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| Olsbergs MSE driver
Sebastian Eriksson wins Red Bull GRC Round 3 in Daytona. (Ken Block finished second and Steve Arpin was second). The result followed a third-place result a day earlier at Round 2. (PHOTO: Olsbergs MSE) |
DAYTONA, Fla. (June 21, 2015) -
Sebastian Eriksson led the Olsbergs MSE team to a double podium this weekend at
the Red Bull Global Rallycross doubleheader in Daytona.
Rookie Eriksson drove his Red
Bull/Bluebeam Ford Fiesta ST to his first Supercars win on Sunday, following up
Saturday's third-place finish.
"Now I've shown them what I
can do and maybe that means the other drivers will be looking at me in the
first corner," said Eriksson, who now has a slim lead in the points
standings over veteran Ken Block, after three rounds in the championship.
"But I'm going to focus on taking this season race by race."
Defending champion Joni Wiman
finished fourth on Saturday, behind teammate Eriksson -- despite taking a hit
in a chaotic first Final of the weekend that cost him an early
lead. "After all that contact, the car was really hard to drive so it
became more about survival to just bring the car home in a good place," he
said.
On Sunday, Wiman showed his speed
early on, qualifying third and pacing teammate Eriksson through the Semifinal
to advance directly to the front row of the Final. But while charging through
the pack on the seventh lap, contact with another car sent him into the
trackside barriers, ending his charge three laps short of the checkered flag.
"I'm disappointed. Today, I
definitely had more," said Wiman. "But the weekend as a whole was a
strong team performance. We're the drivers to beat out there and I'll be ready
to challenge Sebastian in the next one."
The rallycross course at Daytona
International Speedway is one of the longest in the series, measuring nearly a
mile in length, with 30 percent dirt and a big tabletop jump feature. The risk
of attrition was high, with cars and drivers strained to the limit in the
sweltering Florida summer heat. Full coverage of this weekend's Red Bull
Global Rallycross doubleheader aired live on NBC Sunday.
It was a successful weekend for
Olsbergs MSE'S Lites team as well, with Oliver Eriksson earning his first win
in the series on Saturday and teammate Austin Cindric winning the second
round of the doubleheader. "I feel pretty good," said Cindric,
who also won the opening round in the championship last month. "Every race
we've been to, we've been the car to beat and I'm confident we're going to stay
that way."
Oliver Eriksson said his first
series victory felt like a huge weight had lifted off his shoulders. "I
set a goal to get a win in a race this season, and to have it happen was
amazing. Now I have a goal to get as many firsts as I can."
Full coverage of the Red Bull
Global Rallycross Lites championship airs Friday, June 26 at 2 p.m. (Eastern
Time) on NBC Sports Network.
The Red Bull Global Rallycross team
returns to its new home in Mooresville, N.C., to prepare for competition on the
July 4th weekend at Marine Corps Air Station New River in Jacksonville, N.C. It
will be another busy weekend of intercontinental racing for the team, with its
World RX squad also on course: Andreas Bakkerud, Reinis Nitiss and Timur
Timerzyanov will be competing in Holjes at World RX of Sweden -- OMSE's
home event.
