Video: Subaru Rally Team / Dave Mirra highlight video from Global Rally Cross

Here’s a highlight video from this past weekend on Global Rally Cross! Enjoy!

Press Release: Dave Mirra captures a Podium win at the 2nd Round of Rally Car!

Seems like the boys from the Subaru Rally Team America have been very busy with the new Rally Car series that have been going on the East Coast. During the second round of the series, Dave Mirra has been able to capture his second podium win!

Subaru Rally Team USA Team Driver, Dave Mirra, Captures Second Rallycross Championship Podium Finish

Cherry Hill, N.J., October 4, 2010 – Subaru of America, Inc. – Rain added an additional element to this weekend’s Rallycross competition at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ. With limited visibility, a red flag restart and his team member, Travis Pastrana out with complications with his car, Dave Mirra was still able to finish second in the A Main All-Wheel-Drive Class in his Subaru WRX STI.

“In rally you race in all conditions, rain or shine,” said Mirra “I am pumped to be on the podium for a second time and equally as excited to have moved up a position. I would like to thank the fans that came out and stood in the rain to show their support, without them we would not be here.”

Throughout the weekend Mirra held consistent results during the practice and qualifying rounds. Coming into the finals he was positioned second on the starting grid. Mirra took an early lead in the A Main and had completed two laps when competitor Liam Doran crashed into the tire barrier at turn two and the course had to be red flagged to reset the safety wall. After the restart Mirra fought off Liam Doran and three-time European Rallycross Champion, Jussi Pinomaki to finish second behind Tanner Faust, his highest rally car career finish ever.

Newly sanctioned by RallyCar (formerly Rally America), this all-new race series combines the action of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition into one exciting race. Developed from the European Rallycross, drivers line up to start all at once, piloting high-horsepower compact cars through race traffic over a challenging short course that features jumps, unbanked turns, hills and transitions between pavement, gravel and dirt.

Race finishing positions for the all-wheel drive class were as follows:
1. #34 Tanner Faust
2. #40 Dave Mirra
3. #3 Liam Doran
4. #9 Jussi Pinomaki
5. #465 Rhys Millen
6. #70 Chris Duplessis

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Press Release: Inaugural Rally Car event a Success!

As usual, my good friends at Live Sockets Entertainment provides me with great news about rally! I found this press release about Rally car and I figured I’d share this with you guys!

First American Rallycross Event A Success!

Millville, NJ (August 29, 2010) — RallyCar’s inaugural U.S. Rallycross held at the New Jersey Motorsports Park was a successful event where the competition was fierce and thousands of fans cheered the intense action. Rallycross racing has finally arrived and made a lasting impression!

The highlight of the Rallycross event was the dramatic A Main Final, where Rockstar Energy Drink’s Tanner Foust driving a 2010 Ford Fiesta won the inaugural event in the 4WD Class. Josh Wimpey hailing from Steeles Tavern, VA won the 2WD Class in a 1987 Volkswagen GTi rally car.

Foust was challenged by Ramana Lagemann (2008 Ford Fiesta), the Subaru Rally Team USA duo of Travis Pastrana and Dave Mirra, NOS Energy Drink’s Andrew Comrie-Picard (ACP), and 2010 Rally America 2WD champion Chris Duplessis (2004 Subaru STI). During the A Main, Travis Pastrana lost control of his car and almost flipped it by running over water barriers in front of spectators on the first lap. Pastrana’s incident caused the final race to get red flagged, forcing an A Main restart. Pastrana was allowed to restart the A Main, but was positioned in the back of the grid and fought to win second place overall. Dave Mirra secured third place after battling with both Pastrana and ACP. Chris Duplessis did not finish the race after he spun during the restart and bent his car’s steering rack.

Foust’s win follows a string of victories, including winning gold medals in both Rally Car Racing and the SuperRally at this year’s X Games 16. Foust now lays claim to winning America’s first-ever Rallycross. “The American event was great!” exclaimed Tanner Foust, “The Ford Fiesta was built specifically for Rallycross and it performed extremely well.”

In the 2WD Class A Main final, Josh Wimpey built a significant lead over second place winner Wyatt Knox and third place finisher Randy Zimmer. 18 year-old and 2009 Rally America 2WD National Champion, Dillon Van Way, looked strong in his first three heat races leading up to the final event, but he made hard contact in the dirt with Knox and spun out at the end of the straightaway after breaking a wheel shaft.The weekend was bittersweet for newly crowned 2010 Rally America “Rookie of the Year” Joseph Burke, who suffered a broken gear shift cable and slid off the course in Heat 2, furthering his frustrations with weekend-long brake problems. Burke was towed off the course and had to retire from the Rallycross with a blown turbo.

