Last weekend Red Bull GRC set up shop at the Port of Los Angeles for a double-header event. Surprisingly the driver line-up only had one addition with Travis Pastrana bolstering the Subaru Rally Team USA. On Saturday he was their sole representative in the supercar final, but finished eighth on Sunday. Although he didn’t take home any hardware, it was good to see him mixing it up with the other drivers and bring his sparkling enthusiasm to the occasion. It also allowed the team to have a third car in the fray however Bucky Lasek and Sverre Isachsen have been doing a heck of a job representing Subaru this season. On Sunday both regular drivers rounded out the top five in the final. The weekend also marked the Red Bull GRC debut of the Volkswagen Rallycross Beetle for Andretti Autosport. Tanner Foust piloted the “Don’t call me Herbie” car and reminds all that “this is still a development car,” while teammate Scott Speed inherited Foust’s Polo for his championship run. Although a third GRC championship continues to elude him, this extra seat time in the Beetle is likely part of his preparation for next season.

If this car lives up to expectations and combined with the team’s performance this year, “Das Auto” will be the one of the stronger teams in 2015. Not yet though as the Rallybug didn’t prove ready for the vigors of this sport, ending the weekend with a DNF in Saturday’s final and DNS in Sunday’s LCQ. On the other hand, the Polo performed well in Speed’s hands because he took the checkered flag on Saturday and revived his run for the Driver Championship. By sundown on Saturday he was only two points away from the lead, which was then held jointly by Nelson Piquet Jr. and Ken Block. Besides Speed’s victory, two other things happened to shake up the championship standing. Ken Block finished third and Nelson Piquet Jr. had an awful day – a really, really awful day.

Nelsinho had a bad day again…and again.

Nelson Piquet Jr. was having an excellent Red Bull GRC 2014 season. Although victory eluded him, four straight podiums and an overall consistent performance landed him atop the championship standings until Daytona. His grip on the top spot started to loosen. Suddenly Ken Block looked like a contender and then an all-out threat, unless Piquet Jr. could win as many points as possible in order to maintain or extend his lead. Unfortunately for him that didn’t happen. He still had a forty point lead when they left the east coast but it seemed as though the only luck available to him in California was the bad kind. He collided with Steve Arpin and ended up in the wall early during Saturday’s Semifinal 1A. Then he worked along with the SH Racing Team’s mechanics to practically will the car into the LCQ. That is where their day ended after he tangled with Bucky Lasek who didn’t make it into the final either. By Sunday morning he was tied for second place in the championship standing with Scott Speed, a mere two points behind Ken Block.

With a ready race car on Sunday, he was handed a penalty for contact with Canadian Steve Arpin in Semifinal 1B and finished last. Some redemption came in the LCQ where he finished third, going through to the final. Unfortunately he didn’t fare well in the final and slipped down to fourth on the championship standing. We’ve seen that Piquet Jr. basically lost his lead in one race and with only thirty-four points behind new leader, Ken Block, it’s possible for him to regain his lead. However, there are two other drivers for him to contend with: Scott Speed and Olsbergs MSE’s Joni Wiman. Piquet Jr. has his work cut out for him over the next two rounds if he has any hopes of being crowned Red Bull GRC champion at Las Vegas.

Red Bull GRC: Los Angeles 2014
Tanner Foust at the Red Bull Global RallyCross series at The Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, CA, USA on 21 September 2014. (Photo Credit: Larry Chen / Red Bull Content Pool)

Nothing wee about this man

I got to chat with Joni Wiman at Daytona International Speedway. Despite his youthful features, he’s a hardened competitor and hungry for victory in the Red Bull GRC. Remember in 2014 when we all marveled at Heikkinen’s winning streak and unstoppable supercar championship run? At the very same time, Joni Wiman won every single race in GRC Lites and obliterated his rivals’ championship prospects. It was no surprise when Wiman was moved up to supercars this season and in an interesting twist occupies Heikkinen’s vacant seat. Also in the no-surprise category, he was a strong competitor since the season opener in Barbados earning his first podium in round three at Volkswagen Rallycross DC; and then two more podium finishes at Los Angeles. This puts him only eighteen points behind Ken Block on the Driver Championship Standing. No matter what happens over the next two rounds, I’d safely call Joni Wiman the Red Bull GRC Rookie of the Year. With backing from the Olsbergs MSE team, the sky’s the limit for this Flying Finn.

