Having just hosted Round 5 of the Drift Club’s Drift Showdown ’07 at their headquarters in Foothill Ranch, CA, HPI was at it again at this years X Games 13 hosted by the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. With the help of Pacific Coast Hobbies, whose hobby store is located in Lomita, CA, HPI was able to put on an R/C Drift exhibition that attracted hundreds of X Games spectators and allowed them to experience the extreme lean of R/C drifting first hand. With HPI’s Scott Schulz, and Dave Cornell on hand to help keep things running smoothly, it was hard for all the drifters – and spectators – not to have smile from ear to ear.
The cars that were thrashed on for four days straight were HPI Sprint 2 RTR Drift cars. The Sprint 2 features a double deck chassis, a smooth and efficient dual belt drive design, and a fully adjustable suspension that will take you from drifting to racing with a quick change to high traction tires. Proving to be tough as nails, pack after battery pack, and constantly running in the hot SoCal weather for a lot more hours that the average user will ever drive these cars, the only problem that was encountered were worn out motors and a few broken suspension arms. Sold for about $200, all you have to do is paint the body, charge the batteries, and install eight AA’s in the transmitter, and you and your friends can battle for a Drift King status in no time.
Aside from spectators being able to drive at the HPI drift exhibition, there were many more activities going on at X Games 13. Crowds gathered around the huge vert ramp to watch some of the best skateboarders in the world battle it out for X Games gold, with Shaun White coming out on top. My favorite event on the final day was the full-scale Rally Car racing exhibition. The starting line began in the dirt track in the middle of the stadium and the track featured a figure 8 layout with a crossover jump; while one car was airborne, the other cars crossed underneath. The track continued by moving out of the stadium and to the asphalt road course that was set up in the parking lot. After the spectators were treated to some very close finishes, and some wild wrecks, it was Tanner Foust coming out on top with Ken Block taking second, and the “Godfather” Travis Pastrana rounding out the top three. When all the extreme activities had ended, guests flocked over to the main stage to watch various rock bands perform.
HPI’s Dave Cornell took over the MC duties and helped kept the drift session running smoothly all weekend.
HPI’s John Shultz was on hand to oversee the event, and to help keep the cars running all weekend.
X Game spectators had a chance to see the R/C drift cars up close at the HPI booth.
The track crew that consisted of HPI and Pacific Coast Hobbies helped create an exhibition where everyone had a good time and easy access to R/C drifting.
The huge vert ramp was where the world’s best skateboarders threw down their stuff in front of giant crowds of people.
The Home Depot Center in Carson, Ca hosted X Games 13 and the HPI R/C Drift exhibition.
There were many teams on hand at the Rally Car event in search for X Games Gold.
Rally car racer, Colin McRae shows how not to finish a race as he turns his $120,000 machine into a pile of heap.
The dirt portion of the rally course took place inside the stadium and ended up in the asphalt parking lot on the side of the stadium.
HPI even let the spectators give RC drifting a try
It was great to see R/C getting the exposure and recognition it deserves. Thank you to HPI and Pacific Coast Hobbies for creating such a unique environment that invited anyone to try out HPI’s excellent products first hand, and perhaps inspire them to buy R/C cars of their own. We look forward to X Games 14 where perhaps there will be an even bigger exhibition and carry on the tradition of exposing R/C to the masses!
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