Ex-factory Subaru Rally Team USA driver, Ramana Lagemann, showed remarkable promise on this weekend’s event behind the wheel of an MSE Olsbergs prepared Rallycross 2008 Ford Fiesta. It was Lagemann’s first outing in this car with no prior testing, so you can expect he will become a regular threat in the Main events in RallyCar’s upcoming events.

The first event of RallyCar’s 2010 U.S. Rallycross Championship goes down as a significant moment in American motorsports history. Spectators, competitors, the track, and sponsors were pleased with how this first Rallycross unfolded and the exciting outcome of the weekend.

“This is an excellent racing format and I see so many excited spectators,” said NOS Energy Drink’s Andrew Comrie-Picard, “and the cool thing is seeing so many excited drivers. You could see it when Dave Mirra and I immediately caught up with each after our Heat race to discuss what happened out there!”

Travis Pastrana acknowledged the enthusiasm the crowd’s intense enthusiasm, “I could literally hear the fans cheering from inside my car!”

Over the weekend, a total of 23 Rally and racecar drivers from various disciplines challenged the 1.3 mile Lightning Racetrack, modified to include three dirt sections and “Joker” lap section. Each car must take a “Joker” lap once at some point during their Heat races. A Joker Lap is a small detour – normally over a jump – that adds a level of unpredictability to the heat’s outcome by changing a driver’s strategy in an instant.

RallyCar’s U.S. Rallycross Championship returns to the New Jersey Motorsports Park for the second round of three events in 2010. Join us in Millville to witness this new, exciting, and highly unpredictable form of racing on October 2-3 and again on November 6-7. Tickets are available at:http://store.njmp.com/store/category/9/157/

Throughout the weekend RallyCar distributed exclusive driver interviews and action videos. You can review the videos at: http://www.rally-america.com/events/2010/NJMPRC1/gallery/

Heat and Main event results can be found at: http://www.rally-america.com/events/2010/NJMPRC1/news/

About RallyCar, Inc.

Based in Golden Valley, Minn., RallyCar sanctions the premier performance rally series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2010, RallyCar is conducting six National Championship events at venues across the country, from Olympia, Washington to Newry, Maine. RallyCar competitors reach speeds of well over 100 mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses consisting of gravel, dirt or snow. Additionally, through a partnership with ESPN, qualifying RallyCar drivers are invited to compete in ESPN’s Summer X Games 16, the annual leading action-sports event that’s broadcast live on ESPN. For more information, be sure to visitwww.rally-america.com.

RallyCar is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., BFGoodrich Tires, the Team O’Neil Rally School, Able Planet, Hawk Performance Brakes, Rally-Tire.com, RaceWatches.com, Exedy Racing Clutches, RECARO, Mazda and the Danza del Sol Winery.

About New Jersey Motorsports Park

Sitting on more than 500 acres in Millville, N.J., New Jersey Motorsports Park is nestled snugly in a beautifully forested region surrounded by scenic rivers and nearby Delaware Bay. Directly adjacent to Millville Municipal Airport, NJMP is conveniently located close to Philadelphia, the Jersey Shore, New York and Baltimore, offering diverse and dynamic motorsports attractions.

The well landscaped park includes two world-class road courses (Thunderbolt and Lightning), a motorsports country club known as the Drivers Club with the Finish Line Pub and Breighton Room Restaurant, which are open to the general public, and F1 New Jersey, one of the top karting facilities in America. Entering its third race season, NJMP hosts a number of professional motorsports events and countless club events and track and facility rentals.

Press Release: Subaru of America’s new 2011 STi Rally Cars released!

As the clock ticks down to the XGames (Don’t forget that we have our very own meet / caravan to the XGames) we get more and more juicy intel about the 2011 STi’s! Now these STi’s aren’t your typical showroom examples.

