The Volkswagen Andretti Autosport Rallycross Team enjoyed a positive opening to its 2015 Red Bull Global Rallycross campaign in Fort Lauderdale last weekend.
The squad’s two iconic Volkswagen Beetle GRC Supercars have received an engine upgrade for the 2015 season with the 1.6 litre turbocharged Volkswagen engine being replaced with a new 2.0 litre turbocharged unit and both Tanner Foust and Scott Speed were able to put this new power plant to good use.
Speed put his expertise to good use by guiding his Beetle to a Heat victory whilst former double Red Bull GRC Champion Tanner Foust was able to progress to the Supercar Final by winning the Last Chance Qualifier.
In the Final, Speed chased event winner Ken Block all the way but had to settle for second place behind the Hoonigan Racing Division pilot. Foust completed a good weekend for the squad by finishing in fifth position. This has given the Volkswagen squad second place in the Manufacturers’ Title chase after one round.
Scott Speed explained how hard he had to work to secure second place in the Final. “Today started off well, we won our heat race early this morning and entered the Semi-Final in Pole Position. During the Semi-Final the No.41 Beetle got a little beat up, so we had to fight back in the Final. We fought back from Fourth place, to finish second and get some valuable points towards the Championship. Last year we learned that you can’t just win a bunch of races, but you have to finish a bunch of races. We were able to take a not so good situation and at least turn it into some points and hopefully we can carry that momentuminto the X Games and Daytona. Now we just need to bump it up one step on the podium.”
Tanner Foust was very happy with the performance of the Bettle GRC after the first round in 2015: “It was a very exciting day two in Fort Lauderdale, round one of the Global Rallycross season. After the first issue during yesterday’s heat round, I got positioned in the back and eventually went into the LCQ. I wouldn’t normally be very happy about a fifth place finish, but the takeaway from this weekend is pretty strong. Qualifying first and second with the beetle against unknown competitors from the highest echelons of american motorsport shows just how capable our Volkswagen Andretti Team is and will be this year. Day Two was certainly a battle and the Final was very difficult. After getting pushed wide in turn 1, I sat in ninth position after the first lap and fought hard to come back and finish fifth.”
The Volkswagen Andretti squad will now prepare for the X Games to be held this weekend in Austin, Texas.
