Ford OlsbergsMSE driver and 2015 Red Bull Global Rallycross debutant Sebastian Eriksson won the Bronze Medal in his first X Games Rallycross appearance in Austin, Texas last weekend.
The result is all the more special taking into account that the young Swede drove for six laps of the ten lap Supercar Final with a flat tyre, holding off some of the best driving talent in Rallycross as he defended hard to secure his podium podium, making his Ford Fiesta Supercar as wide as possible as he held off the other competitors. Eriksson was in good company on the podium, joining Gold medalist Scott Speed and Silver medalist Steve Arpin.
Eriksson spoke of his hard work and his performance in his first X Games.
“I was just thinking I just had to keep it tight and not let everyone past,” said Eriksson at the finish. “It was close. I almost spun in that last right-hander.” However the young Swede admitted he preferred the medal to be a different colour. “It feels more like the gold medal I lost instead of the bronze medal that I won,” said Eriksson.
It was a strong weekend for Eriksson. He was never far from the top of the leader board in practice, he went on to qualify fifth and he won his heat race to advance directly to the Final. However his 2014 Red Bull GRC Champion team-mate Joni Wiman faired less well over the weekend. Wiman suffered a huge crash in the dust haze on the circuit, making the conditions difficult to see through and this caused him to crash heavily off the ramp, damaging the car and ending his running.
“I was knocked off line and was just guessing where the jump was, I went for it but when the dust settled down and I could see it wasn’t right, I was already in the air and there wasn’t anything I could do. It was quite a hard landing but it didn’t feel that bad,” said Wiman. “It was when I tried to continue that I realized my front wheel wasn’t in the right place and that was it.”
The Ford Olsbergs MSE team now prepares for rounds two and three of the Red Bull GRC at Daytona in two weeks time.
