During the Summer X Games, Hot Wheels, Tanner Foust, and Greg Tracy made history when they successfully pulled off the “Double Loop Dare” on a 60ft diameter Hot Wheels loop track (complete with jump at the end). Even though both Tanner and Greg are used to facing danger every day (both guys are stunt drivers) there was still no way that Hot Wheels was going to send two human beings into this stunt without some hard data and testing first; But how do you test something like this? With a full-size robot R/C car that’s how!
The engineers stripped down what looks to be a Mitsubishi Lancer wagon and equipped it with the same suspension set up and settings as the stunt cars that would be driven by Tanner and Greg. Then they rigged up the car to be driven remotely and handed said remote to a highly experienced military drone pilot whose identity is classified. Serious stuff! So how did the test go? See for yourself below.
We were a bit behind the 8 Ball this year on our X Games coverage due to extremely difficult media conditions but we were still able to bring you a few nice shots of the action that took place on the streets of LA over the weekend. In case you live in a cave on another planet, you probaby already know that WRC-hero Sebastien Loeb won X Games gold with the Gymkhana Master Ken Block grabbing silver and last year’s winner Brian Deegan grabbing bronze. Shooting conditions aside, it was a great show and I think it helped expose even more people to Rally racing. Here is hoping that things get even better next year. Now hit up our Facebook page to see our gallery of shots!
One of the biggest stories of X Games 18 Rally X so far is the horrible crash that happend to Toomas Heikkinen on Friday. The young driver went too slow on the ramp, thus shorting the 50ft gap jump and running head-on into the other side. The incident caused a big stir and the rumor around the Rally paddock was that all the drivers who came over from Europe banded together and told X Games rally officials that they would refuse to drive unless jump was changed from a gap to a table top style jump. Wether the rumor is true or not the jump was in fact changed yesterday. I decided to haunt the paddock and talk to as many drivers as I could to see what they really thought of the jump modification. The result was a mix-bag of opinions, all of which you can see below.
It should be noted that after the change to the jump was completed practice went underway late Saturday and during the session Marcus Gronholm suffered a crash into a barrier just after successfully completing the jump. Marcus hit the barrier so hard that he was knocked unconcious. However reports are that he is now awake and under observation in a local hospital.
If you are one of the few around the world who was not tuned into X Games about two hours ago you missed an amazing feat. Hot Wheels just made the world record books by pulling off the largest loop done by a car. Well, actually I should say “cars” because two drivers went head to head and both successfully completed the loop!
What you see in the picture above is “Green Driver” Greg Tracy completely upside down at the top of the loop. He got a jump on the “Yellow Driver” AKA Tanner Foust and pulled way ahead but both drivers made it out ok! Stay tuned for more on the record breaking stunt, including the post-event press conference next week.
Yesterday I made the arduous trek to downtown Los Angeles to pick up my credentials for X Games 18 this weekend. When I got there I saw two things that caught my interest. The first being a giant life-sized bright orange Hot Wheels looped track and the second was a very jet-lagged Tanner Foust who was fresh off a short break from his European Rallycross tour. I knew somewhere between the two was an interview. Since the Hot Wheels track is an inanimate object and likely would not talk back, I decided to interview Tanner instead. I talked to him about his progress in Europe, what possessed him to try this crazy Hot Wheels stunt, and what will be on his mind going into the Rallycross race this weekend at X Games. Watch below!
We told you a short while ago that Ken Block’s next Gymkhana video would take place on the streets of San Francisco. Well, juding by this new teaser it looks like things may kick off in the open ocean! Check out this Gymkhana FIVE teaser with Mr. KB doing smokey donuts on a floating barge during rush hour on the Golden Gate bridge! If the teaser makes you hungry for more then just stay tuned for the official release of Gymkhana FIVE on July 9th.
The ultimate hoon, Ken Block has just put the world on notice that Gymkhana FIVE is coming and he is going to take this one to the streets! For the next Gymkhana video Block wants to return to the pure hard-driving, hoonage roots of the Gymkhana THREE video and he wants to do it on the steep streets of San Francisco. Since the presenting sponsor of the next Gymkhana video will be the new Ford Focus ST, I am predicting at some point there will be some type of homage to the movie, Bullit (they even mention the movie in the press release below). I for one am looking forward to seeing what Block manages to do on public streets and I am also wondering how he will be able to pull this off (if he hasn’t filmed the spot already) without any by-standers shooting and leaking video from the set! This is the first time Ken Block as done a Gymkhana video on public streets so I am sure it will prove to be a challenge.
DC also promises that within the video world records will be broken and there will also be a mystery special guest. Interest piqued yet? I thought so. Well we have to wait until July 9th 2012 at 10am EST to see the finished product.
KEN BLOCK AND DC SHOES ANNOUNCE THE UPCOMING RELEASE OF GYMKHANA FIVE, PRESENTED BY THE FORD FOCUS STJUNE 18th, 2012 – Huntington Beach, California – After much anticipation, Ken Block and DC Shoes are proud to announce the coming of Gymkhana FIVE, which will debut globally on Monday, July 9th at 10 AM EST via the DC ShoesYouTube channel. Filmed on the streets of San Francisco, California, Gymkhana FIVE builds on the previous successes of the Gymkhana viral video series and it’s 140+ million views.
“My idea for Gymkhana FIVE was simple,” said Block. “I wanted to build on the ultimate playground concept from Gymkhana THREE, and bring the franchise back to that raw and fast feel that the earlier videos had. I’ve always wanted to film a Gymkhana video in a city and there are few places as unique and iconic with such amazing topography as San Francisco. While movies like Bullit and various chase scenes have tried to use San Francisco to the fullest, I’m pretty confident that I’ve proven there was a lot left to be done on those amazing streets!”
Without question, the streets of San Francisco make Gymkhana FIVE the most unique project to date in the franchise’s history. And for good measure, a few world records and a surprise guest have been thrown in too. Making a return for the second year in a row is Block’s Ford Fiesta H.F.H.V. racecar, which can be seen slaying its tires on the streets of San Francisco globally on the July 9th release date. For select media and action sport VIPs, DC will premiere the video on Friday, June 29th during Summer X Games 18.
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