Doran Monsters X Games

Liam Doran wins first gold medal in his first X Games.

Liam Doran marched into the X Games arena and beat Marcus Grönholm to win the Rally Car Racing segment of the event in Los Angeles. The Englishman’s day did not start well, an incident in practice leaving his KHM Citroën C4 with broken rear suspension, but after that he put in a brilliant run, making good starts and  progressing through the elimination-style event before beating Grönholm twice in the final. “It felt amazing putting it all out there. I went out and I started winning and when you get on a winning streak you go,” said Doran, “My team is the best team in the world. The car was the same from the first run to the last run.  I owe it to everyone, and I have done it.”

The day was a troubled one for the Ford drivers who started favourite in the event, Tanner Foust having launch control problems on his Fiesta, and suffering clutch problems as a result of driving around the problem. Brian Deegan, meanwhile, went out with front-diff failure early in the event and Grönholm blamed himself: “It was fun, but the whole day I have not been happy with my driving so that was not so enjoyable,” he said.

The Subaru Rally Team USA had Per Eklund on hand to lend technical assistance, the veteran Swede having supplied transmission and engine components to the American team which appeared to have improved form here. David Higgins grabbed third place in the event at Foust’s expense. “Words cannot describe it. The atmosphere, the whole thing.  There is no room for error anywhere with the brick walls and cars and everything. It is probably the most wild thing you can do in a car, but it is brilliant,” said Higgins whose team mate Dave Mirra went out after missing the entry to the jump and having take a second attempt at the obstacle.

Ken Block went out of the event early with turbo problems in his new Fiesta and Michael Jernberg had to change the engine in his Škoda, both will be back for the Rallycross element of the event today. The Hyundai Velosters of Millen and Maddison again looked good but lacked sheer pace, Millen also suffering a puncture that cost him dear. The Hyundais will be back for the Rallycross as well as Travis Pastrana who tested a hand throttle arrangement on his Subaru and now plans to race in the Rallycross. His participation in the event had been questioned after he crashed his motorcycle earlier this weekend.

• Rally Car Racing – Final Results:
• 1. Liam Doran (GB) Citroën C4
• 2. Marcus Grönholm (FIN) Ford Fiesta VII
• 3. David Higgins (GB) Subaru Impreza GR
• 4. Tanner Foust (USA) Ford Fiesta VII

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