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ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway

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After the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, five drivers had solid chances for the 2018 championship: four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champions Scott Dixon leading in points with Alexander Rossi, Josef Newgarden, Will Power, and Ryan Hunter-Reay in chase. Before the tenth lap of the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono, a shocking shunt on Turn 2 sent rookie Robert Wickens flying into the fence with only the car’s tub landing back on the track, bringing out the red flag and ending the race for the five drivers involved, including Hunter-Reay. Wickens was airlifted to hospital after Takuma Sato, Pietro Fittipaldi, Hunter-Reay, and Schmidt Peterson Motorsport team mate James Hinchcliffe were evaluated by medical staff and cleared.

How to even write about the race after that? Its importance pales in comparison to the health of the 29 year old driver hanging in the balance. At the time of publishing, Wickens has undergone spinal surgery, placing titanium rods and screws to stabilize a thoracic spinal fracture. Other injuries include a pulmonary contusion and fractures to his lower legs and right arm. 

Pennsylvania has been getting a lot of rain. So much rain, in fact, there have been destructive floods in the Pocono region. The rain didn’t spare INDYCAR the weekend; a light drizzle started at the end of afternoon qualifications. Verizon Team Penske Chevy driver Will Power’s qualifying run averaged 219.511 mph winning him his 53rd career INDYCAR pole, tying with A.J. Foyt for second and picking up a bonus point for being the fastest on the track. Then came a downpour, and the last practice was cancelled. Crucial in hindsight, perhaps, as Pocono isn’t called the Tricky Triangle for nothing; the 2.5 mile track’s three turns are modeled after turns at other famous tracks paired with long straightaways. Turn 2’s 9 degree banking after Indianapolis Motor Speedway is said to be the fastest. INDYCAR has been back at the family-friendly Pocono Raceway since 2013 after a 23-year absence, and at the start of the ABC Supply 500 weekend the series announced they will be back for 2019.

More overnight showers left the track wet and the paddocks plagued with puddles. The morning of race day, all that could be heard was the track blowers drying the track, but the tarmac finally dried and was approved for racing. All of Team Penske took the front row – Will Power had pole with Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Hunter-Reay, Simon Pagenaud and Wickens rounding out the first three rows on the starting grid. Prior to driver introductions, spectators were treated to a parade of classic race cars. Country singer Lee Greenwood took the stage to sing the national anthem, the grid was cleared, and everyone waited for the drivers to start their engines. 

As the safety car peeled off into the pits for the green flag, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Spencer Pigot in the 21 car and Graham Rahal’s #15 RLL Racing turned each other around at the back of the pack – and the first yellow flag of the day. After racing resumed, Alexander Rossi passed Will Power to take the lead.

Under Lap 8’s red flag, the cars headed to the pits, and drivers were allowed to leave the cars. There was an instant pall over the Tricky Triangle, punctuated by the occasional roar of an engine revving to keep the cars ready to race. The track crew removed debris and repaired an entire section of the catch fence, while other drivers on the ground were interviewed and the crowd was updated when more news was released on the driver’s conditions. After nearly two hours, the track was once again ready for racing, though unapproved work on their cars during the red flag got drivers Graham Rahal and Spencer Pigot each a two-lap penalty.

For the remaining 192 laps, there seemed to be a concerted effort by all drivers to keep the rest of the race free of further incident. Will Power passed Rossi and briefly took the lead in leap 137, but Rossi passed him again and maintained the lead for the rest of the race. Power took the second spot on the podium, and Scott Dixon worked his way up to third from 13th on the grid.

Going into Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at Gateway Motorsports Park in St. Louis, Missouri, there are now only 29 points between leader Scott Dixon and ABC Supply 500 winner Alexander Rossi. Newgarden is 36 points behind Rossi with 464 season points, and Power is in fourth with 449 points. 

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New Racing Series Added to Global Rallycross

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Red Bull GRC announced a new racing series in partnership with Polars RZR to start in 2018. Taking place on the same race days with Supercars and GRC Lites, the USAC-sanctioned category will first and foremost bring more side-by-side racing action to the ever-evolving series, as well as add more opportunity for drivers to get behind the wheel.

“Polaris is the ideal partner for us to work with as we develop this new entry point class for young drivers to enter the sport of rallycross,” said Red Bull GRC CEO Colin Dyne. “They are a high performance, dynamic brand that will bring more racing excitement to our fans, and will further expand our unique presence in the world of racing.”

