The SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks made a trip across the Pacific Ocean last weekend for a demo in China.
The demo, announced in late September by the series’ Facebook page, was held in the Mongolia Desert. Robby Gordon drove the #7 SPEED Energy truck on test runs around a sand course featuring various jumps. The session marked the first time Gordon had driven the orange truck in 2016; during the season, he mainly drove with Arctic Cat sponsorship, though he also drove a Hot Wheels truck at Townsville to support Matt Mingay, who usually races with Hot Wheels livery, after his injury in a crash at the SST race in Detroit. In his place, Dustin Scott and Arie Luyendyk Jr. have driven the SPEED Energy truck, though renumbered to #20.
SST drivers Dustin Scott and Todd Romano were also present, recording footage of the demo and posting the videos to Instagram, while Sara Price joked about a potential Chinese SST round in the future.
While not an official race, the event marked the first time that a Stadium Super Truck has appeared in Asia and the fifth different country the SST has visited (Canada since 2013, Barbados for the 2014 Race of Champions, Australia since 2015 and the United Kingdom for the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed). Later in October, the SST will visit a sixth country when they arrive in Mexico for the Baja Bob’s Mike’s Peak Hill Climb Challenge.
The Baja Bob’s Mike’s Peak Hill Climb Challenge, named in honor of Gordon’s late father Bob, will be held on October 13–16 at Mike’s Sky Rancho, located at the San Matias Pass in Baja California. The challenge will feature a field of 144 vehicles with various classes ranging from four-wheel vehicles like the Stadium Super Trucks and rally cars to two-wheel motorbikes. The field will be split into two group classes: Group 1 features vehicles like Unlimited Desert Trucks and Pro 2WD trucks, while Group 2 allows rally cars, ATVs, buggies and bikes. Online registration for the event will be closed on Saturday, October 8. Practice will take place on Thursday, October 13, followed by three days of racing.
Featured image courtesy of @SSuperTrucks
