Red Bull GRC Media Alert // Race Recaps: Los Angeles presented by Honda

Red Bull GRC Race Recap: Los Angeles presented by Honda

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IN BRIEF: Scott Speed took Saturday’s final and eventually the championship at this weekend’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles presented by Honda, the final event and doubleheader of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season. Meanwhile, Brian Deegan took his first victory of the season in Sunday’s main event.

WATCH THE ACTION: Sunday, October 16, 7:30PM ET, NBCSN

SATURDAY RECAP: After winning the pole on Friday afternoon, Speed’s dominant streak at the Port of Los Angeles continued as he swept his heats and the main event on Saturday. But as straightforward as it sounds, his Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross teammate Tanner Foust made the battle anything but easy, limiting the gains that Speed could make in the championship.

The two Beetles lined up side by side on the start, with Speed taking the Honda Joker Lap at the earliest opportunity, but Foust settled into second without needing to use it. Foust chased his teammate throughout the 12-car, 12-lap final, looking to make up the advantage as much as possible, but saved the Joker until the final lap and was unable to quite get to Speed’s bumper. Behind them, a wild three-way battle between Deegan, Steve Arpin, and David Higgins early in the race ended with Arpin settling into third.

SUNDAY RECAP: Foust and Speed, the only remaining championship-eligible drivers on Sunday, entered the day separated by six points. Foust beat Speed head to head in the first round to extend it to seven, but after Speed won his semifinal, Foust failed to advance to the main event from his after a rough driving penalty—cutting the lead to four and ensuring that the higher-finishing Beetle would be the champion outright.

At the start of the final, Patrik Sandell got an incredible jump to get ahead of Speed, while LCQ winner Foust fought all the way up to third to keep the title battle down to the wire. Foust couldn’t find a way around Speed despite putting on extensive pressure, while Speed finally got past Sandell for the lead in Turn 3 with two laps to go. But just as he made that pass, Deegan ducked into the Honda Joker Lap from fourth and picked off all three drivers in front of him.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: The results from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles (I) presented by Honda, the 11th round of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season:

1. Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycrosss Beetle

2. Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle

3. Steve Arpin, #00 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST

4. Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST

5. Patrik Sandell, #18 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta

The results from Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles (II) presented by Honda, the 12th round of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season:

1. Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST

2. Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle

3. Patrik Sandell, #18 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST

4. Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle

5. Joni Wiman, #31 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe

QUOTES: A selection of quotes from Saturday and Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles presented by Honda, the 11th and 12th rounds of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season:

Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST: “Last year, we came here and were pretty quick, so I was really looking forward to this race. We needed to make it happen the last race, because the team has done such a good job all year. We just kept missing a little bit, and we felt like we had a win a few times, and it was eating at me. We really just had to get it done!”

Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle: “I love this track—it’s been so good to me over the years. I am super happy to be back here in California, the weather has been great as always here. Big shout out to all the fans and thanks for coming out—you guys make it what it is, so thank you. Obviously Volkswagen Andretti is the dream team, and I’m super lucky to be here. Big shout out to Tanner, what an awesome year for both of us. The championship could have gone either way.”

Patrik Sandell, #18 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST: “It’s been a really good year for me, and Bryan Herta Rallysport has done a fantastic job. If you really want to fight for the podium, you need to score good points at each and every round. We had two bad weekends this year, and it really shows that the series is so strong that with only two bad races we weren’t in the fight for the top spot. You have to be so consistent to fight for the top!”

FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles presented by Honda, the 11th and 12th rounds of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season:

· Scott Speed won his 11th career Red Bull GRC main event on Saturday and took his second career Supercar championship on Sunday with a runner-up finish. Speed has four victories and five podiums in six starts at the Port of Los Angeles.

· Brian Deegan took his second career Red Bull GRC victory on Sunday, his first of 2016 and first since joining Chip Ganassi Racing last year. Deegan’s last victory came in Los Angeles in July 2011.

· Tanner Foust earned his seventh podium of the 2016 season by placing second on Saturday. Foust’s 25-heat winning streak was snapped in the first round of Saturday heats, but he added two more heat wins over the weekend for a record-setting season total of 27.

· Steve Arpin took his fourth podium of the year by placing third on Saturday and added his fourth heat victory of the season in the first round of Sunday heats.

· Patrik Sandell’s third place finish on Sunday was his fifth of the season and the second of his career at the Port of Los Angeles.

· GRC Lites graduates Tanner Whitten and Mitchell DeJong each competed in their first Red Bull GRC main events on Saturday, and both drivers returned to the main event on Sunday. Whitten had the best result of either driver, running sixth in Sunday’s final.

UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS:

1. Scott Speed, 571

2. Tanner Foust, 565

3. Brian Deegan, 473

4. Steve Arpin, 461

5. Patrik Sandell, 436

6. Joni Wiman, 342

7. Sebastian Eriksson, 341

8. Austin Dyne, 198

9. Jeff Ward, 134

10. Rhys Millen, 96

11. Chris Atkinson, 88

12. Nelson Piquet Jr., 63

13. David Higgins, 57

14. Tanner Whitten, 37

15. Bucky Lasek, 34

16. Mitchell DeJong, 24

17. Sverre Isachsen, 19

18. Kevin Eriksson, 4

19. Toshi Arai, 4

20. Sebastian Saavedra, 3

UNOFFICIAL MANUFACTURER POINTS:

1. Volkswagen, 51

2. Ford, 44

3. Honda, 36

4. Subaru, 13

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GRC Lites Race Recap: Los Angeles presented by Honda

IN BRIEF: It was a Dreyer & Reinbold Racing sweep in Los Angeles this weekend, as Alex Keyes and Cabot Bigham split the pair of GRC Lites rounds on offer at Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles presented by Honda. Bigham’s Sunday victory allowed him to clinch the championship by five points over defending Lites champion Oliver Eriksson.

