THE 2009 RALLY AMERICA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SHIFTS TO MAINE FOR ROUND 6 of 9

Regional Rally Teams come from all over to claim their share of the MaxAttack! cash awards

(Newry, Maine) – With the first five rally events of the 2009 Rally America National Championship in the record books already, the top Regional and National rally teams from across the United States and Canada will soon be making their way to the tiny resort village of Newry, Maine for the New England Forest Rally – home to the Sunday River Resort and round #6 of the 9-event Rally America National Championship.

Set for Friday and Saturday, July 17 & 18, 2009, as many as 45 or more top-level rally teams are expected to be competing on some of the fastest gravel and forest roads in the country for top honors at this always-popular rally event.

Sitting atop the Rally America National points championship right now and expected to be competing at this year’s New England Forest Rally is 3-time Rally America Champion and Freestyle Motocross legend Travis Pastrana who drives for Subaru Rally Team USA – the factory-backed rally team based in Colchester, Vermont. Along with his teammates Ken Block, co-founder of DC Shoes USA, and X Games & BMX legend Dave Mirra, the Subaru rally team will be looking for another overall rally victory at this year’s New England Forest Rally.

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The Goodwood Festival kicks off in the UK this weekend and we are so jealous not to be in attendance this year. For those who don't know, Goodwood encompasses everything great about Motorsports and car culture. Over 120 stars from the world of Motorsports including former and present drivers in F1, WRC, MotoGP and so on will be on hand for all the festivities. Check out the official website for more detail.

Here's a list of highlights from this year's event:

• Louis Hamilton will drive Ayrton Senna's 1988 McLaren-Honda MP4/4 turbo in the famous hillclimb.
• Sebastian Loeb will be participating in the Goodwood Forest Rally Stage along side rallying legends such as Walter Rohl, Bjorn Waldegaard and Stig Blomqvist as well as piloting his Citroen C4 in the hillclimb.
• Jesse James will drive his trophy truck at the event and hopefully make it up the hill without crashing into the hay bales.

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Dearborn, Mich. — The new Fiesta Rallycross cars have already created plenty of buzz in the enthusiast community with word of their North American motorsport debut in July’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado.

Now, the anticipation will be even greater as the Swedish Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution team has announced it will compete in ESPN’s X Games 15 in Los Angeles, Calif., July 30 – Aug. 2. Olsbergs MSE is entering the race with the famous Swedish driver Kenny Brack. The team will also field Ford Fiestas with Rockstar Energy Drink for drivers Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan. All three Fiestas will comply with Rally America Open Class specifications.

Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution will utilize BFGoodrich Tires at both the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and at ESPN’s X Games 15.

“The new Fiesta is already creating headlines around the world,” said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford North America Motorsport. “The announcement that it would compete at Pikes Peak was greeted so positively by enthusiasts everywhere. Now, to back it up with competition at the X Games will just create even more buzz for the car.”

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For Immediate Release

June 30, 2009

Formula DRIFT Returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Round 4: All In; Professional and Amateur Drifters to compete at the 2-day event on Friday, July 10 and Saturday, July 11

Long Beach, Calif. – June 30, 2009 – Formula DRIFT will return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Round 4: All In on July 10-11. Featured events will include the Formula DRIFT Pro Championship and Pro Am competition.

Formula DRIFT returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Friday, July 10 will serve as a preview day with both Pro Am and the Formula DRIFT Pro Championship practice, qualifying, and driver autograph signing. Saturday, July 11 is the main event and will feature both the Pro Am Top 8 competition and Formula DRIFT Pro Championship Top 32 competition. The Top 32 format is new for the 2009 season and features more action and excitement than ever before. Gates open at 4:00 PM on both days with action continuing throughout the evening.

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Ferrari Formula 1 star Kimi Raikkonen will make his World Rally Championship debut at the next round of the WRC, Neste Oil Rally Finland, which starts on 30 July.

Raikkonen, who was F1 world champion in 2007, will drive his own Abarth Grande Punto S2000 in front of his home crowd in the country widely regarded as the home of rallying.

He will be co-driven by fellow Finn Kaj Lindstrom, the man who formerly partnered multiple WRC champion Tommi Makinen.

Alongside Lindstrom, Raikkonen has already contested three non-WRC rallies this year but the upcoming round in Jyvaskyla will be his maiden outing on gravel.

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We knew that the Ford works team was going to produce some good results after day one when Sebastien Loeb crashed out. Hirvonen drove to the victory and took over the championship points race with a 1 point lead over Loeb.

Unfortunately team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala was not so lucky when he crashed out of 2nd place on the final speed test and was unable to continue. Talk about bad luck. Dani Sordo took 2nd with Henning and Petter Solberg coming in 3rd and 4th respectively. Next stop Rally Finland at the end of the month.

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OMG, Loeb hit a tree stump and retired; will restart tomorrow under superally rule. Hirvonen in 1st w/ Latvala in 2nd, Sordo in 3rd and Petter Solberg in 4th.

Hirvonen should take over the points lead after this one unless something ridiculous happens. Here are some pics from this one so far.

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This was from the Oregon Trail Rally awhile back. The new evo takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'; impressive. Tanner even finished 2nd overall in the rally.

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For Immediate Release

June 25, 2009

Formula DRIFT Announces Schedule Change for 2009 Season; Round 6: Locked and Loaded to be Added to the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on August 21-22, 2009

Long Beach, Calif. – June 25, 2009 – Formula DRIFT has announced a schedule change for the 2009 season. Round 6: Locked and Loaded at Infineon Raceway will be re-scheduled from September 12 to August 21-22. Formula DRIFT has been added to the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma race weekend.

“Formula DRIFT continues to bring drifting to the big leagues with the addition of our event to the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “Motorsports fans will be able to experience the 110+ mph average speeds of open wheel racing and all the sideways action of Formula DRIFT in one weekend.”

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Saw this video on the Formula D site when they had BMX riders Chad Kagy and Scotty Cranmer out for some ride alongs at the Wall NJ event. We always said that Drifting was really an action sport at heart and the way that the FD boys have been pushing the sport, it's not going to be long before we see it in the X games (especially if we have guys like Ken Block and Travis Pastrana talking about getting involved in drifting). Enjoy.

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