Steve Arpin has paid tribute to his Loenbro Motorsports team after he finished on the podium in the opening round of the 2017 Red Bull Global Rallycross season in Memphis.
The team was the top privateer entry last season, winning two rounds including the season finale, but with increased involvement from both Honda and Subaru, plus the ever present Volkswagen continuing to perform strongly, many expected the team to be behind the factory efforts this year.
However, Arpin proved those thoughts wrong by finishing third in the season opener, the first race for the team since racing powerhouse Chip Ganassi Racing pulled its support from the team.
“It’s incredible—there’s nothing that replaces it, other than a win,” Arpin said of his podium finish in Memphis. “I think the best part is, it speaks volumes to the people that we have. There’s no one person on the team that makes it what it is, it’s each and every one of our contributions to the greater good and the big picture of what makes us strong as a group.”
“Honestly, when we took the checkered flag last year, one of the biggest reasons Paul and Jon Leach jumped on board to keep on going as Loenbro Motorsports so fast was simply to keep the continuity on our team,” Arpin, who also serves as team manager, continued. “Paul said to me, when we first started thinking about doing our own team in rallycross four years ago, ‘It’s all about people—we need to get the right people together, and we can be competitive.’
“You walk through the paddock area and it’s absolutely clear, looking around at the amount of people every manufacturer team has, the sheer numbers of personnel and equipment that they’re working with. For us to be able to put a racecar under me, and to be able to put us on the podium, is a pure testament to people. That’s the end all, be all for us—it’s people.”
Credit: Louis Yio/Red Bull GRC