Millen’s Mad Skills Shine Again

There was a Rhys Millen-shaped void on last season’s GRC roster. Thankfully the void has been filled and we’ve moved on to another v-word this season – victories! Sunday’s final was almost like Daytona all over again. Millen started on the front row and built a formidable lead while being chased past the checkered flag by Ken Block. The difference was that Joni Wiman was on the podium with them instead of Bucky Lasek who finished fifth. This has been a long time coming for Hyundai. We’ve always known that these cars could perform but for one reason or another it never worked out. It was at the point where they were starting to look like a hard-luck team (think of last year’s Subaru Rally Team USA). Now here we are talking about Millen’s second win in as many weeks, although not quite back-to-back as we (I) tweeted in excitement. Still for a team leader who has been leaving it all on the race course since this series started, the second win still would have felt like the first one. Although the championship is beyond his grasp this year, these victories with two rounds left will be more than enough impetus for an even stronger Rhys Millen Racing effort next year. On the leadership side, he brought Stephan Verdier in to act as Emma Gilmour’s coach and spotter. So keep your eye on the other Hyundai, especially heading into the next round at DirtFish Rally School.

Red Bull GRC: Los Angeles 2014
Rhys Millen celebrates with his team at the Red Bull Global RallyCross series at The Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, CA, USA on 21 September 2014. (Photo Credit: Larry Chen / Red Bull Content Pool)

From Red Bull:

Red Bull Global Rallycross Race Recap: Port of Los Angeles

IN BRIEF: The only doubleheader of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross season saw two different winners at the Port of Los Angeles, but only four podium finishers. Scott Speed and Rhys Millen took the two wins on offer, but with a second and third place each, Ken Block and Joni Wiman have set themselves up to be the ones to beat for this year’s Supercar championship.

HEAT RECAPS: Eight drivers won heats or semifinals over the course of the weekend: Scott Speed (four), Ken Block (three), Steve Arpin, Tanner Foust, Travis Pastrana, Joni Wiman, Sverre Isachsen, and Rhys Millen (one apiece). Saturday’s LCQ was won by Foust in his new Volkswagen Beetle, while Nelson Piquet Jr. missed his first main event of the season. Isachsen won Sunday’s LCQ as Piquet and Speed barely eked in and Foust failed to make it to the line with engine troubles.

MAIN EVENT RECAP: On Saturday, Speed carried his momentum from a nearly flawless weekend into the main event, holding off Wiman and Block for the victory while Millen and Sandell chased. Foust, poised to challenge for a podium, saw his engine give out with only two laps to go, while a major suspension failure limited Austin Dyne to only a few laps. The result, combined with Piquet’s absence, left four drivers within 10 points of one another heading into Sunday.

Millen showed the same speed that took him to a victory in Daytona in Sunday’s race, holding off Block and Wiman for his second win in three events as Subaru Rally Team USA teammates Isachsen and Bucky Lasek completed the top five.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: The results from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles, the seventh round of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross season:

Scott Speed, #77 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Polo R
Joni Wiman, #31 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST
Ken Block, #43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST
Rhys Millen, #67 Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing Veloster Turbo
Patrik Sandell, #18 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST
Travis Pastrana, #199 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
Steve Arpin, #00 Royal Purple Racing/OMSE2 Ford Fiesta
Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle
Austin Dyne, #14 Barracuda Racing Ford Fiesta
Sverre Isachsen, #11 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
Bucky Lasek, #81 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
Nelson Piquet Jr., #07 SH Racing Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST
Emma Gilmour, #27 Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing Veloster Turbo

