Tag Archives: Liam Doran

By the Numbers: 2013 Global Rallycross Season

With the 2013 Global Rallycross season now a memory, it’s time to look back on the nine-race season and recognize some of the statistical outperformers in the Supercar class.

IT ALL STARTS IN SEEDING: Earning a top spot in seeding doesn’t guarantee a driver a victory in the main event, but qualifying well certainly helps. No matter the stat—whether it’s average starting spot or most top seeds—Ken Block is at the top of the list:

Average Start:

Ken Block, 3.22
Liam Doran, 3.80
Toomas Heikkinen, 4.11
Brian Deegan, 4.33
Tanner Foust, 5.56

Top Seeds Earned:

Ken Block, 4 (New Hampshire, Bristol, Atlanta, Charlotte)
Liam Doran, 2 (Brazil, Munich 1)
Toomas Heikkinen, 1 (Munich 2)
Brian Deegan, 1 (Los Angeles)
Tanner Foust, 1 (Las Vegas)

HEATING UP: The Supercars class ran a total of 45 heats this season, with each driver having up to 13 opportunities to earn a bonus point. Once again, Block was the class of the field in that regard:

Heat Victories Earned:

Ken Block, 11 (13 attempts)
Toomas Heikkinen, 9 (13 attempts)
Tanner Foust, 7 (13 attempts)
Scott Speed, 5 (13 attempts)
Brian Deegan, 4 (13 attempts)
Liam Doran, 3 (6 attempts)
Patrik Sandell, 2 (13 attempts)
Sverre Isachsen, 2 (12 attempts)
Travis Pastrana, 1 (7 attempts)
Mattias Ekstrom, 1 (2 attempts)

Block’s only two heat losses came in Brazil, where he finished second to Toomas Heikkinen, and in the second Munich race, where Liam Doran beat him. Still, Block’s performance was so strong in the heats that he was the only full-time driver not to appear in a last chance qualifier in 2013.

MOVING UP THE FIELD: An underwhelming performance in seeding didn’t mean a driver couldn’t score a good finish at the end of the race. In fact, Travis Pastrana made a habit of finishing much better than he started, and moving up the field was a crucial part of Toomas Heikkinen’s championship run as well:

Plus/Minus (cumulative finishing positions gained from seeding result):

Travis Pastrana, 26 (5 races)
Toomas Heikkinen, 20 (9 races)
Mattias Ekstrom, 12 (2 races)
Townsend Bell, 12 (2 races)
Stephan Verdier, 12 (3 races)

DRIVER OR CAR?: Not every Supercars team was fortunate enough to have the same driver in the car for each race in 2013. But while a driver rotation didn’t help a team’s efforts at consistency, by no means did it keep a team from scoring strong finishes. In fact, five of the 15 top cars in Global Rallycross this season, noted below in italics, saw multiple drivers behind the wheel, with the #199 Dodge Dart of Travis Pastrana and Timur Timerzyanov best among them:

#57 OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST, 169 points
#34 OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST, 123
#43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST, 115
#38 OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST, 106
#77 OMSE2 Ford Fiesta, 94
#199 Pastrana Racing Dodge Dart, 90
#18 OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST, 89
#11 Subaru PUMA Rallycross WRX STI, 86
#32 OMSE2 Ford Fiesta, 79
#33/40 LD Motorsports/Prodrive MINI Countryman, 64
#81 Subaru PUMA Rallycross WRX STI, 49
#99 Pastrana Racing Dodge Dart, 42
#29 Marklund Motorsport Volkswagen Polo, 33
#40 Subaru PUMA Rallycross WRX STI, 31
#12 X Team Racing Mitsubishi Evo, 31

FULL STATISTICS: Advanced statistics for each driver to compete in more than half of the Supercars races in 2013:

Driver	Starts	Wins	Pts. (Per Race)	Heat Wins (Pct.)	LCQs (Pct.)	Finals Made (Pct.)	Avg. St.	Avg. Fin.
Steve Arpin #32 OMSE2	9	0	79 (8.8)	0/13 (0%)	1/4 (25%)	6/9 (66%)	7.56	8.22
Ken Block #43 Hoonigan Racing	9	1	115 (12.8)	11/13 (85%)	0/0 (N/A)	9/9 (100%)	3.22	6.33
Brian Deegan #38 OlsbergsMSE	9	0	106 (11.8)	4/13 (31%)	1/2 (50%)	8/9 (88%)	4.33	6.11
Liam Doran #33 LD Motorsports	5	1	59 (11.8)	3/6 (50%)	0/1 (0%)	4/5 (80%)	3.80	7.00
Tanner Foust #34 OlsbergsMSE	9	0	123 (13.6)	7/13 (54%)	1/2 (50%)	8/9 (88%)	5.56	4.89
Toomas Heikkinen #57 OlsbergsMSE	9	5	169 (18.8)	9/13 (69%)	1/1 (100%)	9/9 (100%)	4.11	1.89
Sverre Isachsen #11 Subaru PUMA	8	0	86 (10.8)	2/12 (16%)	2/3 (66%)	7/8 (87%)	6.25	6.75
Bucky Lasek #81 Subaru PUMA	8	0	49 (6.1)	0/12 (0%)	1/7 (14%)	2/8 (25%)	11.12	10.87
Bryce Menzies #99 Pastrana Racing	8	0	35 (4.4)	0/11 (0%)	0/7 (0%)	1/8 (12%)	12.62	12.62
Dave Mirra #40 Subaru PUMA #40 Prodrive	7	0	36 (5.1)	0/10 (0%)	1/7 (14%)	1/7 (14%)	11.28	11.86
Travis Pastrana #199 Pastrana Racing	5	0	56 (11.2)	1/7 (14%)	1/1 (100%)	5/5 (100%)	11.40	6.20
Patrik Sandell #18 OlsbergsMSE	9	0	89 (9.9)	2/13 (15%)	1/4 (25%)	6/9 (66%)	6.78	7.67
Scott Speed #77 OMSE2	9	2	94 (10.4)	5/13 (38%)	3/5 (60%)	7/9 (77%)	7.78	8.00
Timur Timerzyanov #199 Pastrana Racing #29 Marklund Motorsport	5	0	34 (6.8)	0/7 (0%)	3/5 (60%)	3/5 (60%)	8.80	10.40

Photo credit: Matthew Kalish

Top 10 GRC Moments: Doran, Heikkinen Split Munich Doubleheader

Leave a reply

In anticipation of the 2013 Global Rallycross season finale, held on the Las Vegas Strip on November 6-7, Global-Rallycross.com looks back on the 10 most significant events in the series’ three-year history. These stories will appear on Global-Rallycross.com once a day from Monday-Friday on the weeks of October 21-25 and October 28-November 1. Click here to purchase tickets for the 2013 Global Rallycross season finale.

DATE: June 29-30, 2013

LOCATION: X Games Munich, Munich, Germany

IN BRIEF: After rain led to the cancellation of the X Games Barcelona round, Global Rallycross amended its nine-race schedule by creating a doubleheader event at X Games Munich. By racing in Europe, the 2013 Global Rallycross season became the first in the sport’s history to compete on three separate continents. 17 cars showed up for the historic pair of events, including guest appearances from IndyCar veteran and TV personality Townsend Bell and former DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom.

Saturday’s race came down to the final lap, as Liam Doran held off Ken Block while driving on only three good tires in the brand-new, Prodrive-built MINI Countryman. Doran would push for the victory once again on Sunday, but Toomas Heikkinen, who finished third in the first leg of the doubleheader, muscled by for his first career Global Rallycross win—much to the ire of Doran.

EFFECTS: Despite only running a limited schedule, Doran’s exploits, plus Dave Mirra’s speed in a one-off run at Charlotte, have turned the MINI into the new flavor of the week in the Global Rallycross garage—and perhaps a viable competitor to Ford in a full season in 2014. As for Heikkinen, his victory became the first of a record-setting five-race win streak that put this year’s championship out of reach for the rest of the field.

OTHER TOP 10 GRC MOMENTS

Top 10 GRC Moments: Deegan Earns Gold in Los Angeles

Leave a reply

DATE: July 31, 2011

LOCATION: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

IN BRIEF: After finishing a disappointing 10th in the first day of GRC X Games competition, Brian Deegan looked to add to his career medal count, already high thanks to his many successes in freestyle motocross. Racing for OlsbergsMSE alongside Tanner Foust and Marcus Gronholm, the top two drivers in series points, Deegan made the OMSE team three for three in points-paying heat wins (the fourth going to Liam Doran, who won the previous day’s event as well).

The eight-car final saw contact between Foust and Doran, allowing Deegan to take the lead for good on the very first lap. The Metal Mulisha leader would hold on to win a popular gold medal, celebrating as teammates Foust and Gronholm completed the podium behind him.

