Rounds two and three of the 2015 Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship take place at Daytona International Speedway this weekend as the series encounters the first of its four Double-Header events during the 2015 season.
Round one of this year’s Red Bull GRC was held at Fort Lauderdale, where 2014 Vice Champion Ken Block took his first 2015 victory in his Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST RX ahead of Scott Speed in his Volkswagen Andretti Autosport Rallycross Beetle GRC, whilst Nelson Piquet Jnr completed the podium in third place in the SH Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST RX. Notable performances from the Florida event came from Steve Arpin in his Chip Ganassi Racing Fiesta Supercar, after taking a heat win and a Semi-Final win. However a jump start and a penalty put Arpin in a fightback position. After Andreas Bakkerud subbed for him at the X Games, Piquet returns to the SH Rallycross team for normal GRC duties.
Chip Ganassi Racing had a good weekend at the following X Games event where Arpin took the Silver Medal whilst Brian Deegan was well in the mix for the fight for the Bronze Medal and this weekend the squad is joined by former Motocross Rider and CGR Indycar race winner Jeff Ward who will pilot the No. 360 Ford Fiesta Supercar.
Both Subaru Rally Team USA and Ford Olsbergs MSE will be looking for improved fortunes after Round One. Bucky Lasek and Sverre Issachsen will be looking to improve the pace in their brand new 2015 Subarus after finishing in the bottom half of the top ten in Florida.
Olsberg duo Sebastian Eriksson and Joni Wiman will be looking to challenge at the front. Eriksson took fourth position on his Red Bull GRC debut and the Bronze Medal in the X Games. Meanwhile Wiman will be looking to start his campaign in Daytona after not being cleared to race in Sunday’s action and a bad landing in the X Games at Texas ending his running. However Wiman has form at this weekends event as in 2014 he took two heat wins at the venue.
Looking for victory this weekend and having a great chance of it are the Volkswagen Andretti squad with Scott Speed and Tanner Foust being quickest in Practice and Qualifying in Round One whilst Speed went on to finish behind Block in the Final with Foust in fifth place. Speed took the Gold Medal in the X Games and there is no doubting the pace of the VW Beetle GRC so far. Another team looking to improve is the Bryan Herta Rallycross duo of Austin Dyne and Patrik Sandell and their current pace in the opening round suggests there is more to come from these two as they progress through the double header event in their M-Sport built Fords.
Whatever the outcome from this weekend’s two rounds at Daytona, you can be sure that the points tables will tell a different story come Monday morning.