Of course the whole care has been race prepped with a spec cage and fuel cell. The most surprising element of this car is that it is running an EJ20 (per the rules… WRC Possibly?) instead of the factory EJ25 that we all love here stateside. Heck, I even run an EJ25 in my WRX! But it’s been able to push out an amazing 500hp and 560 ft/lbs of torque! That’s right! Out of a EJ20 with a restrictor plate! Enough fan-boy blabbering from me, check out the press release:

“Subaru Rally Team USA Debuts New 2011 Rally Cars at Speed with X Games Stars Travis Pastrana and Dave Mirra
— Cars will compete this Saturday at X Games 16 —
— Drivers Travis Pastrana, Dave Mirra and Sverre Isachsen pilot new 500-plus HP Subaru STI Rally Cars –

CHERRY HILL, N.J., July 29 — Subaru Rally Team USA unveiled its new 2011 Impreza WRX STI rally cars to journalists in dramatic fashion at the Pala Raceway in Pala, California. The team provided full speed ride-alongs to journalists during practice for the ESPN Summer X Games 16. Travis Pastrana, Dave Mirra and new teammate, European Rallycross Champion Sverre Isachsen, demonstrated that they were ready for the SuperRally X Game competitions, being held at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday, July 31st.

“The team has worked very hard to get these vehicles ready for the X Games,” said Pastrana. “The competition is going to be tough but I am confident that our STIs will be the cars to beat.”

The team’s technical partner, Vermont SportsCar, first began with a stock 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI right off the showroom floor. The car’s interior was then stripped bare and the shell lightened then fully seam welded for added strength. A multipoint roll cage, manufactured from T45 steel, was then welded into place.

Major differences from the stock STI include the addition of a competition fuel cell — which keeps race fuel contained within a flexible Kevlar bag tank — and lightweight carbon/Kevlar RECARO SPA ProRacer competition seats (w/HANS- Head and Neck Restraint System). Other interior additions include a custom STI dashboard, carbon fiber door panels, a Coralba C-Giant Rally Odometer, and an onboard Fire Suppression System.

The stock dampers are swapped out for heavy-duty rally dampers made by EXE-TC competition suspension. The rally dampers are fully adjustable and are built to take the abuse that off-road gravel rallying entails. Under the hood sits a 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder, turbocharged and intercooled STI engine running VP Racing fuel and producing in excess of 500 horsepower and 560 lb/ft of torque (running with 45mm restrictor for X Games). The clutch is a high performance-racing clutch provided by EXedy. Launch control, a turbo anti-lag system and a hydraulic handbrake are just a few of the features at the driver’s disposal.

A 5-speed, close-ratio dog-engagement gearbox is used, which allows Subaru Rally Team USA drivers to shift without depressing the clutch. The DCCD (Driver Controlled Center Differential) is similar to the system in a stock STI street car, but with a competition ECU for the differential, which allows for greater control of the torque delivery between all four wheels.

The exterior of the car remains close to stock, with the simple addition of mud flaps and a 1/4-inch aluminum skid plate. A roof-mounted carbon fiber air scoop aids in cooling the cockpit and the stock rear wing is replaced with a larger vertically slotted wing, which greatly improves down force to the rear of the car, even as it slides sideways. Lastly, auxiliary HID driving lights, made by Vision-X and housed in carbon fiber light pod, are fitted for night rallying.

“Learning a new car can be a challenge,” Isachsen said, “but having seen the result of the Subaru team’s preparations and practiced in my STI, I am very much looking forward to driving in the X Games SuperRally. Though the ERC (European Rally Championship) is somewhat different from SuperRally, I think my experience will place me in a competitive position for this event.”

The SRT USA will again compete in the Rally Car competition, which they have won 9 out of the 13 possible medals in the past 4 years. The event features two rally cars at a time running on a stadium based parallel course. New for this year X Games will debut SuperRally, which is based on the European Rallycross. SuperRally features direct head-to-head competition with four cars at a time on a tight dirt course within the massive LA Coliseum, in downtown Los Angeles. The new format should prove especially exciting for America fans as the rally cars will bump, jump and slide together in a furious sprint of just a few short laps.

Subaru.com/Rally will post daily updates on the progress of Subaru Rally Team USA throughout X Games weekend.”

Everyone from Subie-life.com would like to wish the whole Subaru Rally Team America the best of luck and we’ll be cheering you on in the stands!

Mystery Subaru Rally Team America Driver / Car spotted!

Not sure who this is or why this Subaru has a “Tron” theme to it but it’s a pretty cool looking Subie!

Seems like a lot of the sponsors on the car are shared with the other Subaru Rally Team America cars. Anyone have more info on this car?

Video: New England Forest Rally, Rally America Finale Recap

Another season of Rally America has ended with mixed results for the Subaru Rally Team America. Check out the finale recap video of the New England Forest Rally!

Don’t forget, next week is XGames where we will be there to cheer on our friend Stephan Verdier, and the Subaru Rally Team America!