Let the X Games Begin

Ford makes its X Games debut with three Fiesta Rallycross cars and an all star driver lineup

X Games

Here at LotPro.com, we see that even as classic vehicles compete this weekend for class and overall honors at the Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance, a different type of competition will be taking place out on the west coast at the X Games Pro Rally.

This year, Ford Motor Company is bringing three of its new Fiesta Rallycross cars to ESPN’s X Games 15 in Los Angeles, California. The team will include Swedish driver and 1999 Indy 500 winner Kenny Brack (who also captured the IndyCar Series championship in 1998 and was a factory driver for Ford Racing’s Champ Car entry Rahal Letterman Racing), who will be driving the Swedish Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution Fiesta. Brack, who is making his X Games debut, will drive the 2009 Fiesta 3-door hatchback.

Olsbergs MSE will also field two other Ford Fiestas under the Rockstar Energy Drink banner. Tanner Foust, who will drive a race-prepared 2009 Fiesta 5-door hatchback, won the 2007 X Games Gold Medal in the Pro Rally for the Rockstar Energy Rally Team. Foust was also chosen to represent Team USA in the annual Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium in London this past December.

Teaming up with Foust under the Rockstar livery will be Brian Deegan, a ten-time medalist at the X Games, including three gold medals for Moto X Best Trick in 2002, 2003 and 2005. Deegan’s racing experience includes competing in every X Games rally event. Brian will drive a 2008 Fiesta 3-door hatchback.

“The ROCKSTAR Fiesta is an angry little beast,” said Foust, a two-time X Games medalist in the rally competition after testing his Fiesta. “That is a crazy, crazy little machine. The first time getting in to it I felt like all I could do was calm it down, because with the amount of boost it was creating and the amount of power it just wanted to run. This tight little test track was just too tight for legs that are that long. If there is any car out there that can take the X Games on pure technology and mechanics, it is the Fiesta.”

“I am really impressed,” said Brack, who drove for Ford factory team Rahal Letterman Racing in the now defunct CART open-wheel series, after taking his Fiesta around the simulated rally course at El Toro Marine Base. “The Fiesta is a great little car and a lot of fun to drive. It is very nimble to drive and it has a good torque curve and power. The challenge for us is to sort out the balance and combine it all together and create a nice little package that we can go racing with. The Fiesta has a lot of potential for sure.”

New Fiesta

Although similar in appearance to the production Fiesta, that’s where the similarity ends when it comes to the RallyFiesta. The Olsbergs MSE Fiesta Rallycross car is based on the Fiesta hatchback model road cars. The all-wheel-drive Fiestas are powered by a 2.0-liter Duratec Ford engines capable of more than 800 horsepower.

“The new Fiesta is already creating headlines around the world,” said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford North America Motorsport. “The announcement that it would compete at Pikes Peak was greeted so positively by enthusiasts everywhere. Now, to back it up with competition at the X Games will just create even more buzz for the car.”

“We are very excited to see the Fiesta competing not only at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, but also at the X Games in LA,” said Jost Capito, director of Ford Global Motorsport Business Development. “The competition will be extremely strong in both events, but we’ve put together a strong team with the ROCKSTAR/BF Goodrich Tires Fiestas and our all star drivers. The Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution race team is doing an outstanding job in preparing the cars for both of these world famous events.”

The X Games 15 will run from July 30-August 2.

Tags: espn, fiesta, fiesta rallycross, indy 500, indycar series, meadow brook concours d'elegance, olsbergs motor sport evolution, olsbergs mse, rahal letterman racing, rockstar, rockstar energy drink, x games, x games 15, x games pro rally