Kenny Brack Wins Gold and Ford Fiestas Fill Three Of Top Four Spots
Sunday August 2nd, 2009—Carson, CA. — Rockstar Energy Drink Rally Team driver, Tanner Foust, won the Bronze medal at the X Games 15 Rally Super Special in an Olsbergs MSE prepared 2010 Ford Fiesta. His Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta teammate, Indy Champion Kenny Brack, beat him in a close fought semi-final to go onto win the Gold. Freestyle motocross star, Brian Deegan, also driving for Rockstar Energy Drink in another Olsberg MSE prepared Ford Fiesta placed fourth in his first ever X Games rally event.
The X Games Rally Super Special is the pinnacle of the race season for US rally as it shines the spotlight on rally cars with a made for TV, head-to-head format, including a mid-stadium 70 foot crossover jump, all broadcast live on ABC.
The weekend started out well for the Rockstar Energy Drink and Olsbergs MSE Fiestas. Brack, Foust and Deegan scored the first, second and fourth fastest times in the timed seeding round on Friday. Foust was already pre-qualified for the quarter-final as the 2008 silver medalist. Brack and Deegan made short work of their qualifying rounds for the quarters, though Deegan sustained heavy damage to his Rockstar Energy Drink Fiesta on the main jump after a hard nose-in landing.
The quarter-finals went smoothly for Brack and Foust with Brack drawing first blood against Subaru Rally Team USA beating Dave Mirra in a close race. Foust beat Polish rally driver, Andy Mancin in a Mitsubishi EVO. Then the real action picked up with another Ford/Subaru fight—Deegan against Ken Block. Deegan went to the line with almost no turbo pressure—the result of damage from the prior hard landing. Block quickly took the lead, but even though down on power, Deegan made a clean jump. Block then threw his race away when he tagged a rear wheel on a K rail. The damage forced him to abort his run at the crossover jump, and earning a disqualification.
All three Ford Fiestas were now through to the semi-finals, with only 2008 Gold medalist Travis Pastrana representing Subaru. But now it was time for the 2010 Ford Fiestas to face off, Brack in Olsbergs MSE colors and Foust representing Rockstar Energy Drink. Brack got the jump on Foust but by mid-race Foust was pulling up on Brack with just 0.03 seconds between them. An error by Foust put him in the wrong race lane necessitating a quick one-eighty to get back on track handing the race to Brack. A Ford Fiesta was through to the final.
Reviving many years of rivalry in X Games Freestyle MX, Deegan now faced off against Travis Pastrana. Despite efforts from the Olsbergs MSE pit crew, Deegan’s Rockstar Energy Drink Fiesta had sustained too much damage and he now had no turbo boost. In a repeat of the 2008 Block/Pastrana semi, much to his frustration, Deegan was unable to race against Pastrana and was disqualified also for not jumping, As a result, Foust now had the Bronze—the first medal for Ford, and Pastrana was through to the final.
Ford versus Subaru and Brack versus Pastrana for the final. It was looking like a potentially close race but before completing his first lap, Pastrana jammed the Subaru into a wall ending it. Kenny Brack, an X Games first timer, in an all-new 2010 Ford Fiesta, won the Gold.
“X Games 15 was bittersweet. Being teammates with Kenny Brack and Brian Deegan was awesome.“ commented Tanner Foust, “I think we gave America an amazing introduction to the coming-soon 2010 Ford Fiesta. My Rockstar Energy Drink Fiesta flew perfectly over the jumps and was fantastically set up by the Olsbergs MSE crew for the tarmac section where the races are won and lost. Unfortunately, one critical error on my part in the semi-final against Kenny ended my chance at the Gold. For the first time in all of my X Games rallies I had a car that I felt could take on the factory Subarus from the start. And we did.”
First time out with two X Games Rally rookies at the wheel, the Rockstar Energy/Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiestas shut the door on Subaru’s prior domination of the event—a fantastic result for Kenny Brack, Tanner Foust and X Games crowd favorite Brian Deegan. Foust has one of each medal from the last three X Games rallies, Deegan wants a rally medal to add to his record X Games collection, and Brack has to return to defend the Gold. The stage is set for a rematch at X Games 16.
Tanner Foust heads to Seattle for round five of the Formula Drift Championship at Evergreen Raceway, Monroe, WA on August 7th and 8th.
About: Managed and packaged by Overamerica Media and Marketing, the Rockstar Energy Drink Rally Team at X Games 15 includes drivers, Tanner Foust, the 2007 X Games Rally Gold/2008 X Games Rally Silver Medalist and 2008 and 2007 Formula Drift Pro Drift Champion, and Freestyle MX Star, Brian Deegan. The Rockstar Star Energy Drink Rally Team partnered with Ford Racing and Olsbergs MSE with support from BF Goodrich to campaign the X Games 15 Rally Super Special along with Indy Champion, Kenny Brack. Additional sponsors include Ohlins (Suspension), Alpinestars, Metal Mullisha, Fulmer Helmets and Memphis Car Audio.