EFFECTS: After scoring his maiden GRC win, Deegan has been a driver to beat in every GRC race since. Of his six 2012 starts, five resulted in podium finishes (the only five to count in the championship, due to the series’ points drop rule). In 2013, Deegan ranks third in points through eight races with podium finishes in New Hampshire, Bristol, and Charlotte.

Photo credit: Sub5Zero

OTHER TOP 10 GRC MOMENTS

Gronholm Sweeps Debut Weekend in Irwindale

Prodrive Aims to Add Global Rallycross Victory to Trophy Case in Charlotte

Leave a reply

On Sunday, Prodrive will field its own independent entry in a Global Rallycross event for the first time at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. The fabled English organization, winners of over 200 races and championships in various forms of motorsport, will field Dave Mirra in the #40 PUMA MINI on Sunday.

Prodrive has been involved with GRC since X Games Barcelona in May, building the car that Liam Doran took to two medals in Munich. But while the physical car and hauler are the same that Doran has taken across the globe, the staff and entry are independent of Doran’s team members this weekend.

“The format of Global Rallycross is really attractive,” said Alan McGuinness, the motorsports and operations manager for Prodrive’s MINI racing program. “It’s a new thing, and we’re getting used to it. When we do World Rally events, we’ve got our year planned out exactly when and where we’re going. But with Global Rallycross it’s been refreshing, because the schedule is quite tight, there have been some changes, and it’s been a big learning curve. But it’s quite a good challenge, and it’s sparked everyone up.”

Prodrive’s history is common knowledge to much of the motorsports world, from its successes running the Subaru World Rally Team, to the Aston Martin GT program, to turning the British American Racing Formula 1 team into a truly competitive outfit. The particular MINI that Prodrive have entered this weekend has a storied history of its own—everything from World Rally events to the British version of Top Gear, where it attempted an Olympic ski jump. But from course to course, the car that Mirra will drive on Sunday has seen some major changes since its time in the WRC.

“Visually, they’re really similar,” McGuinness admitted. “We take the headlights out, and this car isn’t road legal, but basically it’s the same layout. We’ve moved the radiators to the back to protect them and the engine has a big step in horsepower because we don’t have as many restrictions. We run a throttle cable here because it’s part of the regulations.

“We’ve targeted running a 1.6 turbo engine on this, we’ve worked very hard on the chassis to make the car easy to drive, and we’re right on the weight limit. So there are the key areas of performance that make the car different from the World Rally car.”

Doran, of course, took medals in his first two events with the MINI, but has been consistently quick in seeding sessions and practices beforehand. The partnership with Mirra has worked so far as well; the MINI has been faster than any other car on track, winning Saturday’s practice session by over a second and a half.

“Dave is a fit, awesome, competitive athlete,” touted McGuinness. “His mindset is all about winning. We were very lucky to have a good test day on Thursday, and we’ve got him dialed into it. It’s showing really good, encouraging signs.

“The main difference is, with Liam, he knows exactly what he wants in the setup and the car, he knows what he wants in his own mind, he goes out, and he does it. We have a slightly different strategy here with Dave—he’s got to learn the car, he’s tightening up his driving and trying to be more consistent. We’re not so much working with the setup of the car with Dave, we’re trying to help him understand it more and make it work for him.”

After spending his entire career driving Subarus prepared by Vermont SportsCar, the change has been refreshing for Mirra as well.

“Coming over here and having the opportunity to drive Liam’s car, and to meet the Prodrive the guys for the first time, is unbelievable,” said Mirra. “These guys are great, they’re doing an amazing job, and I’m on cloud nine, to be honest.”

Besides running in Global Rallycross in Charlotte this weekend, Prodrive is also at Circuit of the Americas, the future host of X Games Austin, for the International Sports Car Weekend with its Aston Martin GT squad. Prodrive cars qualified first and third in class for today’s six-hour World Endurance Championship race.

“Prodrive’s pretty empty at the minute,” McGuinness explained. “We’ve got pretty much everybody in America. Dave’s put in a pretty good performance, with five consistent laps, and that’s a good day at the office for us. With the Aston Martin team, we were on pole in Austin, so it’s on the drivers. We’re relying on them to do a good job.

“But we’re really happy so far.”