The results from Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles, the eighth round of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross season:

Rhys Millen, #67 Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing Veloster Turbo
Ken Block, #43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST
Joni Wiman, #31 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST
Sverre Isachsen, #11 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
Bucky Lasek, #81 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
Scott Speed, #77 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Polo R
Patrik Sandell, #18 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST
Travis Pastrana, #199 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
Nelson Piquet Jr., #07 SH Racing Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST
Austin Dyne, #14 Barracuda Racing Ford Fiesta
Emma Gilmour, #27 Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing Veloster Turbo
Steve Arpin, #00 Royal Purple Racing/OMSE2 Ford Fiesta
Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle

QUOTES: A selection of quotes from Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles, the seventh and eighth rounds of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross season:

Rhys Millen, Driver, #67 Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing Veloster Turbo: “For this year, the chassis of our car is the same—it primarily comes down to the support that we’ve received from Hyundai. We’ve had time to go to the events, not only to compete for the short period of time that you’re in the weekend, but to go there a week early and actually develop the car. The car is essentially the same outside of four shock absorbers and essentially taking things off and putting them back on in a different combination. We found that combination in Charlotte, received some love taps from Nelson Piquet Jr., and got it right in Daytona, and then followed it up here for this weekend. So really, it’s just hard work and sweat that’s got the car running fast.”

Ken Block, Driver, #43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST: “The season did start off a bit rough, and it took a bit to recover from that. From there, we just kind of put our head down and put as much work in as we could. It’s been a bit of luck, and coming from behind with hard work, that has gotten me five podiums in a row. I just wanted consistency, I wanted some good finishes, and it’s just kind of steamrolled into this lead. Really, that’s motorsports—sometimes it’s not who wins every race, it’s who is the most consistent. Scott (Speed) has won the most races this year, but he’s had events where he’s just had a rough weekend, and same with Nelson (Piquet Jr.)—he went from a 40 points lead to back in third or fourth. It can swing very fast, but for me it was just focusing on trying to be consistent, and now it’s really a numbers game. We’ve got two events left and really just have to focus on (Joni Wiman), who’s being really consistent, and watching what he’s doing. We’re trying to be near him or ahead of him, especially for the next event, to hopefully set up a bigger points lead going into the final event.”

Joni Wiman, Driver, #31 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST: “It’s so great to be here. To be honest, I didn’t expect to do this well my first year, but of course I’m happy. It’s everything for me to get a good start on the weekend, feel it out fast, and get happy with the car, and then it’s just rolling on.”

Patrik Sandell, Driver, #18 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST: “It was tough for everybody to have a doubleheader like this. The mechanics have been working really hard, and I have been super pleased with my car, it had been working fine on both days. I also tried to stay out of trouble as much as I could. I’m not really happy with my own performance, I was kind of hoping for a bit more, but it took some time for me to find a good setup on this car and this track.”

Insert P-20140921-00115_HiRes JPEG 24bit RGB, Ken Block drives in a practice session at the Red Bull Global RallyCross series at The Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, CA, USA on 19 September 2014. (Photo Credit: Larry Chen / Red Bull Content Pool)

FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles, the seventh and eighth rounds of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross season:

Scott Speed scored the record-tying fifth win of his Red Bull Global Rallycross career in Saturday’s main event, while Rhys Millen scored his second. Speed and Millen are the only two drivers to have won multiple Red Bull GRC Supercar events this season.

Ken Block’s third and second place finishes were his fourth and fifth consecutive podium placements, the longest active streak in Supercar and the longest of the season as well. Block took the points lead in Los Angeles for the first time in his Red Bull GRC career.

