RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS RACE RECAP: VOLKSWAGEN RALLYCROSS NY

July 21, 2014 by Global RallyCross Championship

IN BRIEF: Tanner Foust's miserable luck from the onset of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross season appears to be firmly behind him, as his constant speed finally delivered him a victory in Volkswagen Rallycross NY on Sunday. After a penalty to Scott Speed erased a Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross 1-2 finish, Nelson Piquet Jr. stepped up into second place and the points lead, and Ken Block earned his first podium of the year.

HEAT RECAPS: Five drivers earned heat victories in six total heats on Saturday, with Ken Block the only driver to take the victory in both of his points-paying heats. The first semifinal saw Nelson Piquet Jr., Block, and Steve Arpin transfer to the main event, while Tanner Foust, Sverre Isachsen, and a hard-charging Scott Speed earned transfer spots in the second semi. The last chance qualifier saw almost every car hold a transfer spot at some point, with Joni Wiman, Austin Dyne, Patrik Sandell, and Rhys Millen moving on.

MAIN EVENT RECAP: A pair of red flag-causing incidents quickly pared down the Supercars field in New York. The first, which saw Steve Arpin spun and stuck in the turn four hairpin, led to a bunch-up in which Sandell's car suffered significant damage. The second saw contact between Isachsen and Foust drag racing into the first corner, with Isachsen's car suffering too much damage to continue.

The third restart saw the final trimmed to six laps, and with Isachsen off the front row, Foust was able to beat Piquet to the holeshot and hold the lead. Block passed Piquet for second, only to lose the spot when Piquet took his joker lap, while a hard-charging Speed overcame a rough start to pass multiple cars and eventually get by the Brazilian for the runner-up spot and a supposed 1-2 finish for Volkswagen.

After the event, Speed's team was determined to have violated Article 7.7 of the series' supplemental regulations, which state that a team may only complete certain specified repairs during the event of a red flag. Because the infraction took place during the first red flag period, Speed was disqualified from the point of the repair forward, dropping him to ninth in the running order. The resulting point swing saw him go from leading Piquet in points, 184-179, to trailing him, 184-149.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: The results from Sunday's Volkswagen Rallycross NY, the fourth round of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross season:

1.Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Polo

2.Nelson Piquet Jr., #07 SH Racing Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST

3.Ken Block, #43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST

4.Joni Wiman, #31 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST

5.Steve Arpin, #00 Royal Purple Racing/OMSE2 Ford Fiesta

6.Austin Dyne, #14 Barracuda Racing Ford Fiesta

7.Rhys Millen, #67 Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing Veloster Turbo

8.Sverre Isachsen, #11 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI

9.Scott Speed, #77 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Polo

10.Patrik Sandell, #18 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST

11.Bucky Lasek, #81 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI

12.Emma Gilmour, #27 Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing Veloster Turbo

QUOTES: A selection of quotes from Sunday's Volkswagen Rallycross NY, the fourth round of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross season:

Tanner Foust, Driver, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Polo: 'It's been a tough year, and the guys with the most finely tuned road racing skills have been really dominant this year. This is a course that road racing skill really played in, and (Nelson Piquet Jr. and Scott Speed) were quickest all weekend. Luckily I was able to use a little bit of rallycross-ness, and focus on starting, because the track was a little hard to pass on in order to get the job done. Fundamentally, I still have to go to school and get quicker, and I'm getting closer and closer to fine-tune my road racing skills, but GRC has set the stage that its courses and races are going to be very much like what you see here.'

Nelson Piquet Jr., Driver, #07 SH Racing Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST: 'Last year, I wouldn't even call it a learning curve—I was a passenger in a Lites car around these guys. I did a few races, and it's always frustrating when a driver gets to a racetrack and knows he has no chance. It's different when we come with the frame of mind where we have a car that we know has a chance to win a race. This year has been a year for me to get the most out of it, work with the team and really build up the momentum race after race. I'm having a lot of fun, and we have a lot of chances to win races.'

Ken Block, Driver, #43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST: 'The season gets progressively better for me, so I'm stoked to have third. It was a tough day today, we had a bunch of restarts, and unfortunately I had some really good starts that were wiped away by some red flags. But it is what it is—that's rallycross. I had some good battles going in the final, but unfortunately somebody hit my rear suspension and bent it, so I really struggled to get fourth. Then, of course, with the penalty, I ended up with third. I'm pretty happy with that, I need the points! It's been such a bad season so far—I've driven well, qualified fairly well, things just hadn't come together for the final, so I'm stoked.'

Scott Speed, Driver, #77 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Polo: 'There's no question our car has kind of been the car to beat all year. Some tracks favor us more than others—I think this track was the most dominant we've been all year, honestly. We were quite quick everywhere. For us, here, we just had engine problems on three of the four starts, and you can't do that here and win races. But I can't say enough about the team. The Andretti guys have done an amazing job elevating this to the next level, and it shows in the performance of our cars.'

FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from Sunday's Volkswagen Rallycross NY, the fourth round of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross season:

This was Tanner Foust's fifth career Red Bull Global Rallycross victory and 15th career podium finish in 27 career starts. All three statistics are series records; he is tied with Marcus Gronholm and Toomas Heikkinen for most career wins and holds the podium and event appearance records outright. It was his first victory in 12 races, dating back to the 2012 season finale in Las Vegas.

Nelson Piquet Jr.'s second place finish tied his career best Supercars result, set last month at Volkswagen Rallycross DC. He has now earned three consecutive podium finishes and has not yet finished worse than fourth this season. His seven heat victories this season lead the Supercars class.

Ken Block earned the fifth podium finish of his Red Bull GRC career in his 21st career start. It was Block's first podium since winning on the same style of track layout in Las Vegas last November. Block also earned the 17th and 18th heat victories of his Red Bull GRC career on Saturday, putting him second on the all-time list.

Steve Arpin earned his third top five finish of the season on Sunday.

Sverre Isachsen earned his best seeding position of the season by posting the third fastest lap time on Saturday. He also earned his second heat victory of the 2014 season.

Four drivers have made all four main events so far this season: Nelson Piquet Jr., Austin Dyne, Scott Speed, and Patrik Sandell.

UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS:

1.Nelson Piquet Jr., 184 points

2.Scott Speed, 149

3.Steve Arpin, 140

4.Joni Wiman, 124

5.Patrik Sandell, 116

6.Ken Block, 99

7.Tanner Foust, 95

8.Austin Dyne, 94

9.Brian Deegan, 70

10.Rhys Millen, 65