Photo credit: John Davison/RIS-News.com (1); QBA/QNIGAN.com (3); Matthew Kalish (4)

Image via Prodrive (2)

Big Weekend Ahead For Doran Despite Missing GRC at Charlotte

Leave a reply

Liam Doran made his first foray into team ownership at the start of this season, breaking away from his father’s race team in favor of establishing his own squad, LD Motorsports.

So far, the results have been up and down, with race wins in both Global Rallycross and European events, as well as some high-profile disappointments. But Doran, whose vehicles will maintain a presence on both continents this weekend, has adapted well to being his own boss.

“It’s a challenge, for sure,” he admitted. “It’s a lot different to have control as well as driving. There’s a lot more weight on the shoulders, but it’s also a lot more satisfying when you win. As a driver, it’s an amazing feeling to win an event, but to win an event when you’re a driver and also running your own team, you know what everyone’s doing, and it’s a really great feeling to have wins.

“On the other side of it, it’s really frustrating and emotional when things don’t go well, like last weekend, for starters (an engine failure in a main event). It’s tough, but the main point this year is that there have been more highs than there have been lows. It’s been generally a positive season, even when we’ve had faults. We’ve just got to iron out some problems.

“I’m really glad I’ve made the steps to take it on, and to have a successful year like we’ve had this year, in our first year, is (also) what we want in the future.”

Doran will field two cars in Germany this weekend, for himself and Andreas Bakkerud, while Prodrive will campaign the car that he’s used throughout the GRC season for Mirra in Charlotte this weekend. Though Doran can’t be in two places at once, the two-time X Games gold medalist realizes that this weekend is crucial for his fledgling team to establish itself among the world’s best—and to prove that working with Prodrive can produce a winning partnership no matter who’s behind the wheel.

“If we can get two good results this weekend on two different continents, it’s pretty much establishing that we’re here, we’ve been in business, and we can get good results,” he explained. “We just keep knocking away at other teams, because other teams have been established and we’re in our first year, and we’ve had some amazing results. So winning on two different continents would create some jealousy!”

Photo credit: Patrick Savage/Bristol Motor Speedway (1); Matthew Kalish (2)

Mirra, Doran Optimistic About Charlotte Partnership

Leave a reply

Perhaps the biggest news out of the Global Rallycross paddock over the past month was Dave Mirra’s sudden departure from the Subaru PUMA Rallycross Team. Mirra, a 24-time X Games medalist, made the decision to step away from the only team and manufacturer he’d ever known, but confirmed he would race in Sunday’s event at The Dirt Track at Charlotte—substituting for Liam Doran in the LD Motorsports/Prodrive Mini Countryman.

“I’m really excited to drive something different,” Mirra explained. “I’ve only ever driven a Subaru built by Vermont SportsCar, so for me to have this opportunity it’s like I’m dating a new girl!”

Doran, who won X Games gold in Munich in the Mini’s maiden race, had to step away due to other commitments in Europe. But with an eye for his team to compete on two different continents this weekend, Doran struck a deal with Mirra to keep the Mini on track.

“It’ll be really great to see how the car fares against every other car in the series with another driver,” he said. “If Dave gets a good result as well, it means for sure that the car’s a strong, competitive car. It’ll also be good to get some feedback from him, to see what his positive and negative thoughts on the car are, and where there’s room for improvement moving forward.

“What I do notice about that car,” observed Mirra, “and I guess it’s more from the European X Games events, is that anything technical, tricky, on gravel, that car seemed like it was just unbelievable. It’s very nimble, very responsive, and it looked like Liam was having a very easy time navigating through the tricky sections. So I hear about the course being a majority of dirt, and I’ve always kind of done well in the dirt sections. I’m assuming it’s going to be a little tight and tricky in the dirt oval, with the course and what they’re going to do with it, so I’m anticipating a tighter course and this is the perfect car for it.”

“(The car) has been getting better every single race,” Doran added. “The setup that Dave’s driving this weekend is the same setup that I used at X Games. It’s been getting better every event, but it’s not so much development as it is us learning about the car, where its strengths are, and focusing on using them to try and compete with everyone else.

“The Mini’s chassis and grip are better than every single car in the series, so I would say it’s got an advantage there for sure. In terms of drivability, it’s easy to drive, so on technical courses it’s very easy to learn the course, very easy to find the fastest way around, and the chassis is very forgiving. So that’s where I would say the advantage is going to be.

“We know there’s room for improvement, but the car has proven to be very competitive. It’s gotten better and better, and hopefully Dave is happy with what he can do.”

