weekend! Stephan, congratulations on the win. First off, let me ask you what your first impression was when you heard of Gymkhana Grid event and why you decided to do it.

A: It was a great event and thanks to Ken Block for making it happen. I heard of it at the X-games and wanted to do it right away. I never did a Gymkhana in a awd car plus my car was sitting in my driveway doing nothing. I had to do it.

Q: You did the 2010 Formula Drift season and this is the first Gymkhana Grid event you have done. What are the major differences between the two events? What were your feelings about Gymkhana Grid?

A: Well the 2 big difference for me is that I drive my car in RWD for FD and AWD for Gym. There really 2 different style of racing. FD is as much angle and smoke as you can and also a judge event when Gym is the least angle but still drifting and as fast as possible since you race the clock. They both take a lot of skill to master. I really like Gym format, the clock is the only judge and it’s clear cut. Gym Grid could be a really cool sport even at the grassroots level, anybody with a RWD or AWD car can do it without risking the crash the car in a wall, and it brings both world of drifting and road-racing/rally together.

Q: Your Subaru was rear wheel drive, then back to all wheel drive for dirt, then back to rear wheel drive, and now back to all wheel drive for Gymkhana. How much work is there in getting that set up?

A:It’s actually pretty easy. I use the stock gear box in RWD and same in AWD, so the only thing needed is put the front diff and axle in and change the welded center diff to a stock one. It’s around a day of work by myself.

Q: How comfortable were you in the All Wheel Drive Tarmac set up at Gymkhana Grid?

A: I felt pretty good on Friday, but during qualifying my clutch and center diff start giving up. My clutch has been in the car since X-games and I did 3 FD (Formula Drift) events, a day at the track road racing, and  a day of Gym testing. I’m amazed it lasted that long. The center diff came from a used gear box that had 40000 miles. I think the problem with the center diff is more electronic than anything else, it would engage and realase on it’s on event in lock mode. It was really hard to be close to the barrel in the 720, the center diff will engage and realase during the donuts.

Q: When you first came up to the Gymkhana track / course, what was your first impression?

A: The only thing that got me worry was the box, it seems really small, but after doing it a few time it was no problem. The track was really challenging witch made it really fun. Both side were really close in time, maybe 1 sec apart.

Q: During your elimination rounds were you aware of your opponent’s position or how well they were doing or were you just focused on your own run?

A:That the only issue with the mirror track, you can’t see the other driver, in a way it’s good because you have to go 100% the all time or if you have radio a spotter can tell what’s going on. The only time you could see where you were was coming into the last barrel for the 720. I think they should look at making both track next to each other like Race of the Champion so the driver can see each other and easier for the fan to see who’s head.

Q: When you final round was done and you found out that you were 3rd place, what were your feelings and thoughts?

A: It was awesome, first time in a Gymkhana and I got 3rd. I know I could be much faster if I work on the car and get the right differentials, gear box,  more power and a lighter car. The car was making around 470 whp weight 2870pds and I use a stock H pattern box. The Ford (Fiestas) are 650 whp, 2400 pds and have full sequential. I had to do 11 gear changes in 1 lap, just with a sequential I can be at least 1 second faster. It’s really encouraging if they do a Gymkhana series, I know I can beat the Ford. 🙂

Q: Your 2011 season is still up in the air for drifting and you are leaning towards more towards Rally Cross. Is Gymkhana Grid is something you see doing instead of drifting?

A:I would love to stay in drifting but I need a real RWD car to be competitive, so that mean building a new car, that’s at least $80k. I don’t have that kind of money. I’m trying to found a team to drive for but so far no luck. The positive thing is that I can use my car with some upgrade in Rallycross and Gymkhana and be competitive, so yes I’m leaning towards Rallycross and Gymkhana more.

Q: Stephan, thank you for your time and we hope to see you more in 2011! Happy Holidays.

A:Thanks for following me, it;s always a pleasure to talk to you. I want to thanks all my sponors to able me to race at the GymGrid: Crawford Performance, Falken tires, Subaru, GTI, RMR, Garrett Turbo, Ignite Fuel, Sparco, APR, Seibon, Stance, Clutch Masters and K&N.

Video:Gymkhana Grid this weekend in Los Angeles!

