Heading in to the race weekend it wouldn’t have been a surprise if someone said a VW would be winning, it may however been a surprise to find out that it would be Scott Speed and that Tanner Foust wouldn’t even make it to the finals.
With three rounds of heats down, there was a surprise name in the Last Chance Qualifying round as Foust and five other drivers battled to make the remaining spots for the final.
Steve Arpin would lead the field on the opening lap as Foust pushed him hard in to the first corner, the lap would end with Arpin leading Foust, Brian Deegan and Austin Dyne ahead of the two Hyundai’s of Emma Gilmour and Rhys Millan who took their joker lap early.
Foust would find a way through on the second lap when he took his joker lap, unfortunately he we would take the joker lap again on the final lap, meaning a 10 second penalty, dropping him down the order and out of the running for the final, not the best way to start his title challenge. with Foust picking up a penalty this promoted Millan in to the last remaining place for the final; leaving Foust to sit on the sidelines with Gilmour for the final.
Row 1 of the final would look like this: Scott Speed, Joni Wiman and Ken Block, row 2 would be Nelson Piquet Jr., Sverre Isachsen and Patrik Sandell. Row 3 featured Arpin, Deegan and Dyne with Millen starting on his own on row 4.
Block would get the holeshot on the start of the final to lead the way but this was short lived as Wiman slid by Block, the as Block tried to pass again he hit a curb and flipped over. Emergency crews were on the scene quickly and Block would walk away from the scene of the accident after being removed from the car.
As Block’s Fiesta was removed from the track the nine cars reformed on the grid once again. Wiman would take the holeshot ahead of Speed on the restart. In the opening chaos Dyne would end up off track while Piquet Jr. and Isachsen made contact.
With Wiman leading the way he did the same as former-champion Foust did in the LCQ race, taking his joker lap twice, resulting in a stop and go penalty, handing Speed the lead of the race while Piquet Jr. and Isachsen battled like dogs for fourth place.
Wiman would come in for his penalty but disaster would strike for the young driver as he stalled his car, falling further down the standings.
Isachsen and Piquet continued to fight until the Viking Warrior would be forced to retire with a mechanical failure.
Meanwhile at the front, Scott Speed run away with the season opening victory ahead of Arpin and Deegan.
Talking on the Red Bull Global Red Bull Rallycross website Speed said “It was an awesome weekend. We had the speed right away, but with a big mechanical in the heat race, we had to come from behind from that point on. The guys did a great job twice, getting the car ready to make qualifying and to make the last heat.
“We were hoping that we were going to win our first time out, but it’s really special for everyone at Andretti and Volkswagen. We’re all going to celebrate really good tonight!”
Full Results – Red Bull Global Rallycross Round 1 at Top Gear Festival Barbados
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team / Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | Scott Speed | Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Volkswagen Polo |
| 2 | 00 | Steve Arpin | Royal Purple Racing/OMSE2 Ford Fiesta ST |
| 3 | 38 | Brian Deegan | Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta ST |
| 4 | 7 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | SH Racing Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST |
| 5 | 31 | Joni Wiman | Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST |
| 6 | 11 | Sverre Isachsen | Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru |
| 7 | 67 | Rhys Millen | RMR Hyundai |
| 8 | 18 | Patrik Sandell | Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST |
| 9 | 14 | Austin Dyne | Barracuda Racing Ford Fiesta ST |
| 10 | 43 | Ken Block | Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST |
| 11 | 34 | Tanner Foust | Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Volkswagen Polo |
| 12 | 27 | Emma Gilmour | RMR Hyundai |
| 13 | 81 | Bucky Lasek | Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru |
