At X Games 17 Liam Doran – as featured in the new “Dirt3” video game - came over here from the UK and kicked everyone’s ass in Rally Car Racing, topping heavily-favored WRC veteran Marcus Gronholm in the finals for the gold medal. Doran was about to do the same in RallyCross when Tanner Foust punted him into the barriers in the first turn. Big mistake. Growing up at the Lydden Hill Circuit track as the son of British driving champion Pat Doran, the big, mean and brash 24-year-old been racing cars since he was 14 – specifically rallycross. Turning pro in 2010, he blasted through the European Rallycross Championship (ERC) with great angst and fervor in his rookie campaign, finishing a well-respected 3^rd place overall in the series – in part organized by his sister Amy.

His father, Pat Doran,  would align himself with the French-made Citroen C4 racer and, with help from Kenneth Hansen’s team, Doran proved at X 17 that the erroneously-said underpowered Citroens can hold their own against the Fords and Subarus – puling the holeshot in both the Rally Car Racing and RallyCross main events. And prior to Doran’s ferocious excellence in the world of rallycross, he honed his cornering skills proper in the European MSA Championships, running a Ford Fiesta ST Supercar to a 2^nd place overall finish in that series. But it will be rallycross at X 17 that he’s remembered by the Monster Energy Army, who will look forward to his rematches with Foust around the globe in the years to come.