Our old friend, Ken Block is hosting the Gymkhana Grid event this weekend and they made this funny little video. There will be several Subarus in attendance including Crawford Performance,Stephan Verdier, and Thomas Smith from Subaru of Las Vegas.

Check it out!

10 Questions with Stephan Verdier and his Formula Drift Season and Rally!

Well, the Formula Drift season has now finished and our favorite Subie Driver in the Formula Drift field has called it a season. We contacted our friend, Stephan Verdier driver of the Crawford Performance STi. We got a chance to talk to him about his season in Formula Drift, Rally Cross, XGames Rally, and the future.

 

Q: Stephan, thanks for joining back with us at Subie-Life.com! The Formula Drift season just ended for you and it’s been quite a busy one for you. What were the highlights of the season for you?

A: Thank you for having me back. To answer your question, unfortunately I don’t have any highlights in drifting this season. I had my worst season in 5 years. I made a lot of driving errors and mechanical failures. I’m kind of glad that the season is over so I can regroup and get ready for next season.

Q: Your car debuted at Long Beach Round 1 as an Iron Man 2 car, then made a few changes to a multi-color rally car, then back to a drift car. What was that experience like, having to change your Subaru so many times this season?

A: Yes, I was fortunate to get a sponsorship with Royal Purple for the movie Iron Man 2. It only was a deal for the first 2 races (in Formula Drift). Then I got invited to compete at the X-games in the Rallycross event. Since my deal with Iron Man2 was finished I decided to redo the scheme on my car, and keep it for the rest of the FD season. It was really fun to transform the car back and forth between drifting and rally. It’s much easier than people think, I only changed the suspension, transmission, turbo and brakes. The rest of the car was the same as drifting. Here’s a breakdown on what I did:

• The suspension we went from Stance to Tein because Tein has been in rally for a long time and has a fantastic rally gravel suspension, then went back to the Stance for drifting
• Gear box, Crawford performance landed me a  AWD Kaps sequential gearbox for the x-games. Sequential is a must in rally cross. I normally use a stock Sti box in drifting
• Turbo, Garrett gave me a twin scroll that with the help of Crawford we install to replace the Garrett GT30 that use in drifting.
• Brake, because we use 15 inch tire for gravel, I need smaller brake than the stock STI to fit the wheel, I used with the help of Subaru of Ontario stock wrx brakes.
• To finish Crawford did a remap of the stock Ecu for the new turbo and GTI made some bumper and skid plates.

Q: I think everyone (including myself) was cheering for you to win at XGames in the Super Rally. What was that experience like for you to compete against factory supported vehicles? How did it feel to be door to door in a Rally Cross setting?

A: X-Games was my highlight of the season. It was unbelievable!!!. It was a surprise that we were that competitive. I knew driving wise I was as fast as the factory driver. Where I was the most worried, was about my car. Like I said that car was made for drifting and I had no experience in Rallycross. All the Euro-rally cross cars  made around 650hp on a 2L engine with a 45mm restrictor. I was using a 2.5L engine with a 45mm restrictor and was hopping to be around 500hp. I was confident with Crawford being involve since they’ve been making massive power on there 2.7L with the Time attack car however they never played with a restrictor, so I was a bit nervous. Crawford was able to make over 500 hp and be reliable.I was still under power over the other rallycross cars but because of the 10 inches tire rule, I knew that the Ford or Factory Suby wouldn’t be able to use their full power on gravel.

Everybody had anti-lag and launch control but I didn’t since I was still on my stock ecu. I knew the event was going to be tough.

It was a huge surprise when we qualified 2nd overall. The only guy that beat me was Travis (Pastrana) which has a purposely build Subaru XGames car.

Racing door to door in a stadium with cars screaming was amazing, I’m hooked on rallycross.

Q: What was the highlight for XGames for you?

A: The whole XGames was the highlight! Qualifying 2nd, winning my heat against (Ken) Block and (Dave) Mirra, bouncing off (Brian) Deagan on my first lap, and Catching Tanner (Foust) in our heat! Everything.

Q: As one of the few privateers in Formula Drift, how hard (or easy) is it for you to have to try and conserve funds for each event?

