BFGoodrich Tires won gold and bronze medals last weekend during the X Games 14 Rally Super Special in Los Angeles. Travis Pastrana (Subaru/BFGoodrich Tires) took home the gold medal while his Subaru Rally USA/Vermont SportCar teammates, Ken Block and BMX legend Dave Mirra (Subaru/BFGoodrich Tires) each earned bronze medals after Block’s car failed to start for the second semi-final heat race to determine third place.

BFGoodrich Tires is combining its winning technology with the skill of legendary BMX star Dave Mirra and 2004 WRC Production Class champion Niall McShea for X Games 14.  Mirra will be partnered with co-driver Alex Kihurani and McShea will team up with co-driver Marshall Clarke for the Rally Racing Super Special on August 3.  Each will field a BFGoodrich Tires-backed Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car prepared by Vermont SportsCar for the ever-popular X Games four-wheel competition.

BFGoodrich Tires takes pride in being the predominant tire in nearly every type of racing while supporting many grassroots forms of motorsports.  As the presenting sponsor and official tire of the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup, BFGoodrich Tires is excited to take part in the seven-race professional championship series which kicks off this weekend at Road Atlanta.  Through its involvement in the series, BFGoodrich Tires staff and engineers will be on hand to support racers and teams while outfitting the series’ factory built Ford Mustang FR500S race cars with BFGoodrich® g-Force R1™ tires.

BFGoodrich Tires had an impressive showing as the 2008 Formula Drift season kicked-off with on the streets of Long Beach last weekend. Two-time Formula Drift champion Samuel “The Crazy Swede” Hübinette captured the top qualifier honors and continued his momentum straight through to the finals where he earned a runner-up finish behind the wheel of his NuFormz Racing Mopar Dodge Viper SRT10 equipped with BFGoodrich g-Force T/A®KDW tires.

Samuel “The Crazy Swede” Hübinette is adding a new weapon to his formidable combination of horsepower and torque currently found in his Team Mopar/Nuformz Dodge Charger SRT8.  After careful testing and collaboration, the team is stepping up to the massive 335/30ZR18 BFGoodrich g-Force T/AKDW tire to attack the asphalt for the remaining rounds in the 2007 Formula Drift series.

Hübinette was previously using a 295/35ZR19 NT BFGoodrich g-Force T/AKDW tire, which proved to be effective due to its long and narrow contact area, but the team noticed that the requirements needed to position Hübinette’s Dodge Charger SRT8 for the best possible scores in Formula Drift competition could be improved.  With this knowledge in hand, BFGoodrich’s team of engineers recommended this alternate size from the depth of available dimensions within the g-Force T/AKDW tire line-up to better suit the Dodge Charger’s performance capabilities.

A first place finish for Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and second spot for Dani Sordo/Marc Marti ensured yet another one-two success for Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires on the asphalt of Catalonia Spain. The BFGoodrich® Tires pair left no hope for Ford Focus/BFGoodrich’s Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen who followed in third and fourth places respectively. Sébastien Loeb’s 35th world-class win takes him to within six points of Grönholm in the Drivers’ championship, while Ford/BFGoodrich continues to top the provisional Manufacturers’ standings going into next weekend’s Tour de Corse in France.

The outcome of the 2007 Rally RACC Cataluña-Costa Daurada was essentially decided on the dramatic first leg, which was marked by changing weather conditions. The heavy showers that fell over the Costa Daurada region before the start left the roads damp and even very wet in places as crews pulled out of the Port Aventura service park early Friday morning.

The 2007 Rally New Zealand will without a doubt be remembered for many years to come. Finland’s Marcus Grönholm (Ford/BFGoodrich Tires) won the event by finishing just three tenths of a second clear of Sébastien Loeb (Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires) after 353.56km of stages, making it the narrowest-ever winning margin in WRC history. Grönholm’s fifth success of the year gives him a 10-point lead over Loeb in the Drivers’ championship, while Ford/BFGoodrich Tires goes even further clear in Manufacturers’ standings.

Whaanga Coast, Te Akau, Waitomo and Port Waikato are some of world rallying’s finest stages. Every one of them takes place to a magical backdrop, in unimaginably stunning scenery ranging from lush forest, gently rolling green hills and the Tasmanian Sea coastline. Any one of these spots would have provided a fitting location to clinch this year’s Rally New Zealand.

BFGoodrich® Tires captured sliver and bronze medals last weekend during the X Games 13 Rally Super Special in Los Angeles.  Ken Block (Subaru/BFGoodrich Tires) took home the silver medal while his Subaru Rally USA teammate and last year’s gold medal winner, Travis Pastrana (Subaru/BFGoodrich Tires) took the bronze medal in a semi-final heat race to determine third place. 

