Scott Speed completed the first ever weekend sweep in Americas Rallycross, following up his perfect qualifying run with a semi-final and final win at Trois-Rivières.
The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross beat team mate Foust in their semi-final to set up a final showdown with Ken Block who won the other semi.
The pair, who have developed something of a tense rivalry this season were expected to make contact at the start but instead it was Block and Foust who rubbed at the green light, with Speed getting the holeshot.
Foust survived the contact with Block to challenge Speed into the dirt, but he couldn’t find a way past. That would prove to be the only real challenge for the lead as from lap two Speed began to slowly eke out a lead.
A mistake for Speed allowed Foust to cut the triple-Global Rallycross champion’s lead by almost half, setting up a showdown between both Beetles in the final two laps.
Foust opted to take the joker on the penultimate lap in a bid to jump Speed, but the plan proved to be fruitless as when Speed took his joker on the final lap, we held on to top spot, eventually taking the chequered flag by 1.3 seconds.
Block, who took the joker the lap before Foust couldn’t use the strategy to close the gap to the leaders, eventually finishing third for his second consecutive podium finish.
Subaru’s Patrik Sandell was fourth ahead of team mate Atkinson in what was a positive weekend for the team which managed to find more pace from its WRX STIs.
During the event Sandell experimented with a modified rear wing which removed the central element. That gave the Swede better straight line speed and helped with turn-in. Atkinson is expected to trial a similar setup during testing this week.
Steve Arpin was the final runner in the main event, finishing his home round in sixth place.
Missing out on the final was Rene Munnich, Jacques Villeneuve, and Oliver Bennett – the latter two retiring from their respective semi-finals.
Americas Rallycross Round 3 Final – Trois-Rivieres
- Scott Speed – Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross – 5:04.030
- Tanner Foust – Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross – 5:06.699
- Ken Block – Loenbro Hoonigan – 5:08.364
- Patrik Sandell – Subaru Rally Team USA – 5:09.209
- Chris Atkinson – Subaru Rally Team USA – 5:10.145
- Steve Arpin – Loenbro Hoonigan – 5:12.631
Speed’s domination at Trois-Rivières means that he goes into the final round at Circuit of the Americas next month with a nine point lead over Foust.
Sandell is third in the points, nine ahead of Block who missed the opening round of the season. Atkinson completes the top five as the only other driver along with Speed, Foust, and Sandell to compete in every round of the season so far.
