This past weekend was X Games 16. New for this year was SuperRally where four cars compete bumper to bumper on a dirt course. TEIN sponsored professional drifter, Stephan Verdier, driving his Subaru STi. The vehicle is actually Stephan’s drift car converted back to AWD and tuned for rally. Changes included a different motor and transmission package from Crawford (must use turbo restrictor plate per the rules), rally suspension, gravel tires and a host of other parts.

Being that Ford and Subaru had multiple cars entered into SuperRally I think it was safe to say that Stephan was a big underdog. However practice times showed that Stephan was one of the quickest competitors. His Crawford powered STi showed it easily had the power to compete with the high power and light weight Fiestas from Ford which are purpose built for Rally Cross competition.

During morning practice Stephan made contact with the wall and damaged both the front and rear of his car. His car arrived back to the pits with a motor trouble, suspension damage and body damage. It took his skillful and dedicated crew hours to get his car patched up enough to compete. TEIN engineer, Mr. Nakai was on hand to help with suspension tuning and witnessed the team fix a broken cam sprocket, pull the chassis with a truck, replace suspension components and repair the bodywork. At this point he was lucky to even make it to the starting line.

In the first round Stephan faced Dave Mirra, Ken Block and ACP.

Stephan blasted off the line and held his lead for the entire race earning the win and entrance into the final round.

In the final round Stephan faced Tanner Foust, Brian Deegan and Sam Hubinette. This time the Fiestas blasted off the line and Stephan used his Crawford power to gain third position.

Through aggressive driving he moved into second behind Foust but relinquished the position to Deegan 3 laps later.

300 meters before the finish Stephan slowed from a damaged intercooler pipe which allowed Hubinette to pass him for third. The Gr.N suspension worked flawlessly throughout practice and competition. The coilovers provided Stephan with good traction for the Crawford power plant, high cornering speed and smooth landings.

It was an exciting race no matter the outcome and I cannot wait to see this event again in 2011.

Special thanks to Gordon Ting of 0-60 magazine for the X Games pass and the images.