The past several years have seen many regional rallies add off-road vehicles to the competitive mix, bringing more participants as well as spectators. Their popularity is growing wildly, and it will be interesting to see how Global Rallycross integrates the new series under the GRC umbrella with the current performance-enhanced road cars. As of yet, the actual vehicle hasn’t been released – we have to wait until January to see. Perhaps all will be revealed at North American International Auto Show in Detroit?

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New England Forest Rally 2017

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The New England Forest Rally (NEFR) is the fifth of six rallies on the American Rally Association (ARA) in the organization’s first year. As in previous years, the stages are run over two days on forest roads from Bethel, Maine and Errol, New Hampshire. Started in 1991, previous winners include Patrick Richard/Nathalie Richard, Travis Pastrana/Christian Edstrom, Antoine L’Estage/Nathalie Richard, Ken Block/Alex Gelsomino, and David Higgins/Craig Drew.

With a list of 45 entries, the first two stages of the rally kicked off at Concord Pond after Parc Expose at Sunday River Resort, and the race of attrition began. After service and Stage 3, Stage 4 was cancelled; first there was a bit of miscommunication about an injury to Robbie Durant, Travis Pastrana’s co-driver, but after it was resolved communication was lost and the stage was cancelled. Durant suffered an impacted spine and couldn’t continue after Stage 4, then Pastrana put in a formal request to switch co-drivers. Rule books were consulted, and the race steward approved Pastrana continuing the rally on Saturday with a new co-driver. An available, licensed co-driver was found in Greg Dorman, also SRT USA’s Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator. An unusual situation to say the least, but ultimately within the rules.

Saturday started off dramatically when car 111 – Luis Teixeira and Kadence Verge – had an off requiring medical attention and Stage 5 was cancelled. Laughlin O’Sullivan and Scott Putnam had an off on Stage 8 – Sturtevant Long and had to leave the stage with the car on the back of a tow. By the end of Stage 12, both Pastrana and Higgins had damaged right rear suspension, but both were repaired enough in service to continue to the final stage on North Road.

Pastrana won overall with Dorman, Higgins and Drew in second, and Jeff Seehorn and Karen Jankowski in third in only their second time competing at NEFR. Pastrana, ever the sportsman and good-guy, jumped off the podium after the champagne spray and gave his trophy to a young girl in front. Completely speechless, he told the girl to come back next year and he would autograph the trophy for her.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey drove an all new Ford Focus RS rally car to first place in Production 4WD, and frequent regional competitors Alvin Fong and William Machin had their first ARA national podium in second in the 2006 Mitsubshi Evo 9.  Sumit Panjabi and Matt James rounded out the podium in 3rd.

Clinching the Open 2WD Championship was Ryan Millen and co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino in the Toyota RAV4.

There was a noticeable increase in spectators since 2015, boding well for rally in North America. NEFR efforts have paid off and the VIP bus has gone from a bus ride on a school bus to a spectator areas on a couple of stages to a VIP experience offering food and drink in addition to the transportation.

ARA has one more rally in its 2017 – Ojibwe Forests Rally August 25-26. While there were some growing pains with the controversy over Pastrana’s co-driver switch and questions over Higgins’ car being underweight at the end of NEFR, the non-profit organization is addressing the issues for future rallies.

…and still no mooses.

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The First Ever New York City ePrix

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The Chairman of the Board sings that if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. Formula e certainly has made it by doing something no other racing series has, and that is successfully hold a closed-course street race within New York City. And Gotham certainly rolled out the figurative red carpet for the Qualcomm New York City ePrix – a ribbon cutting to open the track, Sir Richard Branson [Virgin Racing] turning on the lights to the Empire State Building, and Alejandro Agag – Founder and CEO – ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange with first season champion Nelson Piquet Jr. Yet to really make an impression on jaded New Yorkers, the weekend of racing would be a double-header – rounds 9 and 10 on the Formula e calendar.

Formula e in New York City 2017

In a conference call with the media before race weekend, Agag and team owner Michael Andretti talked about how the race finally came together for New York City. The series pointedly holds races in cities to promote electric cars and sustainable technology, and the logistics of finding a site in NYC proved itself to be difficult between subways, traffic, accessibility, and power supply. Agag explained, “We go to places where cars are really a problem”. Location after location was looked at, including Liberty State Park across the river in New Jersey, “But we wanted it in New York City, not New Jersey,” said Agag. When the daughter of a New York City official was impressed after coincidentally attending a race in Paris, they suddenly had an enthusiastic ally in city government to ultimately find the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal site. Located in Red Hook with an incredible view of the Statue of Liberty and downtown Manhattan, the temporary track was set up on on the terminal roads with the terminal itself being used for the exclusive VIP club as well as the media center.

