June 28, 2013
The Subaru PUMA RallyCross Team will begin their 2013 attack on the Global RallyCross Championship (GRC) this weekend at X Games Munich. The belated debut comes after the previous round at X Games Barcelona was cancelled due to extreme weather conditions. Drivers Bucky Lasek, Dave Mirra and Sverre Isachsen will return to pilot their nearly 600hp 2013 Subaru PUMA WRX STI Rallycross cars head-to-head against a bevy of international stars on a short mixed surface track at the FrottmaRing near Munich's Alliance Arena.
After the cancellation of the Barcelona round, GRC officials created an additional race to this weekend's Munich competition schedule, creating a double-header. Each event will feature its own practice and qualifying sessions. Both events will count for full points in the GRC standings and X Games will award medals for each round.
Both events will be televised in the United States. Race 1 will air Saturday June 29th on ABC from 7-11pm ET and Race 2 on Sunday June 30th on ESPN from 11am-5:30pm ET.
During the off-season, the team focused on updating and evolving its Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive Subaru PUMA WRX STI RallyCross cars. With numerous changes in place, the team is eager to test their mettle against the World's best again in 2013 season.
"The car is completely different from last year, it's easier to drive, it's faster and it's more durable," said team driver Bucky Lasek. "The team worked really hard and took everything we learned last year into re-designing the cars in the off-season. We have had a few good tests but we need to get out there and compete. We are all very eager for Munich."
Lasek has been on a hot streak off the track in X Games competition leading up to the Munich GRC races, with an X Games Gold Medal at the Munich Skate Vert event yesterday, making it three X Games Gold Medals in a row in the competition. The veteran skateboarder earlier this year won Gold medals in Skate Vert at X Games Brazil and X Games Barcelona and recently won Skate Vert at the Dew Tour event in Maryland.
The Global RallyCross Championship returns to the USA after Munich for six state-side rounds this summer including the Los Angeles X Games as well as rounds at legendary NASCAR tracks such as New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.