With that all in mind, Mirra won’t be coming into Sunday’s race with anywhere near as much testing as Doran did in the car before debuting it.

“Charlotte will be the first time I drive the car,” he noted. “I’m heading up (on Wednesday), going to get all fitted in, and then I know we’re going to have a pretty good test on Thursday on the actual track. I’m excited to be able to test a brand new car, see the differences—I have no idea (how it drives)—and to be on the actual course. So it’s going to be a plus-plus situation for sure.”

Doran, for his part, isn’t concerned about the adjustment period. “I’ve seen him drive before, and he was comparable to (former teammate Sverre) Isachsen, who is someone I’ve raced against for a long time,” he said. “He’s a very, very good driver, and Dave wasn’t far off from him, and sometimes was in front of him. I remember at Bristol, before X Games this year, Dave set the fastest lap time among all of us in the Subaru.

“I’m sure he’s capable, we’re certain of that, it’s just seeing how he’ll get on in my car. I think he’ll do pretty well. I wouldn’t say I’ve got expectations, but I’m confident he’ll get results.”

As for Mirra, he remains keen on building upon the results of his final race at Subaru, which saw him earn a GRC career-best fourth place finish.

“(With) the pace I had in Atlanta, building on that pace and jumping into the Mini, I expect myself to be very, very close to the front. But we’ll see. I’d be very disappointed if I wasn’t. I know that I’ve had some speed, and I know I can keep the pace when everything’s working in the cockpit. I’m only assuming this car will be dialed, and with a tight course, and with the underpowered Mini—I’m not sure if it’s really underpowered—it seems like Liam has had a lot of success on the gravel sections of the course, or if it’s raining. If it’s any situation where traction’s an issue, he seems to be very fast in those sections.

“I’m excited. I don’t know what to expect, but I have some pretty big expectations, and I know I’m going to the right car.”

Photo credit: Alison Padron (1, 3); QBA/QNIGAN.com (2); Patrick Savage (4)

Dave Mirra to Drive Mini RX in Charlotte

Leave a reply

LD Motorsport are stoked to announce that Monster Energy athlete and X Games icon Dave Mirra will get behind the wheel of the Mini RX for the GRC in Charlotte this September.

The 39-year-old will make his maiden appearance for the team to deputise for Liam Doran, who heads to Estering in Germany for the final stop of the European Rallycross Championship.

Liam commented: “Despite not being there myself I’m pleased to have my car out there with Dave driving, it’s going to be exciting to see what he can do with the Mini. It’s a shame my schedule clashes and that I can’t be in Charlotte. I think racing on the dirt track out there is going to be awesome but there’s no way I could miss the last round of RallycrossRX.”

Mirra has been a firm fixture in the action sports world for over two decades and has amassed over 20 X Games medals to date.

A legend of the BMX world, the American made his GRC debut in 2011 with the Subaru Puma Rallycross team.

Meanwhile, Liam will be looking to build on his strong performance at last weekend’s Rallycross round in Greinbach, where he dominated the field and was set to take the win until his car caught fire on lap four of the final.

Photo credit: QBA/QNIGAN.com

Global Rallycross Experiences Incredible Growth Since Last Charlotte Visit

Leave a reply

In May 2012, Global Rallycross made its inaugural visit to Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Marcus Gronholm kicked off the season right by scoring a victory over OlsbergsMSE teammate Tanner Foust and Stephan Verdier.

Just over a year later, the sport returns to North Carolina, having built successfully upon the foundations laid in that initial event.

Sure, most of the big names remain—Foust, Ken Block, Brian Deegan, and Travis Pastrana among them. But leading them all in the championship is Toomas Heikkinen, whose Charlotte race last year ended in disqualification after an incident with Dave Mirra. An afterthought for much of last season after missing two races due to injury, Heikkinen has won the past five GRC events and hopes to lock up the championship this weekend.

Manufacturers Ford, Subaru, and Dodge have been joined on the big stage by MINI, with a Prodrive-prepared Countryman campaigned by two-time X Games gold medalist Liam Doran. Doran earned his second gold medal in Munich earlier this season in the MINI’s race debut, and followed it up with silver the very next day. This weekend’s race will also see the long-awaited debut of Chevrolet in GRC, with a Sonic prepared by Pat Moro ready to take the fight to the competition.

