Rockstar driver Tanner Foust eyes scheduling change

TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Canada (August 10, 2014) - Rockstar Energy Drink driver Tanner Foust is hoping to add another World RX date to his 2014 schedule after a difficult weekend in Canada that saw him retire from competition before the race even began.

The driver, who in 2011 became the first American ever to win a round of the international rallycross championship, found himself watching the Canadian World RX race from the commentary box after he was sidelined with a mechanical issue.

The team worked hard to diagnose the problem, which caused repeated driveshaft failures, but with the event running under an unusually compressed one-day schedule, there was no time to complete a full repair. Foust was unable to complete even a lap of competition.

The Canadian fans are completely motorsport mad and it was great to be here and experience that...

Tanner Foust

"I feel for the guys on the team who worked hard under less than ideal circumstances to find the issue," said Foust. "But we had to pull the plug when the spare driveshafts ran out."

The Friday event marked the first North American stop for the World RX series and Foust said he was looking forward to the chance to race in front of the enthusiastic Quebec crowd.

"The Canadian fans are completely motorsport mad and it was great to be here and experience that," he said. "Trois-Rivieres a phenomenal place to be a racecar driver."

Rather than sitting behind the wheel, Foust instead made a guest appearance behind the mic on the World RX television and livestream broadcast, offering his perspective on the rallycross competition alongside official commentator Andrew Coley.

The race win ultimately went to World Rally Champion Petter Solberg, while Foust's Volkswagen teammate Anton Marklund finished second, and Timur Timerzyanov rounded out the podium. Volkswagen sent three cars to the six-car final, and is now tied with Ford in the series manufacturer's ranking.

World RX guest appearances

Earlier this year Foust announced that, in addition to his full Global Rallycross Championship campaign with Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross, he would make four select World RX guest appearances with the Marklund Motorsport Volkswagen team. With stops in the UK, Finland, and Canada complete, he said he's now hoping to add one more race to his calendar before his final scheduled appearance in the series, World RX of Turkey, in October.

In June, Foust drove his Rockstar Energy Drink Volkswagen to the top of the podium at World RX of Finland, making it the second year in a row that he has won the Finnish stop of the championship.

Rallycross is a blend of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition. It promises intense crowd-pleasing action in a fan-friendly track environment. As many as 10 drivers line up to start at once, piloting high-horsepower compact cars through race traffic over a challenging short course that features jumps, unbanked turns, hills and transitions between pavement and gravel.

Next, the two-time Global Rallycross Champion returns his focus to Global Rallycross competition with the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross squad and the sixth championship stop of 2014 in Daytona, Florida, August 23.

Tanner Foust