Red Bull GRC Media Alert // Race Recaps: Daytona

Red Bull GRC Race Recap: Daytona
FOR SATURDAY PRESS IMAGES: Click here<https://www.redbullcontentpool.com/redbullglobalrallycross/AP-1N51XHEFH2111> // FOR SUNDAY PRESS IMAGES: Click here<https://www.redbullcontentpool.com/redbullglobalrallycross/AP-1N51XHNVS2111>
IN BRIEF: Steve Arpin and Tanner Foust split this weekend’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Supercar finals at Daytona International Speedway. On Saturday, Arpin gave himself and Chip Ganassi Racing their first victories in Red Bull GRC at a track where the Ganassi team has already won the Daytona 500 and 24 Hours of Daytona, while Foust took his third victory of the season on Sunday to extend his points lead.
SATURDAY RECAP: The complete Volkswagen dominance of heats ended when Scott Speed missed qualifying for the first leg of the doubleheader, giving Patrik Sandell and Steve Arpin each the opportunity to take their first heat wins of the season. Arpin would start alongside Tanner Foust, who extended his perfect heat and semifinal record in 2016, on the front row of the main event.
Though persistent thunderstorms delayed the race’s completion and wet the track, Foust led what started as a relatively docile final. Then, and all at once, chaos ensued: Foust clipped an unforgiving portion of track, spinning and disabling his car, and giving second-place Sandell nowhere to go before hitting him. Speed inherited the lead, but drove for more than a lap with his car on fire before finally pulling off course. Arpin then inherited the lead with teammate Brian Deegan following and Sebastian Eriksson completing the podium.
SUNDAY RECAP: After crews for Foust, Speed, and Sandell stayed up all night repairing their respective cars in time for Sunday’s action, all three drivers posted top-six qualifying laps. Speed qualified fastest, but was bumped to fourth in seeding under to Red Bull GRC rules due to changing his car during the weekend; the setback allowed Foust to establish pole for the final once again, with fellow semifinal winner Brian Deegan alongside.
The main event required a restart after Speed clipped tire barriers on the inside of turn six and collected Austin Dyne, but the second start went off without a hitch. Despite contact that sent him briefly sideways, Foust held on for the lead with Eriksson and Joni Wiman trailing him. Speed, meanwhile, rocketed to fourth on the first lap and used a late-race Joker Lap to climb to second.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: The results from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Daytona (I), the fourth round of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season:

1. Steve Arpin, #00 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST

2. Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST

3. Sebastian Eriksson, #93 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe

4. Joni Wiman, #31 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe

5. Jeff Ward, #07 SH Rallycross/DRR Ford Fiesta ST
The results from Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Daytona (II), the fifth round of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season:

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. Joni Wiman, #31 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe

5. Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST
QUOTES: A selection of quotes from Saturday and Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Daytona, the fourth and fifth rounds of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season:
Steve Arpin, #00 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST: “This weekend is honestly so incredible. There was a piece of history that was made in motorsports today with the Ford GT coming back to win at Le Mans 50 years later, and just to be a tiny small piece of that is literally the most remarkable feeling in the world. But racing for such an iconic team owner, coming to the most iconic motorsports track in the world and being able to add to his trophy collection right here just makes this an unbelievable weekend.”
Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle: “I really, really love bringing home a win for the guys this weekend. They have been working through the heat, and we were here until 6 in the morning. We had two impacts in the previous round—one hit the hole in the track, which hit the right front suspension. That kind of made the car dead in the water and gave (Patrik) Sandell, nowhere to go, and that was the second impact. The crew had to fix both sides of the car.”
Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle: “We were fastest in warmup, qualified on pole, and had more mechanical failures in the heat races. We ended up having to start the final basically last, and to drive up through to second is just a testament to how good our cars are, and how much our Volkswagen Andretti crew worked. I’m glad for the guys that they got a little bit of a payoff, because they worked all night to get this car ready—literally all night—they went home for a shower and then came right back to work this morning, so it's really cool and I’m really happy for the guys to get to the podium.”
Sebastian Eriksson, #93 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe: “Yesterday was all about surviving. I tried my best all week. At the start today, I didn’t see Tanner on the side and I went for it and I almost had it there. Still, three podiums in five races is pretty great, and I’m looing forward to the rest of the season.”
FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from Saturday and Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Daytona, the fourth and fifth rounds of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season:

