Subiesport Magazine - November 2008 - (Page 49)

SHOWS sel” turns where the cars turned back on themselves before racing back into the stadium. Also new this year was a move up from Rally America-standard 34mm restrictors to X Gamesonly 40mm pieces. The word on the ground was that the improved airflow was good for more than 100 extra ponies – huge power for such a tight course. The X Games has also become known for Subaru domination – every X Games Rally event has seen an Impreza on every step of the podium, and Subaru of America views the event as an important promotional activity. On hand all week was James Han, Motorsports Marketing Manager for Subaru America. “This is our third year and I think that it gets bigger and better every year,” said Han. “It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase the 2008 STI, and also the 2009 WRX that we just debuted on site over at our Subaru booth.” Indeed, the 2008 STI was out in force, with three cars in the event – Travis Pastrana, Ken Block and Irish rally ace Niall McShea, who had gained entry to the X Games as the “Last Chance Qualifier” at the New England Forest Rally in June. For most of the teams, the X Games had actually begun a week earlier in Utah, where a practice ramp identical in size and shape to the stadium jump had been built to allow the teams to get a feel for the takeoff speed – and for the 2008 cars, a chance to see how they’d fly. Some of the competitors had never tackled anything like this before, so jump veteran Block was put in the odd position of teaching 2004 PWRC champion Niall McShea and BMX legend Dave Mirra how to jump. “Dave over-jumped it. He figured, ‘Ah, I’ll go a little faster.’ I thought he was gonna kill me! For some reason I thought it was a good idea to sit in the car with him,” Block laughed, “and then I got in the car with Niall, and he underjumped it and almost went into the face.” Not as easy as it looks, apparently. From Utah the teams headed back to Los Angeles for practice sessions – on the asphalt section of the course only, however, as the dirt section in the stadium would not be built until after the motocross events had finished on Saturday night. Despite being short, the tight course offered plenty of hazards, with most cars displaying battle damage in short order. The word on the paved section was that even within the short distance there were several surface changes. As Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard (the only competitor this year not driving a Subaru) commented, “You jump out of the stadium on dirt, you land on slippery concrete, then you go onto dirt, then you go onto bare concrete.” A diehard stage rally competitor, Comrie-Picard could see the publicity that the event brings to the sport. “USA Today had an article … about the X Games … but about half of it was about rally, [and] they were saying like, ‘It’s

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Subiesport Magazine - November 2008 Contents Editor Letters Readers’ Rides New Products Subaru News 2009 WRX Test Drive Back on Easy Street Brothers in Boost Treasure Island ESPN X Games 14 Subiefest 3 Subie Extravaganza WWJCD WRC Rally Finland WRC Rally Deutschland Rally America: Ojibwe Forest Rally America: Colorado Where to buy Subiesport Orange Invasion - Europe 2007 STI Intake Test Dreadnought Widebody Install p2 Ad Directory Spotted!

Subiesport Magazine - November 2008

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