Robin Larsson battled a feisty Kevin Eriksson in the final battle brackets and managed to come out the top qualifier of Group E. Eriksson got the better launch and managed to keep Larsson behind him for two full laps and was looking to get his first top qualifier award but his opponent was there at the last turn to make the move and take the win.
While Larsson managed to have a successful Saturday, his cohorts at RX Cartel and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had a less than fortunate day.
As the morning sun rose in Minneapolis, disaster struck two individuals. Free practice was underway for the first batch of Group E drivers when Andreas Bakkerud and Fraser McConnell each rolled their cars on the same rut. The drivers would end up with totaled cars but more importantly, they walked away safely to receive medical attention.
Andrew Carlson still had much to reacquaint himself with as he tackled the track in a different vehicle than last time out. He struggled to find solid pace and just couldn’t keep up with the competition falling short in his battle with Kevin Eriksson ending his day.
OMSE managed some points with Kevin Eriksson managing to secure a front row spot for Sunday, his brother Oliver Eriksson would push on through the day with decent pace but not enough to get him any farther than the second battle bracket after his battle with Larsson.
Vermont Sportscar is looking good this weekend and has the potential for a podium based on early performance. Travis Pastrana would win the first seeding battle by a fair margin starting his day off to a great start. He would then go on to face Oliver Bennet in his first battle and succeed after Bennet suffered a puncture ending his day. Pastrana would fail to make it to the final bracket succumbing to Kevin Eriksson in round 2 of brackets. Teammate Connor Martell had a fair start to the day and was poised to have a good first day although a spin into turn one of his battle brackets would take him out of contention for the day.
Down at XITE Energy Racing, Oliver Bennet suffered punctures and a slide into the wall so unfortunately he never saw the fight past his first battle bracket with Oliver Eriksson. Teammate Jenson Button would continue to familiarize himself with the car he got comfortable with jumps and using the handbrake. Ultimately, it was more of a testing day for him as he drove quite conservatively all day and didn’t fight much when it came to his battle with Robin Larsson.
Action resumes Sunday with Heat races and finals for the Group E class as Robin Larsson leads the points into the final day of racing.