· Steve Arpin and Chip Ganassi Racing both took their first first Supercar main event victory in Saturday’s final. The win came in Arpin’s 35th career Red Bull GRC start and was his second podium finish in a row after a runner-up result in Dallas.

· Tanner Foust took the record-extending 10th victory of his Red Bull GRC career in Sunday’s main event. Foust has also won a record-setting 13 consecutive heat races to start the season, and is four shy of setting a record for most heat wins in a season.

· Brian Deegan earned his second podium finish of 2016 on Saturday and his first heat wins of the season on Sunday. Deegan’s semifinal victory ensured that he would miss the last chance qualifier, snapping his five-race LCQ win streak.

· Sebastian Eriksson earned his second and third podium finishes of 2016 with back-to-back third place results. Eriksson has never finished worse than third at Daytona International Speedway in four Supercar starts.

· Scott Speed’s second place finish in Sunday’s final marked the first time that he completed the full distance of a Red Bull GRC final at Daytona International Speedway.
UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS:

1. Tanner Foust, 265

2. Steve Arpin, 233

3. Scott Speed, 226

4. Patrik Sandell, 202

5. Brian Deegan, 194

6. Sebastian Eriksson, 177

7. Joni Wiman, 162

8. Jeff Ward, 117

9. Rhys Millen, 96

10. Austin Dyne, 88

11. Sebastian Saavedra, 3
UNOFFICIAL MANUFACTURER POINTS:

1. Volkswagen, 22

2. Ford, 20

3. Honda, 18
————
GRC Lites Race Recap: Daytona
IN BRIEF: Oliver Eriksson and Tanner Whitten split the two GRC Lites main events at Daytona International Speedway this weekend. Eriksson won the Saturday feature for the second year in a row, while Whitten won Sunday’s main event for his first victory of the 2016 season.
SATURDAY RECAP: Polesitter Tanner Whitten and Oliver Eriksson each won both of their heats on Friday to line up on the first row for the main event, with Phoenix I winner Miki Weckstrom alongside them. In a wild start, the only action of the day for the first two rows on Saturday, a wet track forced drivers to adapt quickly to unfamiliar conditions; Eriksson claimed the lead in a fully sideways drift around the outside and never looked back. Multiple drivers traded the remaining podium spots, with Whitten and series newcomer Colin Braun eventually laying claim to second and third.
SUNDAY RECAP: Whitten wouldn’t be denied on Sunday, once again taking the pole and winning both of his heats, while Weckstrom and Eriksson split the other two on offer. A chaotic final saw Braun’s bid for two podiums in two days end early when contact slid him into the tire barriers before the jump, though he continued driving after the incident. Up front, Whitten extended his lead as Eriksson looked to balance the leader in his sights with teammate Weckstrom in his mirrors, and they would cross the line in that order at race’s end.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: The results from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Daytona (I), the fourth round of the 2016 GRC Lites season:

1. Oliver Eriksson, #16 Olsbergs MSE X Forces

2. Tanner Whitten, #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

3. Colin Braun, #56 CORE Autosport

4. Conner Martell, #21 DirtFish Motorsports

5. Alejandro Fernandez, #126 AF Racing Team
The results from Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Daytona (II), the fifth round of the 2016 GRC Lites season:

