RACE RECAP: DORAN WINS BIG IN FIRST LEG OF MUNICH DOUBLEHEADER

Company press release.

IN BRIEF: Liam Doran scored the second gold medal of his career at X Games Munich, beating Ken Block and Toomas Heikkinen in the first leg of Global Rallycross' doubleheader weekend.

HEAT RECAPS: Doran, Tanner Foust, Block, and Heikkinen won the four heats, while Brian Deegan, Patrik Sandell, Mattias Ekstrom, and Anton Marklund also advanced directly to the main event. In the last chance qualifier, Timur Timerzyanov and Scott Speed took the final two transfer spots.

MAIN EVENT RECAP: Heikkinen took the lead after a chaotic start that saw multiple cars spin and make contact, but Doran was able to make his way into the lead early in the event. A red flag was flown after two laps when Timerzyanov backed into the turn one tire barrier, forcing the Rallycross Safety Team to extract the vehicle and ensuring a restart.

On the restart, Doran again proved the class of the field, eventually pulling away from Heikkinen despite suffering a puncture late. Meanwhile, contact in the first corner once again wounded the cars of Foust and Deegan, and ended the days of Speed and Timerzyanov. Sandell would complete two laps before retiring, while Deegan missed only the last lap.

Block took advantage of Heikkinen's similar misfortune, making the pass for second late in the race and closing to within a second of Doran at the finish. Marklund, Ekstrom, and Foust would also finish on the lead lap.

NEW TUNE-IN:

Global Rallycross Race 1

◾Saturday, 4:00-6:00 pm ET ABC

◾Saturday, 7:00-11:00 pm ET ESPN

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Global Rallycross Race 2

◾Sunday, 11:00am-5:00pm ET ESPN

QUOTES: A collection of quotes from after today's Global Rallycross event at X Games Munich:

Liam Doran, #33 LD Motorsports MINI Countryman: 'It's just an amazing achievement to come out in a brand new car here and show what it's capable of, especially here in Germany, the headquarters of MINI… It wasn't easy… Hardly ever does someone in the lead get back in the lead after the restart—it just doesn't happen. You need a bit of luck in rallycross, you need luck to get a good result, and somehow I had enough today. But it's not all luck—the car is good is, the track design suits the MINI, and the track conditions definitely suit the MINI, where we're running less weight and less power.'

Ken Block, #43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST: 'Unfortunately… I had a really bad start in the first start of the final, and I got very lucky that we had that restart. So I focused on a much better start on the second start, and my luck worked out. Then I just pushed really hard to catch up to Topi and Liam, and they ended up both getting punctures! So I was able to get past Topi, and get all the way up on Liam's bumper all the way at the end. If we had one more lap, I think I would have had him. It was very fun, but it was a bit of luck today, a lot of carnage out there.'

FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from today's X Games Munich doubleheader:

◾This was Liam Doran's second career X Games gold medal and second Global Rallycross victory. The first came in Los Angeles in August 2011.

◾This was MINI's first Global Rallycross victory in their first Global Rallycross start.

◾Ken Block scored his fifth career X Games medal with his second place finish. Block also scored his second silver medal in the past three Global Rallycross events at X Games, with the last coming in Los Angeles in July 2012.

◾Toomas Heikkinen scored his second career X Games medal with his third place finish. Heikkinen is the only driver to return to the podium from X Games Brazil.

◾Nine of the 10 cars in Saturday's main event were also in the main event at X Games Brazil. Doran's car was the only exception, while Steve Arpin's car was the only one not to make two consecutive finals. Timur Timerzyanov advanced in the same car that Travis Pastrana drove in the final at X Games Brazil.

◾Of the three drivers making their Global Rallycross season debuts, Mattias Ekstrom was the best finisher, in fifth place.

DRIVER POINTS:

1.Toomas Heikkinen, 34

2.Scott Speed, 29

3.Ken Block, 25

4.Liam Doran, 24 (tie)

5.Patrik Sandell, 24 (tie)

6.Anton Marklund, 24 (tie)

MANUFACTURER POINTS:

1.Ford, 73

2.Dodge, 20

3.Subaru, 5