Joni Wiman earned the second and third podium finishes of his Supercar career on Saturday and Sunday. Wiman now ranks second in points, the highest he has ever ranked in the class.

Tanner Foust earned a heat victory in the first race session for the brand new Volkswagen Beetle, but did not place higher than eighth overall on the weekend. Foust failed to make it to the grid for Sunday’s semifinals or last chance qualifier due to engine issues, which also knocked him out of Saturday’s main event.

With Nelson Piquet Jr.’s failure to reach Saturday’s final, Speed and Austin Dyne are the only two remaining drivers to have competed in every Supercar main event in 2014.

Ford clinched its fourth consecutive Red Bull GRC Supercar Manufacturer’s Championship over the weekend with a pair of podium finishes on both days of the event. Ford remains the only manufacturer to post a perfect race weekend in 2014, scoring the maximum 107 points in Washington DC in June.

UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS:

Ken Block, 299
Joni Wiman, 281
Scott Speed, 275
Nelson Piquet Jr., 265
Patrik Sandell, 216
Steve Arpin, 202
Sverre Isachsen, 194
Bucky Lasek, 170
Tanner Foust, 166
Rhys Millen, 162
Austin Dyne, 144
Brian Deegan, 85
Emma Gilmour, 37
Pat Moro, 5

UNOFFICIAL MANUFACTURER POINTS:

Ford, 748
Volkswagen, 441
Subaru, 364
Hyundai, 199
Chevrolet, 5

Red Bull GRC: Los Angeles 2014
Scott Speed celebrates his 1st place finish at the Red Bull Global RallyCross series at The Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, CA, USA on 20 September 2014. (Photo Credit: Larry Chen / Red Bull Content Pool)

GRC Lites Race Recap: Port of Los Angeles

IN BRIEF: Olsbergs MSE teammates Kevin Eriksson and Mitchell DeJong split a pair of victories at Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles, the sixth and seventh rounds of the 2014 GRC Lites season and the first-ever doubleheader for the class. After running on older tires to a second place finish on Saturday, DeJong used his joker lap at the very end of Sunday’s race to nip Eriksson by .04 seconds.

HEAT RECAPS: Saturday saw Kevin Eriksson and newcomer Kevin Hansen each take a pair of heat wins, while Eriksson and DeJong were the heat winners on Sunday. Six of the seven entrants in the weekend’s events finished second or better over the weekend.

MAIN EVENT RECAP: A perfectly timed start allowed Eriksson to dominate Saturday’s final, with Hansen looking solid for second place until a late-race charge by DeJong (running on used tires) altered the order on the podium with just laps to go. Sunday’s event looked to be more of the same, at least initially, with Eriksson in front of DeJong at the start, while a major shuffle saw nearly every driver on the rest of the grid in a podium position at one point or another.

As contact between Hansen and Tyler Benson took both drivers out of contention, Alejandro Fernandez stepped into the third spot, while DeJong worked to get by his teammate on the last lap. However, a wide last turn saw the two drivers make contact, putting Eriksson into the wall.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: The results from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles, the sixth round of the 2014 GRC Lites season:

Kevin Eriksson, #96 Olsbergs MSE
Mitchell DeJong, #24 Olsbergs MSE
Kevin Hansen, #81 Red Bull Hansen Junior Team
Geoff Sykes, #6 DTV Solutions
Austin Cindric, #77 C4 Motorsports
Tyler Benson, #60 Rhys Millen Racing
Alejandro Fernandez, #126 Olsbergs MSE/AF Racing

The results from Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles, the seventh round of the 2014 GRC Lites season:

Mitchell DeJong, #24 Olsbergs MSE
Kevin Eriksson, #96 Olsbergs MSE
Alejandro Fernandez, #126 Olsbergs MSE/AF Racing
Austin Cindric, #77 C4 Motorsports
Tyler Benson, #60 Rhys Millen Racing
Kevin Hansen, #81 Red Bull Hansen Junior Team
Geoff Sykes, #6 DTV Solutions

QUOTES: A selection of quotes from Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles, the sixth and seventh rounds of the 2014 GRC Lites season:

Mitchell DeJong, Driver, #24 Olsbergs MSE GRC Lites: “The main thing is, once we put on new tires, we just tried to put our head down. We focused on qualifying, one session at a time, trying to get the most out of the car. We were constantly changing the car trying to adapt to every session, looking at the track and what we could do better constantly, and honestly that helped us yesterday. It made us constantly think about every move and what we could do better.”