Pastrana, the defending X Games Rally Champion and Moto X Freestyle legend of double backflip fame, was automatically the top-seed in his BFGoodrich-shod Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car to start the event.  During the quarter-final round of eliminations, Pastrana was paired against and defeated Paul Choiniere, granting him a position in the semi-finals against Tanner Foust.  During the dramatic semi-final round, Pastrana slid into Foust’s lane in a spectacular push for the win and was disqualified, thus giving the win to Foust who faced Block in the finals. 

BFGoodrich Tires is combining its winning technology with the skill of highly decorated road racing star and NASCAR driver Boris Said for X Games 13.  Said will be partnered with co-driver and rally racing legend John Buffum in a BFGoodrich Tires-backed Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car prepared by Vermont sports car for the Rally Racing Super Special on Aug. 5, 2007.

Said earned his X Games bid via an “at large” invitation due to his numerous racing accomplishments, which include winning the 1997 and 1998 24 Hours of Daytona and the 1991 12 Hours of Sebring.  During his first full season of competition in 2002, Said won the fiercely fought SCCA Trans-Am Championship and in 2005, he became the first American to win the prestigious 24 Hours of Nurburgring in Germany.  Beyond international sports car racing, Said has also performed well in various NASCAR disciplines having competed in – and captured the pole – in all three NASCAR racing series: Craftsman Truck, Busch Grand National and Nextel Cup. 

Said commented on his relationship with BFGoodrich: “The biggest thing about BFGoodrich is that I would not be racing if they had not have supported me early on in my career.  I won three straight SSGT Championships for them in 1989, 1990 and 1991.  Then in 2002, I won the Trans-Am Championship with BFGoodrich tires.  If not for all the people at BFGoodrich helping me throughout my career, I would not be racing right now.  In fact, I may have raced more miles on BFGoodrich tires than anyone.”

Designed to thrill even the most hardcore driving enthusiast while inspiring performance driving year-round, BFGoodrich® Tires is releasing the g-Force™ Super Sport A/S® (All-Season) tire, its most technologically advanced product to date.  Available in 29 sizes, BFGoodrich Tires’ g-Force Super Sport A/S will be available for consumers in October. 

“The urge to produce a true all season tire is a powerful motivator – and it’s the basis for the most technologically advanced tire we’ve ever made,” said Doug Brown, brand category manager for BFGoodrich Tires.  “The BFGoodrich Tires g-Force Super Sport A/S lets drivers take control of their driving experience by offering aggressive dry traction with no compromises in rain and snow while maintaining a quiet ride.  The bottom line is, when we say all-season, we mean it.  This tire brings true year-round control and performance to enthusiasts, for a confident driving experience every day.”

GREENVILLE, S.C. – February 19, 2007– Mikko Hirvonen (Ford/BFGoodrich Tires) surprised the competition last weekend by winning the WRC’s newest round, the Rally Norway.  The youngster led from flag to flag, while fellow Finn Marcus Grönholm was powerless against his teammate’s superiority but managed to secure a maximum point haul for BP-Ford as compared to a single point for rivals Citroën.  The French team (Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires) had a bleak weekend with Sébastien Loeb (14th) and Dani Sordo (25th) both going off on day 2.  Henning Solberg (Ford/BFGoodrich Tires) profited from the final day to steal third place from his brother Petter (Subaru/BFGoodrich Tires) and made it an all-Ford/BFGoodrich Tires podium.

Few drivers would have gambled on a victory for Hirvonen this weekend in Norway, and even fewer would have predicted the way in which he dominated his illustrious teammate.  Although, Hirvonen had previously tasted victory in Australia last October, this was his first win in a straight fight against former World Champions Sébastien Loeb and Marcus Grönholm; his maiden success was scored with the Frenchman absent and after the Finn had gone off early in the event.

This weekend, however, on an event that was new to all the favorites, Hirvonen pulled off a genuine feat.  For the first time in seven years, Grönholm was powerless on his favorite surface, snow.  Also for the first time in ages, Loeb had trouble matching the pace of his Ford Focus WRC rivals, especially that of Hirvonen.

The Finnish youngster has taken his time in coming of age at the WRC level.  His move to Subaru in 2004 was an uneasy moment in his career, and he was then given a fresh start in 2005 driving a privately entered Ford Focus WRC before being enlisted in the works Ford squad in 2006.  Since then, he has come on slowly but surely and propelled his reputation to new heights last weekend.