WATCH THE ACTION: Thursday, October 13, 5PM ET, NBCSN

SATURDAY RECAP: When Tanner Whitten was promoted to a Supercar with SH Rallycross/DRR for the weekend, DRR tapped Atlantic City winner Keyes to fill in for the final two rounds of the year. He didn’t disappoint, taking the pole and both heat wins on offer to head into the final round on the inside line.

Keyes would extend the gap early on in the final as chaos ensued behind him, with Eriksson falling to the back of the pack and Blake “Bilko” Williams pulling off track early with damage. Miki Weckstrom would fight to try and catch Keyes, but was unable to close the gap; meanwhile, Colin Braun crossed the line third, but an aggressive driving penalty disqualified him from the main event and promoted Bigham to third place.

SUNDAY RECAP: Eriksson (403 points), Weckstrom (402), and Bigham (396) entered Sunday’s action as the only three remaining drivers eligible for the championship, almost guaranteeing the top finisher among the three as this year’s title winner. Once again Keyes paced the field in his heats, while Olsbergs MSE X Forces teammates Eriksson and Weckstrom asserted an advantage by making it through their second-round heats in transfer spots. Bigham, meanwhile, was the last driver to transfer through the last chance qualifier.

But everything changed on lap one, when contact from behind forced Weckstrom to plow into Eriksson in Turn 3 and also collected Travis PeCoy. Bigham slid through the inside line to take second behind Keyes, and inherited the lead when his teammate encountered late-race issues. Eriksson recovered to fourth place, but it wasn’t quite enough; Bigham would win the race, and took the championship by the equivalent of a single finishing position. Had Eriksson placed third, the drivers would have tied at 452 points, and Eriksson would have broken the tie on second-place finishes.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: The results from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles (I) presented by Honda, the 11th round of the 2016 GRC Lites season:

1. Alex Keyes, #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

2. Miki Weckstrom, #45 Olsbergs MSE X Forces

3. Cabot Bigham, #2 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

4. Christian Brooks, #44 AF Racing Team

5. Travis PeCoy, #3 AF Racing Team

The results from Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles (II) presented by Honda, the 12th round of the 2016 GRC Lites season:

1. Cabot Bigham, #2 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

2. Scott Anderson, #56 CORE autosport

3. Colin Braun, #54 CORE autosport

4. Oliver Eriksson, #16 Olsbergs MSE X Forces

5. Alejandro Fernandez, #126 AF Racing Team

QUOTES: A selection of quotes from Saturday and Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles presented by Honda, the 11th and 12th rounds of the 2016 GRC Lites season:

Cabot Bigham, #2 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: “I just can’t thank Dreyer & Reinbold enough for being able to chase our problems and never give up, and having my team always looking out for what’s best for the car and for me. Having all my friends and family here to support me, I just can’t believe this. There’s so much variation in the talent and where drivers come from—Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, trophy karts, we’re just all over the place with our experience. As a result you have all kinds of driving styles and you just learn to adapt. That’s really what Red Bull GRC is all about: adapting. Whether you’re in first or last, you just have to keep adapting.”

Scott Anderson, #56 CORE autosport: “I’ve pretty much only raced open-wheel, and this is honestly completely different, but I think anything helps. This is awesome racing—I’m loving it. It’s super hectic, especially in that final, but we just put the car in the right places and avoided the carnage, and it worked out.”

Colin Braun, #54 CORE autosport: “This is definitely a different type of racing than I’m used to. We had a tough day on both days leading up to the final, finding ourselves in the LCQ, but the CORE autosport guys battled back to finish third, and we’re pretty happy with that. I’ve certainly had a blast racing these guys this year, and I think we’re looking to come back, so we’re looking forward to coming back next year.”

FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles presented by Honda, the 11th and 12th rounds of the 2016 GRC Lites season:

· Cabot Bigham clinched the first championship of his GRC Lites career as a rookie with a pair of podium finishes in Los Angeles. Bigham, a California native, placed third on Saturday and won his second race of the season on Sunday.

· Alex Keyes won his second main event of 2016, and the fifth of his career, on Saturday. Keyes added four heat victories over the weekend for a total of nine on the season.

· Miki Weckstrom placed second on Saturday for his class-leading seventh Lites podium of the 2016 season.

· Scott Anderson earned the first podium of his Lites career on Sunday, placing second for CORE autosport. It was the team’s best-ever finish since joining the series earlier this year, and came in Anderson’s third career start.

· Colin Braun took his third podium of 2016 by placing third on Sunday. Behind Anderson, Braun completed CORE autosport’s first-ever double podium in Red Bull GRC competition.

· 12 of the 13 drivers entered in this weekend’s competition made it to at least one main event.

UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS:

1. Cabot Bigham, 452

2. Oliver Eriksson, 447

3. Miki Weckstrom, 419

4. Conner Martell, 359

5. Christian Brooks, 288

6. Alex Keyes, 268

7. Alejandro Fernandez, 256

8. Travis PeCoy, 249

9. Tanner Whitten, 188

10. Colin Braun, 154

11. Collete Davis, 94

12. Parker Chase, 85

13. Harry Gottsacker, 85

14. Blake “Bilko” Williams, 75

15. Trenton Estep, 57

16. Scott Anderson, 55

17. Cole Keatts, 51

18. Jon Bennett, 51

19. Sandra Hultgren, 36

20. Preston Murray, 33

21. James Rimmer, 25

22. Nur Ali, 3

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