This is the Statt Mann Baby. It's time to Scatt a little bit!
There was a lot more at stake in Liam Doran's Gold Medal win in the Rally Car Racing competition at X Games 17 Saturday.
I met Liam last fall when he came here to run in the U.S. Rallycross Championship rounds at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Even then he was adamant about getting to X Games. Liam's family in the UK is in the European Rallycross business. He was raised for big moments and he told me then that X Games was as big a moment as the ERC in some respects.
Last year he finished third in the ERC after winning two of the last five rounds. This year, though, he crashed his car just days before the first round and has been battling to get back up to speed. He's sixth at the mid season break. This win at X Games should give him some confidence for the second half. In particular, the win over ERC points leader Tanner Foust will give him much needed confidence when the second half of the season starts next weekend in Belgium.
The announcers Saturday wanted us to believe Liam's team was the little team that could but nothing could be further from the truth. His team owner Kenneth Hansen is legend in the ERC with 14 championships. And the team gets so much help from Citroen, the factory won't let them work on the engines it sends.
If something happens the engine is supposed to be crated back to France where the Oreca sports car operation will fix it and send it back. It's not a full factory operation but the factory knows what's going on and you can bet it is happy about the X Gold.
Peace.