A very close win for Sebastian Eriksson at GRC Louisville

Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE driver Sebastian Eriksson nipped Loenbro Motorsports’ Steve Arpin by .071 seconds to win Sunday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Louisville final at the Kentucky Exposition Center. It was Eriksson’s second career victory and the first for Honda since joining the sport at the beginning of last season.

“It was a great race for us,” said Eriksson. “I was up in the lead for a few laps, but then I fell back to fourth, so it was crazy. But it was so much fun! The team has worked so hard for this over the past year and a half, and finally we’ve been able to win a race. It feels great, but we can’t stop working hard and trying to secure more victories this year.”

Though much of the day saw action take place in dry conditions, the wet weather came just in time for the 10-lap Supercar final. Four drivers—Eriksson, Arpin, and Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross teammates Scott Speed and Tanner Foust—spent much of the final running nose to tail, with the Joker Lap and a slippery dirt surface shuffling the order throughout. Arpin nearly got past Eriksson in the final corner, setting up a drag race to the finish, but wasn’t quite able to make the pass. All told, the top four drivers finished within one second of each other.

In GRC Lites, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver Christian Brooks scored his first career main event win, sweeping all of his race sessions on Sunday. Brooks led Olsbergs MSE X Forces driver Cyril Raymond for much of the final, until Raymond clipped a curb and rolled over; he was unhurt in the incident. Memphis winner Conner Martell took second, while Gustavo Yacaman earned third place in his rallycross debut.

Official Supercar final results from Red Bull Global Rallycross Louisville are as follows:

1. Sebastian Eriksson, #93 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE
2. Steve Arpin, #00 Loenbro Motorsports
3. Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross
4. Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross
5. Mitchell deJong, #24 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE
6. Austin Dyne, #14 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing*
7. Oliver Eriksson, #16 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE
8. Cabot Bigham, #2 Bryan Herta Rallysport

*Car 14 reinstated to sixth place after technical issue with transponder

The 2017 Red Bull Global Rallycross season continues on June 3-4 with the first doubleheader of the season at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.

Quotes

Sebastian Eriksson, #93 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE: “It was a great race for us. I was up in the lead for a few laps, but then I fell back to fourth, so it was crazy. But it was so much fun! The team has worked so hard for this over the past year and a half, and finally we’ve been able to win a race. It feels great, but we can’t stop working hard and trying to secure more victories this year.”

Steve Arpin, #00 Loenbro Motorsports: “I think this whole weekend was full of excitement! First of all, welcome JCB to the family—everything you see here with this racetrack, that was built here in the past couple of days, takes some pretty efficient equipment to do it, and you’ll see JCB equipment all around here. What an incredible weekend—they did an incredible job building this racetrack, and there was a 100% chance of rain today, so thanks everyone for coming out!”

Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross: “If that’s not a race you like, you’re in the wrong sport! It was an amazing day—in the semifinals and the final, there was so much action out there, and so much great driving by everybody. Obviously I wish I had done better, but to still maintain the points lead is important. Shout out to Sebastian for the win, I’m super pumped for those guys and Steve. It was a great race.”