X-Games 16 Rally Practice With Hubinette And ACP

By Joey Leh, Photography by the author

Rally racing is one of the greatest forms of motorsport on Earth. There’s a reason that the World Rally Championship (WRC) is held in such high regard and it’s not because of the beer-infused forest parties along the stages. Well, not only.

Rally racing is outdoor motorsports at its quickest and most fun, and we were along for the ride. Just days before the opening of the 16^th running of the X-Games, we got the chance to practice with Team BFGoodrich rally drivers Andrew Comrie-Picard and Samuel Hubinette.

A sport with international appeal and latent excitement, rally racing involves cars going as flat out as possible through closed-off lengths of roads, called stages, aiming for the fastest times. It’s not run wheel-to-wheel with multiple cars at the same time, that distinction is held for the stadium rallycross events, but rally racing is still more nail biting than any drag race down the quarter-mile.

Also, unlike Formula One, rally racing can be done in any crap can by any driver dedicated enough to carry triple-digit speeds through a forest. With the sport’s penchant for rolling, crashing, and destroying cars (simply search YouTube for “WRC crash” – Ed.), rally racing is often done in old front-wheel drive GTIs, Volvos, and Ford Ranger pickup trucks.

When you’re asked to develop keen car control and go fast over snow, dirt, tarmac, ice, and mud, you learn a thing or two. Rally drivers are some of the most skilled and versatile shoes around; watching footage of Walter Rohrl dance on three pedals is enough to awe any fan.

On an otherwise quiet weekday, we gathered at a temporary dirt course carved out of a quarry near Irwindale Speedway, aka “the house of drift”. Designed as a close replica of the X-Games rally course, the rutted test course featured a 180-degree u-turn, uphill straight, and blind exit right-hander.

Samuel Hubinette, a former ice racer and Formula Drift star, took to the course first in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. The caged and tuned all-wheel drive rally car accelerated like a rocket and spit bits of rock and dirt with every corner exit. You haven’t truly been pelted with rocks until you’ve been pelted with rocks by a full-bore rally car.

Alternating on course with Hubinette was his teammate and the builder of the Evo X, Andrew Comrie-Picard. Driving his own Lancer Evolution IX, ACP is a rally champion, TV host, and emerging drifter. With its more aggressive bodywork and louder exhaust note, the Lancer Evolution IX seemed to play the part of the grizzled veteran versus the X’s fresh upstart.

When the opportunity arose for a ride around the dirt course, ACP’s Evo IX was in our sights. After snaking our way through the extensive cage work and cinching down our belts, ACP activated the anti-lag system and launched the car. With the car literally combusting inside the turbocharger, the Evo ripped out of the loose, dusty surface at full boost with all four BFGs churning dirt.

With larger air intake restrictors allowed, ACP’s Evo IX generated almost 600hp with a built engine and 114-octane equivalent ethanol racing fuel. ACP doesn’t make use of the special ethanol fuel during regular rally events (the fuel mileage is so low, he won’t be able to make the distance between services) but the X-Games is a special guns-out spectator event.

Almost as impressive as the rally car’s standstill launching grip was its ability to accelerate. We’re talking about more than just torque, ACP’s Evo IX was able to crest and soak up ruts in the dirt with more ease than your average speed bump, allowing the gas pedal to stay down.

With compliance over the rough surfaces of the test course, ACP was able to go full throttle leading up to and over the uphill straight. The Evo IX developed some heating issues after multiple back-to-back runs around the course but should be a strong contender at X-Games 16.

In addition to the rally portion, X-Games 16 has added a new segment for 2010, a form of European rallycross that ESPN is calling SuperRally. Four cars will line up at a time and take to the dirt-covered stadium course, battling wheel-to-wheel in a full-on rally gladiator match. Drivers such as ACP, last year’s rally gold medallist Kenny Brack, Travis Pastrana, Dave Mirra, and Tanner Foust will compete in the SuperRally.

Contact
BFGoodrich Tires
www.bfgoodrichtires.com