Over the next four weeks, Travis Pastrana will remind the world that he is the action sports world’s leading renaissance man. Pastrana is set to compete in both Red Bull Global Rallycross, September 19-21 at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, and two weeks later, in the inaugural Red Bull Straight Rhythm motocross event, October 4 at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.
Red Bull Straight Rhythm is an evolution of the sport of supercross, featuring a 1/2 mile-long, ‘unwound’ track, isolating the whoops, triples, doubles, table tops and step on/offs, challenging riders to focus exclusively on reading the terrain directly in front of them. A field of 32 riders will compete against each other in a head-to-head, best-of-three bracket format. The inaugural event will be held at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and will air on NBC in 2014 as part of the Red Bull Signature Series, a collection of the most progressive action sports events in the world.
The Red Bull Global Rallycross is designed to produce the fastest and most exciting racing in motorsports, Red Bull Global Rallycross pits small production-based cars against each other in door-to-door racing featuring dirt, asphalt, and table-top jumps. With enhanced engineering and safety features, the cars produce 600 horsepower and can accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in less than two seconds, and can also withstand 70-foot jumps and other vehicle contact.
“Either of these events are enough to get me excited, but the notion of taking them both on, just weeks apart, is exactly the kind of challenge I salivate over,” said Pastrana. “I love racing Rallycross, and I’m really pumped up for the totally new format of Red Bull Straight Rhythm.”
At Red Bull Global Rallycross, the 10-year rally car veteran will race a 600hp Vermont SportsCar-prepared 2014 Subaru WRX STI as a guest entry by Subaru Rally Team USA, which Pastrana drives for in the Rally America Championship series. This will be the second time Pastrana has raced in Red Bull Global Rallycross this year, after participating in the second race of the series in Austin in June.
On the two-wheel side of the equation, Pastrana’s participation in Red Bull Straight Rhythm will mark the first motocross event he has competed in since taking a five-year hiatus from the sport to focus on four-wheel racing.
“Most people who know me know that it’s really tough for me to turn my back on a new challenge, and when I heard about the new head-to-head format of Red Bull Straight Rhythm, I instantly felt that tug on my heart to get into the mix,” said Pastrana. “A one-of-a-kind format demands a one-of-a-kind machine, and my team and I are bringing some seriously heavy artillery to the party in Pomona.”
The buzz around Pastrana’s return came when he released a video on his Instagram account featuring a 500cc two-stroke bike he had specifically built to race at Red Bull Straight Rhythm. While traditional Supercross races allow for only 250cc and 450cc classes, this event instead has a 250cc class and an open class. When Pastrana got wind of the freedom from traditional engine size restraints in the open class, he decided to build the mammoth bike.
More information and tickets to Red Bull Straight Rhythm can be found at www.redbull.com/straightrhythm. Additional information on Red Bull Rallycross can be found www.redbullGlobalRallycross.com.