A: It’s really hard to compete in FD (Formula Drift) as a privateer, if you want to be competitive. Fortunately with the sponsorship of Subaru and Royal Purple I was able to do it, but it still cost me a lot of money. That’s the problem with FD now, it’s too expensive to have a competitive car and impossible to do it as a privateer. You might be able to get 1 decent result in the season but won’t be able to be competitive at every event. Cars now are really light and really powerful. The top cars are around 2500 pounds with 650 hp. Only a couple years back you just needed 400hp with a 2700 pounds car to win.

Q: In Vegas you experienced a pretty intense crash but we saw your car again recently at Sonoma and then Irwindale and it looks fine! How were you able to pull that off?

A: Las Vegas was an expensive weekend. I made a big mistake and destroyed the rear end of my car. I was able to buy a rear clip for $500 and take it to my body shops M.O.B.S in Anaheim, CA. They cut my car in half and welded the rear clip on. The car was fixed a week after the crash. 

Q: What new things did you learn from this Season of Formula Drift?

A: That I need a v8 and a light car. The level of driving is way higher than in 2009, same for the cars. I can’t do it as a privateer again. I will need to be part of a team to make it.

Q: Everyone wants to know, will you keep your current STi or go with the new Sedan?

A: In drifting I really doubt that I’ll be in a Subaru for next season. It’s not really the right type of racing for Subaru, as their “thing” is AWD. So, I don’t think I’ll be able to get any support from them (for next season). Also the Subaru platform is not ideal for drifting. You need a real RWD car to be competitive or spend a fortune to make the Suby work. I was able to get away with mine because the other cars were not as developed as they are now. But if Subaru want me to, I would love to do a new STI. I tried last year but couldn’t get the funding for it.

Q: Formula Drift for 2011? What about the new Rally Car series which is rumored to come around the West Coast next year?

A: 2011 Formula Drift, as right now, I don’t have any plan for it. I really want to be in it for 2011 but need to find a team. I can’t afford to do it as a privateer again. Rallycross, I want to be part of it too. My first plan is to drive for a team, I’m talking to 3 teams right now, hopefully I can make it happen. At worst I can use my car for selected West Coast Events. I think by SEMA will know the exact schedule and tv package. 

Q: Who would like to thank that helped you out?

A: There is lot of people that helped me this season: Subaru, Cooper Tires, Crawford Performance, Royal Purple, GTI, Stance, Tein, Garrett, RMR, Enkei, Ignite Fuel, Seibon, APR, I-Speed, and Subaru of Ontario.

Thank you Stephan for your time. Hopefully we can do a feature on your Subie!

 

Video: Stephan Verdier’s crash at Formula Drift

I swear, the more I see how Stephan Verdier is busting his butt in his Subaru as a privateer the more I admire his racing spirit. Just last weekend, he was in the Las Vegas heat competing in the Formula Drift competition. This track has been notorious for killing drift cars because of its high speed entry. Well, it claimed another victim and Stephan Verdier shows how it happened:

Now the damage as pretty crazy according to Stephan as he posted up on his facebook account:

I don’t think the term “It will buff right out” would really apply to Stephan’s accident. He took a rear quarter panel from another Subaru and had his body shop graft that on to the body.

Oh yeah… MUCH Better! Glad to see Stephan back to business and we can’t wait to see him in action again!

Press Release: Stephan Verdier at XGames 16

Our Subie-Life.com friend, Stephan Verdier was simply amazing at XGames. Here’s a recap from his website.

Crawford Performance and Cooper tires are pleased to announce a spectacular final for X-Games 16 Rally Cross. Stephan Verdier and his Crawford Performance Powered Rally Cross Car / Drift Car / Gymkhana Car debutted for the first ever Rally Cross held by X-Games. Currently Verdier’s car competes not only in Formula D, but also a Gymkhana event in RWD format. When X-Games invited Stephan for the Rally Cross event, the car was converted to AWD format and a 45mm restrictor installed to restrict the power levels to equal the playing field for all competitors.

In order to convert the vehicle to make it a competitive vehicle for X-Games, against such teams as Ford Rally Team and Subaru Rally Team, the vehicle was brought to Crawford Performance for some serious work. The car received a sequential transmission, custom twin scroll Garrett turbo kit, ECU remappinhelped prepare the vehicle, including front and rear bumpers by GTI, top of the link rally suspension by Tein, including the engineer for setup and 15 inch rally wheels by Enkei. In order to install the new rally rims stock 4 pot Subaru rally brakes where provided by Ontario Subaru, and Motul providing the much need fluids for the sequential, differentials and engine, Clutch Masters with the twin plate clutch, Ignite racing fuel for the bio fuel,  NGK offering spark plugs and O2 sensors, while K&N offered multiple filters where definitely needed after Verdiers encounter with a cement wall. Cooper tires was also a big help with g via EcuTeK ECU all provided by Crawford Performance for 600hp and 550 ft/lbs. While many other sponsors there rallycross tires.

