Eight-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb dominated the X Games Rallycross final on his debut in the Los Angeles event. Afterward, the Frenchman paid tribute to former WRC rival and fellow X Games competitor Marcus Gronholm, who was hospitalized following his heavy accident in practice.
Gronholm's Fiesta landed from a jump and then struck a concrete post on his side (the left) of the car. He was taken to hospital for observation, having lost consciousness at the scene of his crash.
Citroen driver Loeb won the rallycross gold medal after dominating the final, leading from the first corner to show WRC Fiesta driver Ken Block the way home.
Talking about Gronholm after the race, Loeb said: "Maybe my main rival was not here. I hope he is doing well."
Gronholm's teammate Brian Deegan also dedicated his medal for third place to the two-time World Rally Champion.
The X Games rallycross final was a subdued affair following the accidents suffered by Gronholm and Toomas Heikkenenm, who suffered abdominal injuries and a broken ankle when he failed to clear a jump and smashed into the landing ramp on Friday. The event's organizers subsequently filled in the gap between the two ramps to make a table-top jump. Travis Pastrana also crashed out in a heat race and wasn't able to start in the 10-car final.
See more photos from the weekend at the X Games courtesy of RACER guest contributor Melissa Eickhoff on RACER's Facebook page.