Geoff Sykes was one of only four Americans out of the ten Supercar Lites drivers to be invited to the X Games in Los Angeles. It was a tense and pressure filled event, compressed into a tight TV schedule.
“The course is going to be interesting,” said Sykes, “because we don’t get to see it until pretty much the day of the race thanks to the schedule.”
In the short combined practice/qualifying session, Sykes contended with a lack of first gear, which put him at the back of the first heats race, where a light tap with another car then severely affected the steering on Sykes’ #65 GetEnergyFX.com car.
Sykes described, “on left handers, the car would suddenly rotate, which was unnerving on the fast oval section, and on right handers, the car would be very hard to turn in at all.”
In the LCQ, Sykes started 4th, putting him on the outside of the front row. As Dyne and Cheung battled for position on the fast asphalt section, Sykes passed them both, moving into second place behind Westlund. But when they approached the left hairpin into the gravel section, Dyne pushed Sykes out and got past him on the inside.
Sykes regained momentum and was able to re-pass Dyne on the inside of the following right hand hairpin in the dirt, however as they both approached the following arcing left turn, Sykes entered wide, whilst Dyne kept straight on the inside, connecting with the side of Sykes, his front cage pulling the tire off of Sykes’ left rear wheel.
“It was a disappointing end to the weekend,” said Sykes. “We finally had a strong car and I had moved up to second and was battling for the lead. Still, our sponsors were extremely happy to be represented at X Games, and I’m very grateful for all the support from DTV Solutions and Midnight Oil.”
ABOUT RALLYCROSS AND GEOFF SYKES
Rallycross combines circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition with intense, crowd-pleasing action in a fan-friendly track environment, featuring a challenging course that includes jumps, unbanked turns and changing track and surface conditions that can include dirt, gravel and wet asphalt.
Geoff Sykes is driving his first season in Global Rallycross, having come from an autocross and road racing background with multiple records and championships in the BMW CCA racing series, and is the current GT points leader in the US Touring Car Championship.
Sykes’ rallycross racing includes support from GetEnergyFX.com, Midnight Oil and DTV Solutions.
Photos: Cooper Media Group
