Following a disappointing opening round in the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship Tanner Foust headed to Europe for the second round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, driving for Marklund Motorsport, backed by Rockstar Energy Drink.
Foust would make it through to the finals but it wouldn’t be without drama; A problem-free opening day had left Foust in a great mood for the second day and as he battled with Petter Solberg for the lead in Heat 3 he would once again fall foul of an issue with the joker lap, this time missing out on the lap after a miscommunication with his team and the officials as both him and Solberg believed there was another lap to run. A 30 second penalty would be added to the final race time dropping the pair down the order.
“It’s great having the opportunity to race at Lydden Hill, the place where rallycross was invented and a track that gets such huge and enthusiastic crowds,” said Foust. “I always have an amazing experience here in the UK.”
Tanner Foust – Marklund Motorsport – VW Polo
An impressive drive in the fourth heat saw Foust take victory and secure a place in the semi-finals where it would look like it was to be the end of the American’s weekend as he was beaten by Toomas Heikkinen, Andreas Bakkerud and Solberg. Thankfully a technical issue with semi-final 2 winner Reinis Nitiss would see Foust take the grid for the final.
Foust would battle on in the final with a steering issue and also a collision with Solberg after the 2003 WRC champion made an ambitious move heading in to Devils Elbow. Foust was showing great pace and closing in on team-mate Heikkinen before he run out of fuel and costed to fifth place.
“This new car has more than proven itself at the top of the field,” said Foust talking about the VW Polo R. “To have two of the team’s cars reach the Final in such a competitive field is an accomplishment and I look forward to returning to World RX next month to see what we can do in Finland.”
Attention now switches back to the Global Rallycross as Foust and team-mate Scott Speed prepare for the debut of the all-new Volkswagen Beetle at the X Games next month.