Friday Practice according to Stephan Verdier:
My second session on the track, X-Games staff watered it down heavily and I knew it was going to be slippery but not as bad as I thought. Into the first turn I began braking and there was no way to slow my speed down enough to make the corner. Bang the back of the car hit into the K-rail but luckily enough I didn’t lose my drift, but it happened to be bad enough to take the car to the frame shop that night to get it straight.

Saturday Qualifying according to Stephan Verdier:
I had a great qualifying round (Qualifying 2nd overall) and the car felt amazing, power everywhere and handle the best it had all weekend up to this point. Right after taking the checkered I was not able to stop in time before the cement barrier and the car crashed hard into the wall causing the engine to instantly shut off. The right front frame rail moved into the engine and broke the front timing pulley and locked the engine. Good thing we had 5 hours to fix it, but not a spare engine. The simple version of the story included a chain, a truck, and a little bit of luck in the hopes the engine may be salvageable. The team and many supporters dropped by to lend a hand to rebuild the beast, while the entire time we were hoping that the million to one shot would include no bent valves or damaged pistons. As lady luck may have it, we were that million to one shot, and when the engine pulleys were repaired, the timing belt reinstalled, the engine fired right up. The sigh of relief and the thrill form Verdier was ecstatic. We were back in the game!!! Now the remaining damage needed repair, a cracked rear left hub (no spare), front right A-Arm, front right bumper, front right chassis needed to be pulled back out, intercooler piping needed to be unbent, new K&N Air Filter, and numerous other small problems from the crash.

Semi-Finals according to Stephan Verdier:
This was my best run of the entire weekend. The car launched off the line and I had an instant lead on everyone else. The car was running perfectly, the run itself was great and the power was fantastic through the entire run. Every time I hit the straights the Crawford Performance Powered car would just pull cars lengths on the rest of the pack and by the time I had taken the checkered flag (and a 1st place) my heart was racing a mile a minute. Here is a video a local fan uploaded to YouTube of the first round.

Finals Round according to Stephan Verdier:
Due to qualifying second and Pastrana’s car not running, I was now the number 1 seed and had first pick at the gate for the finals. My launch was awful, because I was caught off guard due to a miscommunication between myself and the referee. So I started in last place (4th) for the finals, definitely not the way you want to start a race.
In the first corner I was able to power by and out braked Hubinette like he was standing still. Then into the corner under the bridge (X-Games ramp) where Tanner and Deagan went wide which allowed me to cut back on the inside of Deagan. This was a perfect opportunity to cut back in the inside and steal the corner from Deagan and then a drag race down the back of the stadium, passing him before the hill and arch. In that drag race we touched at least 4 times of if not more, definitely a ton of excitement already. The next 3 laps I was closing on Tanner, then I started to lose some power, I thought Deagan pushed me and bent my exhaust, but one of my intercooler pipes that got bent during my crash in the qualifying rounds cracked and started leaking. I took the ‘joker’ lap which included the big jump right behind Tanner and at that point it just let go and lost almost all my power. At this point Deagan was able to pass me and between the arch Samuel tried to pass me on the outside but I was able to friendly block him. But alas going down to the finish the car wouldn’t go and Samuel passed me about 100 feet from the finish. I couldn’t help but be mad, but after what had happened over the past couple days’ competing in the X-Games for the first time and taking home 4th overall at X-Games 16 was awesome!

Next, we are off to Formula D Las Vegas, only two weeks away and the car needs to be prepped for RWD and more power.

Thanks to all my sponsors, Cooper Tires (awesome rallycross tire), Crawford Performance, GTI, Tein, Clutch Masters, Enkei, Ignite Racing Fuel, Subaru of Ontario,Turbo by Garrett, Sparco, APT, Von Zipper, Motul, K&N, Seibon…

And yes we did complete 5 laps.