1. Tanner Whitten, #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

2. Oliver Eriksson, #16 Olsbergs MSE X Forces

3. Miki Weckstrom, #45 Olsbergs MSE X Forces

4. Conner Martell, #21 DirtFish Motorsports

5. Travis PeCoy, #3 AF Racing Team
QUOTES: A selection of quotes from Saturday and Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Daytona, the fourth and fifth rounds of the 2016 GRC Lites season:
Tanner Whitten, #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: “This win means more than I can possibly express. It has always been a dream of mine, since I was a little kid and on the path to NASCAR, to race here, let alone win here. So to finally get that first win of the year with a new team at the World Center of Racing, means the world to me, especially on Father’s Day. Racing has always been a bond between my father—my whole family—and me. So to have them here and their support means a lot for sure.”
Oliver Eriksson, #16 Olsbergs MSE X Forces: “Tanner has done a great job on pushing me to catch up to him. He’s doing great lap times all the time, but I feel like I’m there with some points. We both had some great starts in the (Saturday) final and there was a drag race on the first corner. I knew I had to get out ahead on the first corner and I was outside, so my biggest chance was to outbrake him. I braked,, went in the wet, went sideways and got around him. I don’t really know how—I have to check the videos and stuff, but it was so awesome! I actually thought I was going to spin out, and then I saved it and was in front.”
Colin Braun, #56 CORE Autosport: “GRC was a blast! I am super impressed with the series and the level of competition, but also how quickly these CORE guys put together a strong program. I'm happy I could put it on the podium for them on Saturday. GRC is pretty much a contact sport and sometimes you come out on the bad end of it like we did in the main on Sunday, but we sure showed we had a fast car in the heats and raced well all day! We have a lot to learn, but everyone at CORE is up to the task and we'll be back and even more prepared at the next one.”
Conner Martell, #21 DirtFish Motorsports: “This weekend went really well for us. We had some bad luck Friday and Saturday, but we were able to pull off a fourth on Saturday, and we pulled off another fourth on Sunday. It’s really good that we are being consistent and that’s what we need to do to win championships. We’re heading into North Carolina with confidence, and we’re going to be pushing it pretty hard there.”
FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from Saturday and Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Daytona, the fourth and fifth rounds of the 2016 GRC Lites season:

· Oliver Eriksson took the fifth win of his GRC Lites career and his second in a row in Saturday’s Lites final. Eriksson’s Saturday victory also made him the first multiple winner in Red Bull GRC history at Daytona International Speedway.

· Tanner Whitten took the second victory of his GRC Lites career and his first win of the season on Sunday. In Whitten’s three starts this season, he has three podium finishes, three poles, and a class-leading six heat wins.

· Colin Braun’s podium finish on Saturday made him the second driver in 2016 to earn a podium in his Lites debut (Miki Weckstrom was the other). Braun, a 24 Hours of Daytona class winner in 2014, finished third in his debut. Teammate Jon Bennett also made the main event in Saturday in his first Lites start.

· Miki Weckstrom earned his third podium finish of the season by placing third in Sunday’s main event. Weckstrom is tied with teammate Oliver Eriksson for second in class with five heat victories.

· Conner Martell earned fourth place finishes on both Saturday and Sunday. Martell now has top five finishes in four of his five starts in 2016.
UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS:

1. Oliver Eriksson, 218

2. Conner Martell, 202

3. Cabot Bigham, 202

4. Miki Weckstrom, 177

5. Tanner Whitten, 165

6. Christian Brooks, 163

7. Travis PeCoy, 82

8. Alejandro Fernandez, 79

9. Alex Keyes, 71

10. Collete Davis, 71

11. Colin Braun, 59

12. Trenton Estep, 57

13. Harry Gottsacker, 50

14. Parker Chase, 43

15. Preston Murray, 33

16. Jon Bennett, 14

17. Cole Keatts, 10

18. Blake “Bilko” Williams, 5

19. Nur Ali, 3
————
If you do not wish to receive further correspondence on this email list, please contact cleone@redbullglobalrallycross.com.
Red Bull Global Rallycross
17383 Sunset Blvd. A210
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 USA
P: +1(213)745.2123
www.redbullglobalrallycross.com
Twitter: RedBullGRC
FB: RedBullGRC
Instagram: RedBullGRC