Kevin Eriksson, Driver, #96 Olsbergs MSE GRC Lites: “It felt really good the whole weekend—I won the first race. In the second race on the last lap, I hit safe mode, and the car behind me caught us in the lead. Then over the finish I got a pretty bad hit in my eyes, but we’ll have to look at it later. But it went from a good final to a bad one, because the car is pretty bad now.”

Alejandro Fernandez, Driver, #126 Olsbergs MSE/AF Racing GRC Lites: “I’m feeling really good right now. Sunday’s race was really good, it was a hard fought battle for third between us, Benson, Sykes, and Hansen. Yesterday we could have had another podium until something broke in our transmission and I was stuck in second gear for the rest of the race. We showed we had the speed, now it’s just those little things that keep happening to us. But luckily today I was able to manage it, it worked out for us, and we got a third.”

FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles, the sixth and seventh rounds of the 2014 GRC Lites season:

Mitchell DeJong continues to lead both Red Bull Global Rallycross classes with 377 points. He has earned a podium finish in each GRC Lites event this season, never finishing worse than second, and has extended his all-time class record for podiums to nine. With another win, he will tie Joni Wiman’s class record for victories with six.

Kevin Eriksson earned the second victory of his GRC Lites career on Saturday and seventh podium of his career on Sunday. He now ranks second all-time in the class in podiums with seven, breaking a tie with Wiman.

Kevin Hansen earned the first podium of his GRC Lites career on Saturday in his debut on American soil. The Swedish Supercar Lites champion also won both of his heats leading up to Saturday’s main event.

Alejandro Fernandez took his second podium finish in three races by finishing third on Sunday. Fernandez extended his gap over Geoff Sykes for the third position in points to 26.

UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS:

Mitchell DeJong, 377
Kevin Eriksson, 314
Alejandro Fernandez, 230
Geoff Sykes, 204
Tyler Benson, 197
Austin Cindric, 166
Oliver Eriksson, 82
Nelson Piquet Jr., 75
Kevin Hansen, 74
Atila Abreu, 72
Pedro Piquet, 43
Blake Fuller, 37
Colton Herta, 16

ABOUT RED BULL GRC: Designed to produce the fastest and most exciting racing in motorsports, Red Bull Global Rallycross pits small production-based cars against each other in door-to- door racing featuring dirt, asphalt, and tabletop jumps. With enhanced engineering and safety features, the cars produce 600 horsepower and can accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in less than two seconds, and can also withstand 70-foot jumps and other vehicle contact. For more information visit www.RedBullGlobalRallycross.com.

Red Bull GRC: Los Angeles 2014
Competitors waiting on grid at the Red Bull Global RallyCross series at The Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, CA, USA on 20 September 2014. (Photo Credit: Larry Chen / Red Bull Content Pool)

Preview for Penultimate Round at DirtFish Rally School

Brace yourselves, rally fans – DirtFish is coming! Longtime followers of this season may recall a legendary event in 2011 when this series brand new. Well they’re going back and according to my colleague, Ken Stouffer, will be facing a “purpose built ERC inspired GRC course.” One of the greatest misunderstandings Red Bull GRC has faced is that it is rallycross, but it isn’t really. The FIA World Rallycross Championship is where you’ll see rallycross in the traditional sense, but Red Bull GRC is another creature…except for maybe this weekend. According to the official website, “The most significant feature unique to the Seattle layout is a joker lap significantly shorter than the regular lap. While the main lap is .793 miles, the joker lap is over a tenth of a mile shorter, meaning that drivers will be able to make up significant time with a well-executed joker. With a 58.5-41.5 pavement to dirt ratio, the course will be one of the most dirt-centric layouts of the season, making it a sure-fire favorite of drivers and fans alike.” If that wasn’t enough, this is the only time when a race layout includes driving through a building. A building!