Formula e in New York City 2017

Agag is not shy about Formula e’s agenda. Formula e is like every other series in that the impetus to be in motorsport is still race on Sunday, sell on Monday. “We wanted to on the ground floor of new technology,” said Michael Andretti of his team’s involvement, “You’ll see the tech on the road in 10 years. Competition pushes everyone to push the tech further, faster.”  Sustainability is just as important as the tech; the race cars are zero emission vehicles, and the Michelin tires specially engineered for Formula e cars are recycled after the race. (Sorry, trophy hunters, no autographed tires for you.) The e-Village next to the race has a dj with booths touting solar panels, electric cars, and autonomous car tech. Incorporating digital technology in innovative ways helps to draw tech-savvy viewers from outside of the usual motorsport crowd –  new for season three is  “Fan Boost”, a way for fans to vote for their favorite driver through a phone app. On race day, the three drivers with the most votes can use the extra surge of power strategically during the race – blurring the lines a bit between gaming and live racing.

Formula e in New York City 2017

Many people comment that the races must be boring because the cars are so quiet – and hearing roaring engines is one of the cool things about racing, right? Well sure, but the cars are louder than you may think. Granted, there is no constant roar; you hear the TIE fighter like whoosh about twenty seconds before the car appears. The upside is that the tire squealing is much more apparent, and every tight turn sounds like it must be a crash because every bump is heard – but it’s just the usual racing and rubbing. Yet Formula e is still dogged by the perception that it is not “real racing,” especially because in its current format, driver switch cars halfway through. Seeing it in person dispels that myth – the races are pretty cool to watch, with cars reaching speeds of 140 mph and as much bumping as any other series. One security guard started laughing during the practice session, saying, “This is crazy!” Translated from New Yorker, it means “This is really cool.” Spotted  over the weekend was Leonoardo DiCaprio, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, and even Magnus Walker checking out the races.

So – to the races! Fortunately, the sun came out after a rain-soaked practice Friday. The circuit was very similar to the narrow Hong Kong circuit with tight chicanes. The current leader, Sebastiaen Buemi, was unfortunately racing in WEC 6 Hours of Nurburgring the same weekend as the NYC ePrix. Taking his place on the Renault e.dams team was Pierre Gasly. Its’ Mahindra Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist’s first season with Formula e, and he was one to watch as placed third in his second race. Alex Lynn, standing in for Jose Maria Lopez on the DS Virgin Racing team, grabbed pole position in his first race in the series. Ultimately, Techeetah drivers Stephane Sarrazin and Jean-Eric Vergne placed 3rd and 2nd, respectively, and DS Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird took the win.

Formula e in New York City 2017

Round 10 on Sunday was a sweltering hot day. Sam Bird took P1. Yellow flags came out several times as cars kept hitting the wall at Turn 5. Mahindra racing claimed two positions on the podium – Nick Heidfeld and Felix Rosenqvist, and once again, Sam Bird was in the number one spot on the podium for DS Virgin Racing.

Formula e in New York City 2017

The future of the series looks brighter than a recyclable fluorescent bulb – with Volvo’s recent announcement that they will soon only manufacture electric cars exclusively, it will be interesting to see what manufacturers will join Jaguar, Renault, Mahindra, BMW…

The final two races of the season will be in Montreal, Canada – another double header July 29 and 30, 2007.

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9 questions to answer before buying your first track car

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More than half of the twenty-some thousand track cars in the United States are powered by Mazda engines. Is a Mazda the right car for you? These questions will help determine the best track day car for you.

Once upon a time, starting out in motorsport was difficult. At the entry level, you could take part in an autocross, a low speed event in a parking lot. Good fun, but not fast enough for many adrenaline junkies. To get onto an actual race track involved going to school, getting a racing license, buying or renting a race car and then actually going racing. Lapping days as we know them today did not really exist.

Part of that was because the cars really weren’t very safe and neither were the race tracks. Today’s cars are safer, more reliable and definitely perform to a much higher level. Likewise, most tracks in North America have evolved so that they are more friendly (as in safer) for lapping day type events.

