Heikkinen started the event-closer from pole position after going fastest in the semi-final stage in his Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar. Unfortunately a power issue meant he had to settle for fourth behind World RX of Great Britain winner Andreas Bakkerud, who holds a five-point advantage over Heikkinen in the fight for the drivers’ crown heading to the third round in Norway next month.
Foust, second after the first day of competition in his first World RX appearance for Marklund Motorsport supported by Volkswagen, was a late addition to the final grid when Reinis Nitiss was forced to withdraw due to a technical issue shortly before the start. The American TV presenter took fifth after losing vital ground following a collision with round-one pacesetter Petter Solberg.
Anton Marklund, who qualified for his first Supercar final at the previous round in Portugal, fought back from a car fire on Saturday morning to reach the second semi-final where he just missed out on a final slot after contact with Davy Jeanney left his car with a damaged front-left wheel.
”For the second race running there were two Volkswagen Polo RX Supercars in the final, which is proof of how competitive we are so early in the season,” said Marklund Motorsport team principal Jan Marklund. ”Unfortunately we had some bad luck this weekend and there were many incidents that affected our results. For that reason I’m disappointed but we are still in a good position in the drivers’ and teams’ standings. We’ll be working even harder for the next race when I am confident we can achieve even better results.”
Heikkinen climbs high
Toomas Heikkinen maintained his bid to win the inaugural World Rallycross Championship title with another strong haul of points at Lydden Hill. Third overnight, the 23-year-old Finn was fastest in his third heat only for a puncture on the penultimate lap of his fourth heat to leave him 26th. Nevertheless he was third after the heats and won his semi by waiting until the final lap to take his ’joker’ lap. ”I had a good start in my semi and my pace was good all the way,” said Heikkinen. ”Petter Solberg and Andreas Bakkerud made their joker lap in the beginning but I waited until my last lap and kept ahead of them. My start in the final wasn’t perfect and I got stuck behind Robin Larsson’s Audi. Then my engine started to lose power for some reason and I finished fourth. It’s obviously not the result I wanted after being fastest in the semi-final. But we are in a good position in the championship and ready for the next round.”
No final reward for flying Foust
After winning at Lydden Hill 12 months ago, Tanner Foust had high expectations and he duly delivered with two heat wins on Saturday. Following a mix-up in his third heat he didn’t take his joker lap and received a 30-second penalty, leaving him seventh after the heats. After being eliminated at the semi-final stage, Foust thought he would go no further until he was handed a late call-up to start the final when Reinis Nitiss was declared a non-runner due to a problem with his Ford Fiesta. The American took his ’joker’ lap on the opening lap of the final but contact with Petter Solberg left him fifth at the finish, with the Norwegian coming home one place behind. ”I stalled at the start of my semi and there was no boost pressure in the turbo,” said Foust. ”But I continued to push although when I finished fourth I thought that was it for me, which was the wrong assumption. However, there wasn’t the time to refuel the car for the final and in the end we ran out of fuel and Topi passed me at the final corner. But fourth and fifth for Volkswagen is still a good result.”
Anton Marklund fights back to the semi-finals
Anton Marklund’s hopes of a second consecutive World RX final appearance suffered a setback when his Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar caught fire in free practice on Saturday morning. Although he was back in action for the heats, a crankshaft sensor failure held him back in the second heat. ”The guys did a fantastic job and managed to get the car on track for the first heat,” said the 21-year-old from Sweden. ”We did some small mistakes but still did the sixth time, which was something good to build on. Unfortunately, a wire had been melted by the fire and that caused the crankshaft sensor to fail at the start of the second heat and I only had 5000rpm, which is about half the revs I should have been using. I drove as quickly as I could but it was too slow and there was nothing I could do.” Despite his early woes, Marklund qualified for the semi-finals but missed out on a place in the final by one position. ”I got wheelspin at the start and Jeanney gave me a push to the left-front wheel. The car wasn’t good after that but I pushed as hard as I could. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough and I ended up fourth in my semi-final and was the first to drop out.”
Austin next up for Marklund Motorsport
Marklund Motorsport supported by Volkswagen will head to the United States of America for its next rallycross fix when it tackles the X Games event at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas from June 5-8. Topi Heikkinen and Anton Marklund will drive a pair of Volkswagen Polo RX Supercars in the X Games. Heikkinen is the reigning Global RallyCross champion and X Games gold medallist.
Provisional World RX drivers’ standings (after round two of 12): 1 Andreas Bakkerud (49 points); 2 Petter Solberg (46); 3 Toomas Heikkinen (44); 4 Reinis Nitiss (43); 5 Anton Marklund (26); 6 Robin Larsson (25).
Provisional World RX teams’ standings (after round two of 12): 1 Ford OlsbergsMSE (92 points); 2 Marklund Motorsport supported by Volkswagen (70); 3 PS 110% (55); 4 Team Peugeot-Hansen (33).
Next World RX event: World RX of Norway, Hell, June 14/15.
