Los Angeles, California (ACP Racing) August 1, 2010 - North American Rally Champion Andrew "ACP" Comrie-Picard took third place overall and the Bronze Medal in Rally Car Racing at X Games 16 this weekend in a hard-fought battle that saw twelve of the best drivers and teams in the country and from around the world fighting in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
For Comrie-Picard, the result was the culmination of successful year as a driver, TV host, and now team owner. "We've competed at every X Games, but this year was probably the most challenging. The venue change, the rules changes, and running a car for a guest driver - all these things made concentrating on my own driving difficult, and yet we were lucky enough to come through with a medal" said ACP.
The X Games Rally Car Racing had previously taken place at the Home Depot Center, but this year was at the historic LA Coliseum. Rules changes saw the allowance of European-format 600-horsepower cars, and Comrie-Picard supported FormulaDrift teammate Samuel Hubinette by lending Hubinette his newer Mitsubishi Evoluiton X for the SuperRally competition.
"Actually all the pressure and complexities that this year threw at us were probably a good thing. We didn't have time to think about anything else, so when race day came, we just went for it. X Games is all about putting it out there, and that's exactly what we did" said Comrie-Picard.
Ford drivers Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan took first and second place respectively, and fellow Canadian Antoine L'Estage tied with Comrie-Picard for the Bronze in lieu of a showdown medal match. He, like Hubinette, was competing in a newer Mitsubishi Evolution X.
The result was a tremendous success for ACP Racing and Comrie-Picard, as only a day before they blew their high-spec large turbo and so competed with a stock Mitsubishi turbo and 40mm intake restrictor. This meant they were competing with about 200hp less than their main rivals on 45mm intake restrictors.
"You work with what you have," quipped ACP. "We'll be back next year with all the game we can muster, and we'll be in it for the gold."
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ABOUT THE DRIVER: Andrew Comrie-Picard is the current North American Rally Champion and in 2010 competed in X Games for a fifth time. He also drifts at the professional level for Dodge Motorsports and BFGoodrich in the FormulaD drift championship in a Viper. When he isn't racing, Comrie-Picard works in film, television, and print media as an automotive expert; he hosts the television show Ultimate Car Build-off (http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/ultimate-car-build-off/) airing at 9pm Mondays on Discovery Channel. He lives in Los Angeles, California.--

Team ACP Racing Takes Double Bronze at X Games, on Ethanol

Los Angeles, California (ACP Racing) August 2, 2010 - ACP Racing, the top preparer of Mitsubishi rally team cars in North America, took two Bronze Medals this past weekend at X Games 16 in Los Angeles. The medals were the only ones taken by non-factory-supported cars and drivers at the event.
Andrew Comrie-Picard, five-time X Games competitor and principal of ACP Racing, took the Bronze in Rally Car Racing in his 2006 Evolution IX, and Samuel Hubinette, Comrie-Picard's teammate in professional drifting, took the Bronze in the new discipline of SuperRally in ACP Racing's 2008 Evolution X.
Comrie-Picard also finished sixth in SuperRally after a spin in traffic in the semi-final qualifier saw him miss a place in the final.
"This is a great result for the team" said Comrie-Picard. "Relative to our main rivals we have a very privateer effort, but this X Games shows that we really punch above our weight."
Innovation has been the key to many of ACP Racing's successes. At X Games this year, both competition cars ran almost pure ethanol fuel, which gave more power and also an environmental consciousness to the effort.
Ironically, the spin in the SuperRally semi-final qualifier was the result of contact between the two team cars, after Ken Block slowed with a mechanical problem in front of Comrie-Picard who was immediately in front of Hubinette. Comrie-Picard corrected his line to avoid Block and Hubinette was unable to avoid Comrie-Picard's car, spinning him out and taking over the lead in the semi-final.
"It was a racing incident, pure and simple" said Comrie-Picard. "It's something we have to get used to in SuperRally. There's going to be unavoidable contact."
Both Comrie-Picard and Hubinette are expected to continue competing in the new American sport of SuperRally under both the RallyCar RallyCross banner and the X Games SuperRally discipline in 2011. "It's a mad, bad, racing format and its time has come" said Comrie-Picard. "I could hear the crowd screaming from inside the running car. That tells me the sport has a future." A highlight of the entire X Games was the two ACP Racing team cars going over the 70-foot gap jump in tandem, nose-to-tail. The crowd was on its feet for this never-before-seen spectacle.
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Photo credit: Matt Galantoumini