Dodge and SRT Motorsports is getting into rally car racing with its new Dodge Dart and a one of the sport’s biggest stars: Travis Pastrana.
The 2013 Dodge Dart will participate in the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship Series with Pastrana — a four-time Rally America Champion and 17-time X Games Gold Medalist — behind the wheel.
The new Dodge Dart Rally Car will make its official public debut at the New York International Auto Show next month.
The car will be powered by a 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder, 16-valve turbo-charged engine with 600-plus horsepower engine with 550 pound feet of torque.
“At Dodge, racing is an integral part of our heritage and embodies our competitive spirit,” Reid Bigland, president and CEO of the Dodge brand said in a statement.
Pastrana, 28, is a stunt performer and a proven winner in freestyle motocross and rally car racing and has competed in NASCAR.
“To be able to partner with Dodge to field my own program this year is a dream come true,” Pastrana said in a statement. “The new Dodge Dart offers the perfect platform for rally cross, and I look forward to putting it on the podium all season long.”
The Global RallyCross Championship combines circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition into one race. The sport debuted in the US at X Games 16 in Los Angeles in 2010.
“Travis is a living example of what action sports activities are all about,” Ralph Gilles, president and CEO of Street and Racing Technology Brand and Motorsports said in a statement.
The production version of the Dodge Dart compact car debuts this spring. The Dart will be the first Chrysler group car to be built on a Fiat platform. Fiat, Chrysler’s majority owner, gained a controlling stake in Chrysler in 2009.