My cousin John, a one time Supercross racer who was known for his crash-tacular style, recently made a return to motocross action after three decades away. Today’s bikes jump higher, farther and faster than they did back in the day and when Cousin John hit the dirt this time, his body was quick to point out that he is no longer a spring chicken. The speed bug has bitten again however, and John is determined to feed it, but has decided to come over to the dark side and do it on four wheels, with a roll cage. The inevitable question has arisen: “What kind of car should I start with?”

Over on the Grassroots Motorsports forums, the answer to every question is “Miata”. While I don’t disagree at all, I myself don’t fit in most Miata race cars and I suspect that my cousin (we haven’t been face to face in years) wouldn’t be at home in one either. Rather than start throwing out potential ideas, I have put together a series of questions for him so we can narrow down the field a bit.

  1. Roughly what sort of budget parameters are we looking at? The conversation has to start here. There is no point in looking at ex-Chumpcar entries if you are willing to spend six figures on your first car. Let’s start with some basic idea of how much we are going to spend.
  2. Are you planning to drive the car on the street or will it be track only? If you have the space to store a dedicated track car, a tow vehicle and are willing to buy and store a trailer, then your options open up greatly.
  3. What is your own physical shape? If you are a round guy like me, or a very tall guy, you should plan accordingly. There are lots of great track day options out there that I simply do not fit in, because I am too fat. No NASCAR style road course cars in my future. Likewise, as much as I love the Ariel Atom, it just isn’t comfortable for more than a dozen or so laps.
  4. How fast do you think you want to go? For some people, fast isn’t really that fast. For someone like my cousin, who has experience with speed, fast is likely going to mean FAST.
  5. What type of track is your “home” track? Is it tight and twisty or is it a high speed monster? Having a track day car that suits the place you are starting out will flatten out your learning curve a bit.
  6. What do participants at your local track drive at lapping days? Sure, it is fun to stand out from the crowd, but if everyone drives Mustangs and you show up with a Camaro, you will notice the difference. That is not to say that you won’t be welcomed with open arms, but you might not meet anyone who knows your specific car well enough to answer any questions you have along the way. You might also become the target of some friendly ribbing every now and then.
  7.  Do you have any aspirations or expectations that you might move on from lapping into competition? If you have unlimited budget, then this may not be so much of an issue, but if you are scraping together your shekels to buy a track ready car, you might want to find out if there is a class that it fits into at your local venue. This will make the transition that much easier.
  8. Do you enjoy wrenching on your own car or would you prefer to just show up and drive? For some people, there is just as much fun in building and maintaining a car as there is in driving it. That is cool, but others have no interest in that aspect and would rather just strap in and go. Those guys might be more inclined to drive a newer, production based car that is turn key, or have a local shop look after the car and bring it to the track for you. That is another budget consideration.
  9. What kind of cars do you actually like? While Miata may be the answer to just about every question, the roadster platform might not fit the bill if you are addicted to the angry rumble of a big, hairy muscle car. Yes, I know that you can shoehorn an LS into a Miata, but that might not be an optimal choice for a first time track toy.

 

Answer these questions as honestly as you can and list them in the comments below, so we can begin the decision process!

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Racecars at New York International Auto Show

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New York International Auto Show has once again rolled into town with automakers bringing their shiniest, most innovative cars to to dramatically pull cover from and show off. Scattered amongst the concept, halo, and current production vehicles are the unattainable to many of us – the race cars.

The Saratoga Automobile Museum has a display of some classic and curious cars, and brought a few classic race cars from their collection. Included in their display are a Midget Racer from the 50’s, a 1909 Alco-6 Racer, 1950 Allard, and the 2009 Miller Lite Dodge driven by Kurt Busch.

Fresh from winning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship BUBBA Burger SportsCar Grand Prix at Long Beach, the Cadillac V-Performance racing team Konica Minolta DPi-V.R drew admiration on the show floor, still with grit from the race on the wheels.

The Ford GT was the NYIAS poster car, and is front and center in the Ford booth on a rotating palette.

Formula e will race in Brooklyn this summer and there are two Formula e cars at the show. Jaguar now has an electric vehicle in the series, and Formula e also has a booth with champion Nelson Piquet’s car. Not to be outdone, BMW recently announced entry into the series with Andretti Formula e in 2018.

Subaru Rally Team USA has two new drivers in Red Bull Global Rallycross this year, having poached the Patrik Sandell from Ford and bringing on Chris Atkinson after he raced a limited schedule in the series last year. Atkinson’s GRC car is shown in the booth.

Alexander Rossi was the first rookie winner of the Indy 500 in 16 years, winning the 100th running of the race in 2016 in this Honda-powered Indycar.

Probably the dirtiest race car on the show floor is, of course, a rally car. This 1990 Audi 80 Quattro, 5 in line 10v 2.3 turbo has been raced in rallies in the US and Canada such as Tall Pines and Snow Drift since the 90’s, and is currently being restored to rally shape.

There are a lot of racing as well as classic gems on the show floor – here’s a full gallery of some of my favorites.

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Red Bull GRC Silly Season News

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Red Bull Global Rallycross’s Silly Season hasn’t been as tumultuous as previous years, but there still have been some interesting announcements since Patrik Sandell was snapped up to join Chris Atkinson for a new Subaru Rally Team USA lineup:

  • 2016 Season champion Scott Speed has a new sponsor for 2017, teaming up with Oberto and Circle K.
  • Loenbro has launched a multi-car team for 2017, with seasoned competitor Steve Arpin and another driver to be announced.

Steve Arpin

The GRC Lites program, conceived to be a feeder series and give young drivers rallycross experience, has been successful in doing just that. Cabot Bigham, the 2016 GRC Lites season champion, will try to fill Sandell’s racing shoes piloting the Ford Fiesta ST for Bryan Herta Rallysport. Looking at the field of 2017 SuperCar drivers, there are a several other familiar faces from GRC Lites – Mitchell DeJong was the 2014 GRC Lites champion and made his SuperCar debut in the 2016 season finale in Los Angeles and Kevin Eriksson is back with OMSE after driving the Honda Civic in SuperCars for the first time in Atlantic City in 2016.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will continue to field a three-car team in GRC Lites; Alex Keyes will stay with them for a third season, while Christian Brooks and Travis Pecoy join him after competing with AF Racing last year.

Keyes

More announcements will be coming soon – and we’re looking forward to more information on the Canadian double-header. That nosey little bird has intoned that the location will be in Ottawa and while unconfirmed, TGB certainly hopes that this is true. Meanwhile, tickets are already on sale for the season opener at Memphis International Raceway in Tennessee April 28-29. Say hi to Elvis for me if you go.

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GRC Makes a Bet on Atlantic City

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“…It’s going to be slamming banging, you’re gonna see the most exciting racing you’ve ever seen in your life. And if you’ve got ADD, it is the sport for you. It’s action-packed every turn, I have a hard time, like, taking it all in…” —Bucky Lasek

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With that, Red Bull Global Rallycross arrived in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the first time with a Friday evening parade of race cars on the famed Boardwalk. After the cars drove past Bally’s and Caesar’s, they lined up for a GRC-style Parc Expose in Kennedy Plaza for a public press conference and autograph signing.

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While Ford is still the dominant automaker in Supercars with five Fiestas driven by Steve Arpin, Brian Deegan, Austin Dyne, Nelson Piquet Jr., and Patrik Sandell, both Honda and Subaru upped the ante in the gambling town by adding a third car. Honda brought in Kevin Eriksson for their third OMSE Civic alongside Sebastian Eriksson and Joni Wiman; Kevin has competed in GRC Lites and currently competes in the FIA World Rallycross series in a Ford Fiesta. Subaru invited Australian rally driver Chris Atkinson to try his hand at rallycross in the #55 WRX STI with GRC regulars Bucky Lasek and Sverre Isachsen. Tanner Foust and Scott Speed rounded out the field in VW Beetles.

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Being an itinerant series, the practice day always comes with its share of challenges – for example the wooden plank jump that caused delays in Detroit in 2015. In Atlantic City the course was on the tarmac of Bader Field, an aging municipal airport named after a Prohibition-Era mayor, and the racing cars created some potholes large enough to create flying chunks of the cement, warranting the postponement of a few heats to the following day. The stands were unusually packed for a practice day, being a Saturday, so GRC kept fans happy by adding a few rounds of door-to-door racing by the “Fastest Six.”

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The Atlantic City course was also the longest course this year, measuring 1.102 miles. So long, in fact, that the usual Supercar final had to be cut down to eight laps from the usual ten, and the GRC Lites final down to six laps so the cars wouldn’t run out of gas. After Saturday’s qualifying, Scott Speed came out in front with pole position.

