Los Angeles, July 29, 2011 -- Subaru of America, Inc. Subaru Rally Team USA drivers David Higgins and Dave Mirra head to Los Angeles this week to compete in Summer X Games 17. Higgins and Mirra look to add to the team's successes at X Games competing in the Rally Car and Rallycross events July 30th and 31st respectively. Each will drive a 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI modified for Rallycross with an excess of 550 horsepower Boxer engine and Symmetrical All Wheel Drive.

For 2011, Higgins won the Rally America Championship after three overall wins and two second place finishes of the six events of the series. In June, he smashed the 13-year course record at the Mt. Washington Hill Climb and placed second at the A Main final of the Global Rallycross series at Pikes Peak. David is competing in his first X Games.

"I have heard so much about the X Games and have watched from home many times so I'm really looking forward to being a part of it," said Higgins. "There really is nothing like it in the world and to be racing on the streets of Los Angeles should be spectacular for the drivers and the fans."

David Higgins, a native of the Isle of Man, got his first taste of motorsport when he was only eight years old and has enjoyed success ever since. After a winning karting career and an opportunity to rally in the Peugeot 205 Challenge, David went onto win the 1997, 1999 and 2002 British Rally Championship in the Group N Class. In 2002 he also came to America as a privateer and won the SCCA Pro Rally Championship (Now known as Rally America) while driving a Subaru. He repeated his success in 2003 winning six events and again claiming the SCCA Pro Rally Championship. For 2004 it was back to Britain where David contested the full season and became the British Rally Champion. David also began rallying in the ultra-competitive Chinese Rally Championship in 2004 where he helped his team win the Team's Championship in 2004, 2007 and 2009 (foreign drivers can't score individual points).

Higgins now lives in Trefeglwys, Mid Wales, with his wife Kara and his children Alicia and Matthew. David and his family operate "The Forest Experience Rally School". The school is well-known and respected for offering world-class rally driving instruction to all levels of driver. David's grandparents and parents have all been successful rally drivers, and David's brother Mark competes at the highest level in the sport (Set the fastest lap at the Isle of Man TT for a production vehicle this past June).

Dave Mirra, who became a pro BMX rider in 1992, holds the record for most total X Games medals, as well as the record for most Gold medals. He is one of the world's best-known Action Sports athletes and is credited with bringing freestyle BMX into the mainstream.

Dave has always been a car enthusiast and became hooked on rallying after friend, and then Subaru Rally Team USA driver, Ken Block introduced him to the sport. Mirra stepped up to an Open Class Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the 2010 season where he and co-driver Martin Headland entered five Rally America rounds and also at X Games 16 in Los Angeles. Mirra also competed in the 2010 Rally Car Rallycross series held at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey. Dave was highly successful at this new discipline earning podium finishes at two of the three rounds.

This year Mirra piloted his Open Class SRT USA #40 STI at five Rally America events and finished 4th Overall in the season standings. He also competed in two Global Rallycross Championship events garnering a 4th and a 6th place finish.

ESPN X Games added the Rally Car Racing event in 2006 as part of multi-sport lineup that includes action sports such as skateboarding, freestyle motocross and BMX. The inclusion of rallying at the X Games with its live television coverage and a live audience of tens of thousands has helped rallying achieve widespread awareness and popularity in America over the past five years. For 2011 the Rally Car Racing event features two rally cars at a time running head-to-head in a knock-out elimination format. The Rallycross event is modeled after the successful FIA European Rallycross Championship where up to eight Rallycross cars compete on the track at once in a furious sprint of just a few short laps. New for 2011 both events will take place on the streets of Los Angeles in front of the Staples Center and will include dirt sections and a 70ft gap jump.

Competition Schedule

• Saturday July 30th
• X Cast - Rally Car Racing 2 - 6 PM (ET) on xgames.com
• Rally Car Racing Final 1 - 3 PM (PT) to be aired on ESPN (TV) and ESPN3.com (web) 4 - 6 PM (ET)
• Sunday July 31st
• Rallycross Final 2 - 4 PM (PST) to be aired on ESPN (TV) and ESPN3.com (web) 5 - 7 PM (ET)

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About Subaru Rally Team USA
Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru TecnicaInternational (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, Vision X, Alpinestars, Motul, Exedy, VP Fuels and Vermont SportsCar. For more information on SubaruRally Team USA, as well as exclusive photo and video galleries visit subaru.com/rally and for the latest news follow the team on Twitter: twitter.com/srtusa.

About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 dealers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.