| LOUDON, NH (July 12, 2013) – Rockstar Energy Drink driver Tanner Foust put in a strong performance to confidently lead the Global Rallycross Championship’s first domestic round of 2013 until a last-corner mishap made it a near miss. Foust finished fourth in an all-Ford top-five. “I’m happy for my teammates and it was a great showing for Ford,” said Foust. “It wasn’t me on the top step of the podium today, but the next race is just around the corner and I’m ready for it.” After a qualifying session held in mixed weather conditions, including a flash downpour that flooded the New Hampshire Motor Speedway course with water, Foust dominated his opening heat to bypass the last-chance qualifier and line up in an all-Ford front row for the main event. While rival drivers bashed doors, Foust played it safe and pushed the Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta ST deep into the first corner to emerge with the race lead. He put in an assertive drive and looked unassailable as he remained out front for nine laps. But, heading into the final corner of the race, Foust’s spotter cautioned him to defend the inside line of an unusual elevated hairpin turn feature. As he moved inside, Foust caught a patch of slippery dirt and skidded into the guardrail on the outside of the corner. He was able to regain the race, but not before his rivals squeeze past and he crossed the finish line in fourth-place overall. “The result is disappointing, but the Ford Fiesta ST is strong and capable on the wider, faster U.S. courses we’ll see this year,” said Foust. “It shows promise for the rest of the season and there’s a lot of racing left in this championship.” Foust, the two-time defending U.S. rallycross champion and a contender in the European Rallycross Championship, scored his first Global Rallycross Championship podium result of 2013 just 10 days ago in Munich when he won a bronze medal at X Games. He is second in the points race, trailing teammate Toomas Heikkinen, who won the Loudon race. The New Hampshire event followed three opening rounds at Global X Games events in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, and Munich. It was the first of six rounds in the United States this year. The championship resumes next weekend with a stop at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn. Full coverage of this week’s race airs on ESPN Saturday, July 13, at 7:30 PM ET. Rallycross is a blend of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition. It promises intense crowd-pleasing action in a fan-friendly track environment. As many as 10 drivers line up to start 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 and gravel. Foust is running an ambitious international rallycross campaign in 2013 that includes a select European rounds, international X Games rallycross events and the Global Rallycross Championship. He won the opening event of this year’s European Rallycross Championship in the U.K., and earned the top spot on the podium again last month in Finland. A year after making his overseas debut in the sport in 2010 with a select campaign, Foust became the first American driver to win a round of the European championship and finished both 2011 and 2012 ranked in the top three. The sport was first introduced to the United States in 2010, and Foust has swept the domestic championship titles since then. ABOUT TANNER FOUST: Tanner Foust is a versatile and multi-talented driver known for his supreme car control and a proven track record of podium placements, national championships and world records. He is a three-time U.S. rallycross champion (2012, 2011, 2010) who has also won three X Games gold medals for rally (2010, 2007), and two Formula Drift championships (2008, 2007). He has also held multiple world records including for last summer’s astonishing Hot Wheels Double Loop Dare, when he drove a car through a 66-foot loop-the-loop. He also scored the indoor speed record for TV’s Top Gear USA, and set a distance jump record with Hot Wheels when he made a 332′ ramp-to-ramp leap in a truck at the Indy 500. His varied race experience includes multiple years of open wheel competition, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, rally racing, various types of sports car racing and the SCORE Baja. He has represented the USA in the annual Race of Champions three times, teaming with NASCAR star Carl Edwards in 2008, Travis Pastrana in 2009, and Mick Doohan in 2010. When he isn’t racing, the professional driver also performs in films and on television. He is an on-air host for the U.S. version of the seminal BBC auto show Top Gear, produced by BBC Worldwide Productions and airing on the HISTORY channel. Foust is also one of the stars of Ford Racing’s Octane Academy, which returns for a second season in 2013, and he handles stunt driving in numerous popular films, TV shows and commercials. He is featured as a stunt driver in the upcoming Need 4 Speed film, as well as other major releases including the Bourne Legacy, Bourne Ultimatum, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, Dukes of Hazzard, Red Dawn and Iron Man 2 movies. TANNER FOUST’S RALLYCROSS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE BY: Rockstar Energy Drink (www.RockstarEnergy.com); Ford Racing (www.ford.com); ENEOS Motor Oil (www.eneos.us); Motegi Racing (www.motegiracing.com), ODYSSEY Battery (www.odysseybattery.com); Illest (www.illestbrand.com); and Horizon Hobby (www.horizonhobby.com) MORE INFORMATION: www.tannerfoust.com To arrange interviews, contact Fred Chang from Tanner Foust’s management team. E-mail: , Office: 949.660.7972 x. 29 EFAX: 949.480.0638 Mobile: 714.623.1995 www.beyondmg.com |
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