Many series newcomers have seen opportunities to shine this season. Scott Speed won his inaugural rallycross event at X Games Brazil in the season opener, while 2006 Junior World Rally champion Patrik Sandell has earned two podium finishes on the way to a top five spot in points. GRC has also added the Supercar Lites class for young drivers, with Joni Wiman having won the inaugural event in New Hampshire in July and each race since.

Even the track itself in Charlotte has changed. Rather than the frontstretch of the 1.5-mile oval, Global Rallycross will utilize the adjacent Dirt Track at Charlotte facility, giving fans a chance to see what these 600 horsepower beasts can do on a loose surface.

Sure, there have been plenty of changes between the past two GRC events at Charlotte. But the most important characteristic still remains: an exciting show.

Photo credit: QBA/QNIGAN.com

X Games Los Angeles Boasts Storied Rallycross History

Leave a reply

This year’s X Games represents the eighth year of rally car competition at the famed action sports event, with Los Angeles playing host to the event each year. In that time, some of the greatest drivers in motorsport have chased the glory of a gold medal—but only a few have succeeded.

It was 2006 when rally events were first introduced to X Games Los Angeles, with the very first event taking place at the Home Depot Center. The event, a super special rally stage, featured drivers facing each other head-to-head in a mad dash to the finish. Travis Pastrana, already well-established in X Games competition as a freestyle motocross star, switched to cars and defeated former World Rally champion Colin McRae, after McRae rolled his car just short of the finish.

The early years of X Games rallying were dominated by Tanner Foust, who won gold in 2007, and Pastrana, who reclaimed the title in 2008. But the ever-expanding event drew interest from more and more faces from around the world of motorsports. Eventually, in 2009, X Games saw its first driver from another form of racing come in and take gold: Kenny Brack, the 1999 Indianapolis 500 champion, in his first race after retiring from IndyCar.

2010 saw a change of venue, with rally car racing heading to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and the introduction of rallycross as a second event. Foust would defeat Brian Deegan in both races, with drifting star and stunt driver winning the bronze medal in rallycross.

In 2011, X Games Los Angeles became the season finale for the Global Rallycross season, a two-day event on the streets of Los Angeles that featured head-to-head competition one day and an eight-car rallycross final on the second. Liam Doran, competing in his first X Games, won the head-to-head finale over World Rally legend Marcus Gronholm, while Deegan would avenge his loss from the previous season and win gold in the rallycross finale. The next year, fellow World Rally legend Sebastien Loeb would dominate in his X Games debut, beating Ken Block and Deegan.

2013 will see Global Rallycross and X Games Los Angeles compete at Irwindale Speedway, the same venue that hosted the first-ever GRC race in 2011. Whoever wins the gold medal on Sunday will have the distinction of taking the last one from X Games Los Angeles—and closing out one of the most significant chapters in the sport’s history.

Photo credit: QBA/QNIGAN.com

Global Rallycross Mid-Season Review: LD Motorsports

Leave a reply

Liam Doran has been one of rallycross’ busiest drivers this season, traveling across the world to race with minimal time out of the car. It’s that extra seat time, plus a competitive new car, that has enabled Doran to score his second career X Games gold medal.

Doran’s new ride for 2013 is a Mini Countryman, adapted by the Prodrive team from World Rally Championship competition. The new car replaces the Citroen C4 that he used at X Games in 2011 and throughout 2012, although he brought a Citroen DS3 to X Games Foz do Iguacu when the season opened.

No matter what vehicle he’s been in, though, Doran has been fast. He took the top seed at the season’s first two races, once in the Citroen and once in the Mini, and even posted the second-fastest seeding lap at Bristol Motor Speedway, a wider and faster track that was thought not to suit the Mini’s smaller weight class and engine.

Sometimes that speed has translated into podium finishes. Only two drivers medaled in both X Games Munich races, and Doran was one of them; he won the first event despite only having three good tires and finished second in the other race.

But Doran has also run into his share of trouble on the track. He made contact with Toomas Heikkinen in his heat race in Brazil, falling behind and going to the last chance qualifier, where an incident on the start line with friend Bryce Menzies ruined any chance of making it to the final. (That event sparked a rivalry between Doran and Heikkinen, who also had run-ins in Munich.) At Bristol, a pile-up heading from the dirt into the gravel took him out of the main event right away.

Despite missing the New Hampshire event, Doran enters X Games Los Angeles sixth in points, with a car that the opposition cannot underestimate. This may not be a championship year for him due to schedule conflicts, but Doran will continue to threaten to win races for the rest of the season.

Photo credit: QBA/QNIGAN.com