Aussie to compete in the 2014 RedBull Global Rallycross Championship
For those of us in Australia who have been following the Global Rallycross Championship, now sponsored by Redbull,for the past few years, now have a extra special reason to follow the championship this year. We have an Aussie competing. AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI !!!!!
Sarah Burgess is the name all us Aussie Motorsport fans need to remember.
Sarah will be one of two females competing in this years Series, Rallycross, for those who have not heard of the sport is part Rally part Tarmac racing, is one of the most exciting and growing Motorsport disciplines in the world right now.
The cars involved as quoted by the GRC website: roll out of the factory as production models, but receive significant improvements to chassis, engine, and safety features to bring them up to racing spec. GRC vehicles are incredibly versatile; they produce 600 horsepower and can accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in 1.9 seconds, but are also built to withstand 70-foot jumps and contact with other vehicles. Unlike many other racing series, they also do not feature the aid of electronic traction aids. Ford, Dodge, and Subaru serve as Official Manufacturer Partners of the series.
Sarah, who grew up in Brisbane, did not follow your typical female sporting path, she was started with BMX at a very young age, from there she moved into Triathlons, Cycling and Kayaking. She also represent Australia in Inline Speed Skating and Short Track Speed Skating.
The passion for the Car Industry came later after getting involved in Test n’ Tune days at a local track in QLD. Her first opportunity to really sample high end Motorsport events came in 200 when she has the opportunity of a business trip to the USA to meet with vendors and watch the NHRA Pomona Winternationals. This got her hooked on racing.
This led to her and and her now husband Adam opening a performance automotive business, which was the distributor for a variety of American automotive manufactures, which resulted in her move to the USA. This led to her work, with her now GRC team, BMI Racing.
Sarah started with the team when their first drift car (a Mazda RX8) was built and run.
In 2011 Sarah stepped into the driver’s seat, where she competed in the Xtreme Drift Circuit in Seattle WA and Dallas TX.
In 2012 Sarah stepped up to an 700hp Ford Mustang running a 5.0L Coyote Engine with a 2.9L Whipple Supercharger in a variety of drift events across the America including the Xtreme Drift Circuit and East Coast Bash. Sarah was the only female drifting on a national level.
In 2013 Sarah again competed in the Ford Mustang drifting in various event through out the year.
So its bring us to 2014 and Sarah’s new challenge.
Global Rally Cross has been growing from strength over the past few years, the series, originally dominated by Subaru and Ford, now has new manufacturers coming in at a steady stream. VW was a newcomer last year and had a good year in the series. This year Tanner Foust has announced that he was switching to VW Beetle . Hyundai will again be entering but with two cars including featuring NZ female Rally star Emma Gilmour .
Sarah will be bringing another new manufacturer to the sport with GM and their Chevrolet brand.
Sarah teased us earlier in the year with photo on her Facebook page that she was planning something with @TeamCHEVY and now we know what.
Sarah will compete in the series in a Chevrolet Sonic with her team BMI Racing
While Sarah has not released final images of her car, we can only guess that it will be based on the Sonic RS model as seen above in a Chevrolet road car press image.
Sarah has yet to announce which event she will be debuting her new ride at but we will be sure to keep you informed as soon as we learn more and we wish her all the best in the GRC Championship. Fly that Aussie Flag with pride Sarah.
You can follow Sarah’s progress at the following links
Facebook – sarahburgessbmi
Twitter – SarahBurgessBMI
Instagram – sarah_bmi
The full Red Bull Global Rallycross Schedule is below
- May 17-18: Barbados
- June 7: Austin, TX
- June 21-22: Washington, DC
- July 19-20: New York, NY
- July 25-26: Charlotte, NC
- August 2-3: Detroit, MI
- August 22-23: Daytona, FL
- September 19-20: Los Angeles, CA
- September 26-27: Seattle, WA
- November 5: Las Vegas, NV
For more information on the series you can check out the following links
Website – www.redbullglobalrallycross.com/
Facebook – RedBullGRC
Twitter – RedBullGRC
Instagram – RedBullGRC
Youtube – RedBullGRC
We will again report on the series in 2014, so keep an eye for future stories and full coverage of the 2014 season.