Sunset_Blogger

The new production-based Ford Fiesta rally cars were fastest all week, so it came as no surprise that the Fiesta dominated Sunday’s X Games Rally Competition Finale, claiming two spots on the podium and three of the top four overall in the car's debut appearance.

Kenny Brack, the 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner, driving the Olsbergs Motorsport Evolution Ford Fiesta, captured the gold medal at X Games 15, defeating 2008 champion Travis Pastrana in the Super Special Rally Final.
Brack’s teammate Tanner Foust captured the bronze medal in the ROCKSTAR Fiesta, narrowly losing a thrilling semi-final match-up with Brack. Brian Deegan, the Motocross star turned rally racer, finished fourth overall when he lost a turbo hose on his ROCKSTAR Fiesta during a semi-final match-up with Pastrana.

“The Ford Fiesta was a great car and this victory is the result of a lot of hard work by the Olsbergs team,” said Brack, who became the first invited driver to the X Games rally competition to win.

Brack, who has been retired from competitive racing since running the 2005 Indy 500, drove the 450-horsepower Olsbergs MSE Fiesta brilliantly, clinching the gold when his competition, Pastrana, spun wide and clipped the wall in the finale. Brack’s toughest competition came in the semi-final when he raced neck and neck with his teammate Tanner Foust. Brack edged Foust when Foust suffered a miscue on course.

“The Fiesta was running good and unfortunately Kenny and I got stuck up against each other in the semi-finals so it was Fiesta vs. Fiesta,” said Foust, who described the Fiesta as ‘an angry little beast’ earlier in the week. “Ford had three of the final four, which shows the strength of the car.”

Deegan, driver of the ROCKSTAR Ford Fiesta, finished fourth when he lost his turbo power against his old rival Pastrana.

“Rally is over and it was a fun day for me with it being my first time doing the rally at X Games,” said Deegan, a 10-time medalist at X Games. “I had a good time in the car out there ripping around. I ended up not getting any practice this morning because they cut it short which didn’t help me much, so I went out and hit the jump a little too fast in my prelim and smashed it a little bit and popped my turbo hose off. So I luckily finished the round and got through and my next round was with [Ken] Block and going off the course all crazy made my turbo hose pop off again. With the quick turnaround for the last run against Pastrana, they couldn’t get the turbo hose on right and I went out with no power and I came up for the jump and thought it was all or nothing and since I didn’t want to crash the car, I went around the jump and just finished the race. There is always next year. Up to that point I was kicking butt and I was surprised with my driving. Hopefully, next year, I am in a Ford Fiesta and I can win a medal.”

In 2010, the Fiesta will be produced at plants in Germany, Spain, Mexico, Thailand and China for sale in markets around the world. The Fiesta for the North American market will be built at Ford’s assembly plant in Cuautitlan, Mexico.