22-year-old Fraser McConnell from Jamaica, who made his Supercar debut last season in the RallyX Nordic series, will be making his return this season with the Olsbergs MSE in one of the Ford Fiesta MK8 Supercars.
McConnell, who was one of the standout stars last season in his rookie season, is now aiming to bring home silverwear this season as he will be joining the field with a lot more experience on his back. He is one of the many stars that are headlining the Supercar field for the season.
Since becoming the Americas Rallycross ARX2 champion in 2019 and finished fourth overall in the FIA RX2 International Series the same year, he has stepped up from the 340bhp four-wheel-drive machinery to a 600bhp four-wheel-drive Supercar. He instantly showed he had pace in the Supercar by clinching a final appearance on his second attempt at the All-Star “Magic Weekend” in Höljes last season.
At the return to Arvika for the series, which was only five weeks after his first final, he did prove to be the closest challenger to the triple FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson in the two opening qualifying sessions of the weekend, but at the final his luck got turned around as he got squeezed and ended up parked on the inner grass field.
But at Nysum, which hosted the last year´s season-finale, McConnell managed to end the Sunday´s final in second place which led to securing the second place in the overall standings on his first attempt, with that done he is now looking to challenge his team-mate Oliver Eriksson for the title crown this year.
“I’m so excited to get back to it! I haven’t really been in a race car since September, and I’m eager to build upon what we achieved last season. I’ve been very focussed on my training recently, spending a lot of time on the simulator and working out in the gym over the long break, and I’m trying to organise some testing in my Subaru rally car to get my eyes back in and make sure I’m race-sharp,” McConnell said.
“I got up-to-speed pretty much immediately in the Supercar last year, which I credit to the experience I gained in Supercar Lites. The Supercar is obviously a different animal and a real beast, but even with its extraordinary amount of power, the same fundamentals still apply and I was able to transfer that knowledge to swiftly get comfortable in the car and learn how to extract the maximum performance. The extra power inevitably required a little adjustment at first, but you get used to it very quickly and I have to say, it’s extremely addictive to drive!
“Despite not knowing two of the three tracks on the calendar, I was in the mix the whole way through and now I have a baseline for every circuit aside from OuluZone, which will definitely help. I’m also looking forward to another season with OMSE; everybody knows these guys are ultra-professional and the best in the game, and I’ve established a great relationship with them over the past couple of years.
“The RallyX Nordic field is always filled with quality drivers and this year looks no different, but I’m doing everything I can to ensure I perform at my absolute best. I’m feeling pumped. The start of the season genuinely can’t come soon enough!”
