Stephan Verdier Podiums at Inaugural Global RallyCross Championship
March 26, 2011 - Irwindale, CA
Crawford Performance sponsored driver Stephan Verdier takes home 3rd place at the inaugural round of the 2011 Global RallyCross Championships. Though this may not seem like anything special in the world of Crawford Performance this was the first time since X-Games 2010 RallyCross that Stephan and Crawford were pitted against some of the best teams and drivers in the world. Those names include Ford Racing sponsored Marcus Gronholm (two time WRX champion) and Tanner Foust (three time X-Games Rally Champion), the Hyundai RallyCross Team sponsoring Rhys Millen and Subaru of America Rally Team with driver Dave Mirra behind the wheel.
The days leading up to the event Stephan Verdier, his sponsors and team where far from ready for the event that was to begin qualifying on Friday afternoon. On Tuesday afternoon (three days before the event) the newly installed engine and Motec engine management system started for the first time since the complete rebuild began only months earlier. Now it was crunch time to dial the engine management system in and get Stephan to the event. A few long days from 7am to 4am were absolutely required to dial in a package worthy for competition against world class racers with world class budgets.
With as much done as could be Saturday showed up and started off with three qualifying heats in order to reach the A Main (Finals) and this alone was not an easy task. Stephan Verdier in the Crawford Performance powered vehicle had some center diff problems that hurt corner exit acceleration while others were suffering from broken suspensions and broken hearts. One of the exciting heats (heat 5) to watch was the Ford Racing's Marcus Gronholm and Stephan Verdier's Crawford Performance Powered Subaru.
Crawford Performance goes around the outside of Marcus Gronholm
With the best two out of three races, Stephan qualified for the A Main finals and a chance at history. In the finals Stephan was pitted against possibly the most anticipated race of the weekend, Marcus Gronholm (Ford), Tanner Foust (Ford), Stephan Verdier (Subaru), Rhys Millen (Hyundai), and Dave Mirra (Subaru). According to Stephan, this was not only worth the price of admission (the late nights, long hours) but possibly the most exciting race he has ever competed in, with head to head competition with race vehicles making well into the 500 and near 600hp numbers there could be nothing more exciting.
