In a sport that already draws in fans in with its engineering feats and excitement, things are only getting faster and bigger. Last Saturday, RFK Stadium shifted into overdrive and hosted one of the longest courses in Red Bull Global Rallycross history. Drivers zoomed around a .980 miles track and careened around nine turns. The setup was larger, faster, and wider than last year.
“It’s a great event to be here in DC this weekend,” said Clark Campbell, motorsports general manager, Volkswagen of America, in a press release from Red Bull GRC. “We thought this track was really a racy track, and the cars looked cool out there bouncing around the rough sections. We think coming back to the same location two years in a row has been really helpful for the series, and we hope to continue to grow some momentum in the markets we come back to.”
The bigger track was supposed to allow drivers time for more clean racing. Drivers race practically door-to-door through tight turns and dirt. Both classes, the Lites and the Supercars, may be pretty small in size, but can punch from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than two seconds, eventually getting up to 100 mph. Not to mention they are blasting through 70-foot jumps and still crashing around into each other, even with the bigger course.
The gates opened up at 10:00 a.m., and the sun was already beating down on the fans. Since the event was hosted by Volkswagen, there was plenty of VW swag for the taking, but there were plenty of other vendors, from Royal Purple motor oil to a vape company.
The pits are also a big draw for fans that want to get really close to their favorite drivers and cars. You can get right up next to the techs tearing these cars apart and making repairs after each run– switching tires, suspension, body panels, and occasionally an entire engine.
Both classes of cars are great fun to watch, and you definitely needed ear plugs if you get close– these races are not only fast, they are LOUD. And because of the dust, rocks and little bits of tire getting kicked up behind them, sunglasses were a good idea that this photographer was without.
The District isn’t usually a racing hub, but for the second year in a row, this event transformed the stadium into an event for fans to get close to an incomparable sport that’s fast, strategic, and very dramatic.
In a couple of weeks, Red Bull Global Rallycross sets up in the Port of Los Angeles September 12-13.
Blog by Cristina Rayas and Toby Mues, Photos by Toby Mues