Higgins medals in his first X Games

Los Angeles, CA., 7/29/2011–Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins conquered the streets of downtown Los Angeles to earn a Bronze medal at Saturday’s ESPN Summer X Games 17 Rally Car Racing event. Higgins piloted his 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Rallycross car to three head-to-head victories on the dirt and tarmac course held on the streets surrounding the Staples Center to claim his first X Games medal.

“Words cannot describe it,” Higgins said of the racing. “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.”

One of the highlights of the event, broadcast live on ESPN, was the Quarterfinals where Higgins and his Subaru teammate Dave Mirra went head-to-head driving identical Subaru STI Rallycross cars. Higgins beat Mirra off the start line but Mirra slowly reeled in Higgins and attempted to pass him on the final lap, briefly making contacting with Higgins’ Subaru.

“He got a great start but I saw that I was slowly getting closer to him and then had a great shot at making a pass but wasn’t able to pull it off without risking too much damage,” explained Mirra.

The ESPN Summer X Games Rally Car Racing featured drivers racing production-based cars on street course in downtown Los Angeles. The goal in Rally Car Racing is to accumulate the lowest elapsed driving time while racing in two-car, head-to-head heats. The three-quarter mile long Rally course, alongside the concrete cityscape of Los Angeles, includes two sections of raw dirt. In each heat, drivers complete two laps of the entire course, which must include one traditional Rally Joker lap. The Joker lap forces drivers to launch their car over a 52-foot dirt-to-dirt gap jump.