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Sunday was bright and sunny for the finals, without the stiff breezes that blew the dirt around on Saturday. In the semi-final, Foust and Piquet Jr. tangled a bit, calling for a restart – moving the schedule around a bit. In order to maintain the live broadcast of the Supercar finals, the Lites finals ended up taking place after Supercars. The Supercars final did not disappoint, with teammates Foust and Speed jockeying for first, Speed ultimately staying in front for the win. On the last lap, Sandell took the Joker lap to take second, and Deegan sped past Arpin and a limping Foust for the third spot on the podium. Foust had a tire puncture for the last two laps, while Subaru teammates Bucky Lasek and Chris Atkinson suffered complete blow-outs.

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In an earlier heat, Sandra Hultgren ended up rolling over after the first turn. She quickly got back onto the track in following heats. Alex Keyes won his first race on his last race of the season, with Oliver Eriksson and Miki Weckstrom in second and third, respectively.

Red Bull GRC goes to Seattle for the next race September 17, 2016.

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Red Bull GRC – DC

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Marking the start of the second half of the Red Bull Global Rallycross season, the series set up camp in Washington D.C. for the third year in a row. The clockwise track was once again constructed in the parking lot of RFK Stadium, embedded with crumbling chicane from the 2002’s ALMS Cadillac Grand Prix. The .899 mile track ran clockwise this year with ten turns, the Joker lap, dirt section, and the signature table jump right before the finish line. Not only is Washington DC a veritable swamp in the summer time, but DC was in the middle of the heat wave with thunderstorms threatening for race day.

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Supercars speculation was high going into DC:. Nelson Piquet Jr., last year’s winner, was re-joining the SH Rallycross/DRR after finishing his second Formula E season. Patrik Sandell won in 2014 and was looking for the top spot on the podium, with two podiums already in 2016. Tanner Foust arrived in DC the stiffest competition with three wins under his belt and a podium in Dallas from the first half of the season. Scott Speed, with one win and three total podiums in 2016, also arrived fresh off a win at MCAS New River; but then Steve Arpin was raring to go in his second year with Chip Ganassi Racing (and his first win in GRC this year), and his teammate Brian Deegan having taken three podiums in 2016. OMSE Honda driver Sebastian Eriksson had three podiums in the first half of the season as well, and to put a bit more gas on the fire, Subaru Rally Team USA was arriving fresh for their first race of the year.

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A Thursday evening thunderstorm did nothing to quell the humidity. While it left puddles all over the track and the paddocks, the dirt hazard and jump managed to be dry enough to form great plumes of dust during afternoon practice and evening heats, with Foust and Speed won Friday’s heats.

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Friday’s most urgent race was between GRC semifinals and fast-approaching rain clouds – and the rain won. After the heats and semi-finals, the rain started. After about a half hour of downpours, the weather finally moved on – and the formerly dusty track was now covered in mud and puddles for the LCQ and main event. In other words – real rally conditions!

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Scott Speed won pole position for the final, and the LCQ was indeed a mud fest with Steve Arpin winning. Speed and Sandell stayed in front for the whole final, while Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan fought for third place. Foust pulled of a pass in the final lap for third place.

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Rookie GRC Lites driver Cabot Bigham took his first win (after two podiums in the season’s first half), with Oliver Ericsson taking the other two podium spots. After competing in her first Red Bull Global Rallycross Lites race last year in Las Vegas, Sandra Hultgren (Olsbergs MSE X Forces) returned for her first 2016 race, finishing eighth.

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Check Red Bull TV for replays of the DC event, or to watch the upcoming race in New Jersey August 28.

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Castrol EDGE Titanium Trials are back – with Supercars

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el81ZKm0Og59yW4tdUbWD7Vw2zTbu9vJ_Clone_Rival_Darren_Turner_2Last year, I got to experience Castrol® EDGE® Virtual Drift with Matt Powers using the Oculus Rift headset. in 2016, the Titanium Trials are back with two new videos to launch Castrol® EDGE® Supercar Oil, pushing the limits of cars, virtual reality tech, and, of course, Castrol EDGE.

If you’re lucky enough to have ever seen the Koenisgsegg One:1 or the Aston Martin Vulcan in person, you know that they are breathtaking vehicles. On the track they are phenomenal supercars; this time, they teamed up with REWIND for a different sort of virtual reality – to have drivers Christoffer Nygaard and Darren Turner race against themselves in the supercars on a virtual version of the Ascari race track in Spain. Nygaard, a test driver for Koenigsegg and Turner, a two-time Le Mans winner, were recorded in virtual sessions on the simulator. The data was then combined to create their top virtual lap, ultimately racing their Clone Rivals on the real 5.435km track.

Aston Martin Vulcan:

Koenigsegg One:1:

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