Red Bull GRC: Seattle 2014
Track Layout at DirtFish Rally School. (Photo Credit: Red Bull GRC)

We’ve seen some pretty spectacular stuff this season but it looks like this course will have drivers on the ragged edge. With so many of the drivers having stage rally in their blood like Block, Millen, Sandell, Gilmour and Lasek, for whom DirtFish Rally School is practically his second home, it’s hard to say who will come out on top this weekend. One of those dudes who came through Formula 1 and NASCAR, Scott Speed and Nelson Piquet Jr. may be victorious, resuming their battle for the championship. Maybe the guys with European rallycross wins like Foust, Isachsen and Wiman will flourish in this ERC-styled layout. Or perhaps one of the two guest drivers and notorious dirt specialists, Brian Deegan and David Higgins, could be taking home top honors. Austin Dyne just might knock our socks off and finally have enough good luck to finish a final on top, especially since he’s been in every one this season. Steve Arpin may finally follow up his podium finish in Barbados and head into the Vegas finale as a true championship challenger. Right there is probably one of the best features of this series – anybody can win and it’s far from over until the checkered flag drops.

Here are the full entry lists for this weekend’s event in both divisions:

Supercars

No. Driver Name Hometown Entry
00 Steve Arpin Fort Frances, ONT Royal Purple Racing/OMSE2 Ford
07 Nelson Piquet Jr. Brasilia, BRA SH Racing Rallycross Ford
11 Sverre Isachsen Hokksund, NOR Subaru Rally Team USA
14 Austin Dyne Los Angeles, CA Barracuda Racing Ford
18 Patrik Sandell Ostersund, SWE Olsbergs MSE Ford
27 Emma Gilmour Dunedin, NZE Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing
31 Joni Wiman Pohja, FIN Olsbergs MSE Ford
34 Tanner Foust Dana Point, CA Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross
38 Brian Deegan Omaha, NE Rockstar Energy Drink Ford
43 Ken Block Park City, UT Hoonigan Racing Division Ford
67 Rhys Millen Huntington Beach, CA Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing
77 Scott Speed Mt. Holly, NC Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross
81 Bucky Lasek Dundalk, MD Subaru Rally Team USA
715 David Higgins Trefeglwys, WAL Subaru Rally Team USA

 

GRC Lites

No. Driver Name Hometown Entry
6 Geoff Sykes Los Angeles, CA DTV Solutions
24 Mitchell DeJong Temecula, CA Olsbergs MSE
60 Tyler Benson Hillsborough, NJ Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing
77 Austin Cindric Mooresville, NC C4 Motorsports
126 Alejandro Fernandez Bogota, COL Olsbergs MSE/AF Racing 126

 

The delayed NBC broadcast will be on Sunday September 28, 2014 at 4:30pm EST and air again on NBC Sports, Thursday October 9, 2014 also at 2:00am EST. You can also connect with Red Bull Global Rallycross for live updates via the following links:

Official Website: http://www.redbullglobalrallycross.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedBullGRC
Instagram: http://instagram.com/redbullGRC
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RedBullGRC
YouTube: http://youtube.com/redbullgrc
Live Timing: Live Timing: http://livetiming.net/GRC/

There’s still time to get tickets for this weekend’s race by going to http://rbgrcseattle.com/. The 2014 finale will be at SEMA, Las Vegas on November 5, 2014. We’ll bring you ticket information via our social media channels as soon as it becomes available.