Global Rallycross Championship: VW Beetles conquered Barbados
Andretti’s Volkswagen Beetles completely dominated the two rounds of Global Rallycross Championship which were held at Bushy Park at Barbados last weekend. Tanner Foust scored victories in both races, while Scott Speed earned two second places. After the Barbados double-header round, only two of them remained title contenders with one more event in calendar, in Las Vegas next month.
In Saturday’s Final Tanner Foust gave Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross its third consecutive race victory, while Scott Speed grabbed the points lead despite heavy last-lap contact that decimated his left front wheel. After a penalty demoted Patrik Sandell to last, Red Bull Olsbergs MSE driver and defending Supercar champion Joni Wiman completed the podium.
The pre-final qualifying didn’t finish good for points leader Ken Block, who rolled over with his Ford Fiesta. Block was unharmed in the incident but missed his second main event in the past three races and lost the championship lead. The team intends to compete in Sunday’s action.
The main event started with Foust jumping out to the lead in the first corner, outracing his teammate Speed as Sandell claimed third. As the field battled heavily behind them, Sandell worked to make up ground before ducking into the Kobalt Tools Joker Lap on the final lap. Coming out, his car slammed into Speed’s, launching the Beetle into the air and taking the left front wheel off. Sandell crossed the line second while Speed limped across third, but the Swede was penalized and dropped to 10th because of that move. The penalty helped Speed jump out to a 33-point lead in the Supercar standings over Block, with Sebastian Eriksson 35 points behind in third and Foust 44 points back in fourth.
The day after Tanner Foust gave Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross fourth consecutive race victory, while Scott Speed earned his eighth podium of the season. Nelson Piquet Jr. finished third. Ken Block’s championship hopes dissapeared after first lap of the final, when he dropped to last place. He retired after five laps, so only Speed and Foust remained in the title fight. Speed holds a 36-point lead over Foust with one race remaining.
“Barbados is amazing—I figure we should just have every race here. The track is awesome, they made some changes to the facility here since last year and it’s getting better and better. So far, it’s a Volkswagen sweep here both years, which is pretty amazing. The car wasn’t the fastest all day today, and didn’t qualify at the top, but by managing the cars through the long race we pulled it off. Thank you to the fans for coming out, we could hear you coming down the straightaway,” Foust said after the victory.
In GRC Lites class the Olsbergs MSE’s drivers took both wins. Oliver Eriksson was Saturday’s winner, while Austin Cindric won on Sunday. Four drivers will chase GRC Lites title in the last round at the Village Lot on the Las Vegas Strip – Eriksson, Cindric, Alejandro Fernandez and Miles Maroney.
