Tanner Foust sweeps Red Bull Global Rallycross Phoenix
New manufacturer Honda took the first podium of its foray into rallycross in only its second race.
Tanner Foust, Andretti Autosport Volkswagen
Volkswagen Motorsport
Tanner Foust extended his Red Bull Global Rallycross career win record by taking Sunday’s Red Bull GRC final in Phoenix. Foust, who also won Saturday’s main event, took the ninth victory of his Red Bull GRC career over Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross teammate Scott Speed.
“It’s going to be a great season—obviously it’s a great way to start the season for Volkswagen,” the two-time Supercar champion said from the podium. “But different cars have different skills on different tracks, so it’s going to be a mix up. A lot of the new cars out there are extremely fast, and it’s going to be a great season!”
As with Saturday, the Beetles were dominant in the preliminary rounds, with both Foust and Speed sweeping their respective heats and semifinals. Brian Deegan, coming off a third place finish in Saturday’s main event, won the last chance qualifier but only made his way up to sixth in the main event. In the final, Foust beat Speed in a drag race off the line and never looked back with a dominant performance.
New manufacturer Honda took the first podium of its foray into rallycross in only its second race, as Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE driver Sebastian Eriksson placed third. Eriksson, last year’s runner-up, held off Saturday runner-up Patrik Sandell in a thrilling battle that lasted for the entire 10-lap final.
Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle: "First of all, I want to thank all the fans who came out here to Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park on a hot Sunday. Thank you very much. Unbelievable to see everyone come out. It’s two pretty long days in these double headers and we saw a lot of repeat customers which is awesome. It’s great that our weekend looked pretty straightforward, from the outside, but behind the scenes, the team absolutely thrashed before the Semifinal. They did an hour and twenty minute job in under an hour, to change the transmission—literally used every single minute that we had, drove right out and took the semifinal.
That was all Volkswagen Andretti right there, so thank you guys very much—that was an epic thrash. Hopefully we come back to this track, I mean I like it! It’s going to be a great season—obviously this is a great way to start the season for both Scott and I, but different cars have different skills on different tracks so it’s going to be a mix up. A lot of the new cars out there are extremely fast, and it’s going to be a great season of GRC."
Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle: “It’s been great—we just had a lot of gremlins in our car this whole weekend actually. But to come out of here with a fifth and a second with all the little issues we have had is actually really good. I’m really excited. Clearly Tanner had a relatively clean weekend, and we just had to deal with what we have. I think as the season goes on, you are looking at the guys that are going to be here a lot, hopefully. And we are real proud of our team. We really worked extra hard today, that’s for sure. We will come back and continue on.”
Sebastian Eriksson, #93 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe: “We had some technical issues, you know, from the final yesterday. But the team took almost all night and fixed it. The car is more than perfect—it’s only the first weekend of the new Honda Civic, and to be on the podium the first weekend is amazing.”
Full results from Red Bull Global Rallycross Phoenix II are as follows:
1. Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle
2. Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle
3. Sebastian Eriksson, #93 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe
4. Patrik Sandell, #18 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST
5. Steve Arpin, #00 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST
6. Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST
7. Austin Dyne, #14 AD Racing Ford Fiesta ST
8. Jeff Ward, #07 SH Rallycross/DRR Ford Fiesta ST
9. Rhys Millen, #67 Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Veloster
10. Joni Wiman, #31 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe
11. Sebastian Saavedra, #77 AD Racing Ford Fiesta
The Red Bull GRC season will resume in two weeks at Fair Park in Dallas, TX.
Global Rallycross
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