Sebastien Loeb Gets A Taste Of X Games Gold

After an event plagued with dangerous accidents one after the other, including Toomas Heikkinen and Marcus Gronholm’s crashes, one driver was crowned with X Games Gold. Multiple WRC Champion Sébastien Loeb piloted his Citroën to the top with ease at the finals in Los Angeles.

He was quoted as saying that his main rival was Marcus Gronholm and he was sad that he was unable to race him. Although, he also said that he is just happy that Marcus is okay after his incident in qualifying the day before.

Coming in second with an amazing show of driving skill was Ken Block. He drove three out of the six laps on just his bare rim to nab the Silver medal.

He was 12 seconds behind Loeb and only a mere .42s ahead of defending champion Brian Deegan. Not bad considering the situation.

The heartbreak story of the event was Travis Pastrana getting second place in qualifying, only to be pushed into a wall at the first corner by X Games rookie Andy Scott in their heat.

Travis tried to swap out cars with his team-mate Brice Menzies, but X Games rules did not allow him to do so. He had to watch the finals from the sidelines.

The Bronze medal may not be what Brian Deegan was looking for, but considering how many incidents were in the finals I’m sure he was happy just to get on the podium.

Last year was his first ever X Games Gold medal. I am sure we will see him again next year battling for top honors.

Sébastien has already notched up over 70 WRC rally wins and now adds the X Games to his victory tally. Stay tuned for a more in-depth look at X Games Rallycross 2012 in Los Angeles.

Larry Chen

Larry@Speedhunters.com

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1

Man.... Marcus is a beast of WRC, but Sebastien is just a freagin' Monster!!! Great job from Ken Block, hope that he will be able to evolve in WRC and all his endeavors! Can't wait to see more of this sort of thing!

2
greenroadster

Loeb still rulls!!!

3

Honestly, did these guys really think they had a chance against the 7-time WRC champ?

4
brunomgpereira

Rallycross with joker lap is a bit more interesting, but i was quite happy to see Loeb teaching one thing or two to the american drivers!

5

 @ITRbroham 8 time

6

Loebs driving style was so clean all the yanks pulling it sideways were just to slow, also Global Rally Cross needs some more working out X games was abit of a MESS, All the crashes. all the premature Starts really ruins the race

7

Congrats to Loeb on his win thought I would have loved to have seen Block take the win.( Major points on keeping up with just 3 tires,lol)
Still F'ed up how Pistrana was pushed into the wall though, that was a b**** move Scott!

8

 @crazybiscut Agreed. They need to open up that first turn abit.

9

 @brunomgpereira I agree. He danced through this course like it was nothing, cool headed and all.

10

So bummed we didn't get to see Marcus and Loeb battle it out. He is the only one that really could have given Loeb a good run I think. So ridiculous how poorly organized the starts were... Just do a damn installation lap you fools. The amount of people jumping the start was insane as well. I caught myself thinking, "come on you idiots get it together, you are embarrassing yourselves in front of The Boss!"
 
Great to see Loeb excel in another style of racing though! And good on Ken Block for bringing his Fiesta home in second.

11

Loeb didn't get a taste...he ate everyone at X Games while they were still breathing. Anyone who bet money against him yesterday was out of their mind. Couldn't believe hearing the announcer say she was putting her money on Foust. 
 
Knew he was going to take the gold the moment I heard he accepted Pastranas invite. 

12

 @KietaPhillips Or the competitors need to have more skill. Either or : P

13

 @ITRbroham Exactly...it was suicide to invite this guy if you wanted a chance at winning. Awesome to show the "action sports" fans what a real driver is capable of. If you actually stop and think a lot of the guys in that field made it there because of things that were not automotive competition related and it showed. 
 
I love all sports and I respect everyone on the field for getting to where they are, but the difference we saw Sunday was the difference between a racer and entertainers. Not trying to knock anyones skill in the field, but a majority of them are entertainers before they were racers. Loeb is a racer and he is so good it transforms into a show.
 
I was loving every minute of it haha. 

14

I'm no expert on the field, but this just sounds sad.. moto x riders racing against wrc champions? sounds like michael phelps competing in the special olympics.. the gap between silver and the defending champions bronze is .42 seconds, and silver was riding on rim for three laps.. i know i'm bringng the hate, but what a joke!

15
JohnDavidMontgomery

Still bummed that Ken only had three tires...
 

16
JohnDavidMontgomery

Still bummed that Ken only had three tires...
 

17
monopodJohnson

Awesome Coverage Larry! and thanks for letting me know to keep away from your illness.

18
MorganRicardoRR

deam los iso tragar tierra lo destroso practicamente manejaba solo el dios de los rallys

19

The Dodge Dart rally car is so damn ugly!!!!!!!The Start of the Rally X was sick, all of them going full throttle into a right hand corner. 

20

Of course Loeb Steamrolled the competition, he's Sebastien freakin' Loeb, 8 time WRC champion (soon to be 9) and lest anyone forgot, a tarmac specialist. Competing in the X Games was kinda like slumming for the fun of it for Loeb, there was no actual chance of anyone (save maaaaybe Marcus Gronholm, another 2 time WRC champion who was unfortunately out with an injury) beating him. That being said I have huge respect for Ken Block The dirt bike kids are driving  because they need the thrill and Rallycross is cool so why not, and teh dorifto boiz are just trying to follow the next trend and continue to earn an income. Ken Block is out there actually trying hard to be a good and successful driver, and that's part of the reason he crashes so much. Yes he's an entertainer and yes he's got mad sponsorship and a massive budget. But here's a not so news flash: that's how racing works. If you don't have sponsors and a huge budget you barely even have a chance to compete, let alone win. To get that chance, you have to entertain. Anyone that has actually tried a real career in racing understands this painfully well. I hope he does a full season in the WRC next year. The experience will really mature him as a driver. Congrats King Loeb, and keep up the good work Mr. Block. I salute you both. 

21

Of course Loeb Steamrolled the competition, he's Sebastien freakin' Loeb, 8 time WRC champion (soon to be 9) and lest anyone forgot, a tarmac specialist. Competing in the X Games was kinda like slumming for the fun of it for Loeb, there was no actual chance of anyone (save maaaaybe Marcus Gronholm, another 2 time WRC champion who was unfortunately out with an injury) beating him. That being said I have huge respect for Ken Block. The dirt bike kids are driving  because they need the thrill and Rallycross is cool so why not, and teh dorifto boiz are just trying to follow the next trend and continue to earn an income. Ken Block is out there actually trying hard to be a good and successful driver, and that's also part of the reason he crashes so much. Yes he's an entertainer and yes he's got mad sponsorship and is a "walking billboard" and has deep pockets. But here's a not so news flash: that's how racing works. If you don't have sponsors and a huge budget you barely even have a chance to compete, let alone a chance to win. To get that chance, you have to entertain. Anyone that has actually tried a real career in racing understands this painfully well. I hope Ken does a full season in the WRC next year. The experience will really mature him as a driver, and he has potential. To see an American on the WRC podium again would be outstanding after all these years. Congratulations King Loeb, and keep up the good work Mr. Block. I salute you both. 

22

Cant really say im suprised Loeb won, hes a WRC driver who is a tarmac specialist. These events are made for him. This was his for the taking.

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