2013 Global RallyCross Championship

Last updated

The 2013 Global RallyCross Championship was the third season of this championship. The season consisted of nine weekends, three in X Games events (including a doubleheader after an event cancellation). Toomas Heikkinen earned his first series championship after a record-setting streak of five consecutive victories.

Contents

Rules changes

A penalty box will be added for this season. In case of a false start, the driver must endure a stop-go penalty in this zone avoiding the need to restart the race. [1] Stop-go penalty can be also given for too aggressive car-to-car contact, such causing a competing driver to spin out by pushing their car. [2]

Teams and drivers

ManufacturerConstructor TeamIndividual TeamNo.DriversRoundsCars
Chevrolet Flag of the United States.svg PMR MotorsportsPMR Motorsports59 Flag of the United States.svg Pat Moro8–9 Chevrolet Sonic
Citroën Flag of the United Kingdom.svg LD MotorsportLD Motorsport33 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Liam Doran 1 Citroën DS3
Dodge Flag of the United States.svg Pastrana RacingPastrana Racing99 Flag of the United States.svg Bryce Menzies1–6, 8–9 Dodge Dart
Flag of Norway.svg Henning Solberg 7
199 Flag of the United States.svg Travis Pastrana 1, 4, 6, 8–9
Flag of Russia.svg Timur Timerzyanov 2–3, 5, 7
Ford Flag of Sweden.svg OMSE2Royal Purple OMSE27 Flag of the United States.svg Townsend Bell 2–3 Ford Fiesta ST
32 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Steve Arpin All
Rdio OMSE277 Flag of the United States.svg Scott Speed All
Flag of Sweden.svg Olsbergs MSE Olsbergs MSE18 Flag of Sweden.svg Patrik Sandell All
Rockstar Energy Olsbergs MSE34 Flag of the United States.svg Tanner Foust All
Rockstar Energy Metal Mulisha Olsbergs MSE38 Flag of the United States.svg Brian Deegan All
Bluebeam Olsbergs MSE57 Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen All
Flag of the United States.svg Hoonigan Racing Division Hoonigan Racing Division43 Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block All
Hyundai Flag of the United States.svg Rhys Millen RacingRhys Millen Racing4 Flag of France.svg Stephan Verdier8–9 Hyundai Veloster
14 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg David Sterckx6
67 Flag of New Zealand.svg Rhys Millen 6, 9
Mini Flag of the United Kingdom.svg LD MotorsportLD Motorsport33 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Liam Doran 2–3, 5–6 Mini Countryman JCW
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Prodrive Prodrive40 Flag of the United States.svg Dave Mirra 8–9
Mitsubishi Flag of Brazil.svg X Team RacingX Team Racing12 Flag of Brazil.svg Nelson Piquet Jr. 1, 4, 8–9 Mitsubishi Lancer
Flag of Brazil.svg Guilherme Spinelli2–3
Peugeot Flag of Brazil.svg XRC Team BrasilXRC Team Brasil12A Flag of Brazil.svg Eduardo Marques Jr.1 Peugeot 207
13 Flag of Brazil.svg Mauricio Neves1
Subaru Flag of the United States.svg Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA11 Flag of Norway.svg Sverre Isachsen 2–9 Subaru WRX STI
40 Flag of the United States.svg Dave Mirra 2–7
81 Flag of the United States.svg Bucky Lasek 2–9
Flag of France.svg Verdier RacingVerdier Racing12 Flag of France.svg Stephan Verdier6
Volkswagen Flag of Sweden.svg Marklund Motorsport Marklund Motorsport 29 Flag of the United States.svg Buddy Rice 1 Volkswagen Polo
Flag of Sweden.svg Mattias Ekström 2–3
Flag of Russia.svg Timur Timerzyanov 6
92 Flag of Sweden.svg Anton Marklund 1–3, 6

Schedule

[3]

RoundLocationCompanion EventDate
1 Flag of Brazil.svg Foz do Iguaçu X Games BrazilApril 21
2–3 (DH) Flag of Germany.svg Munich X Games MunichJune 29–30
4 Flag of the United States.svg New Hampshire Motor Speedway Lenox Industrial Tools 301 July 11
5 Flag of the United States.svg Bristol Motor Speedway StandaloneJuly 20
6 Flag of the United States.svg Irwindale Event Center X Games Los AngelesAugust 4
7 Flag of the United States.svg Atlanta Motor Speedway StandaloneAugust 10
8 Flag of the United States.svg Charlotte Motor Speedway AACA AutoFair Fall MeetSeptember 22
9 Flag of the United States.svg Las Vegas SEMA Automotive Trade ShowNovember 7

(DH): An event in Barcelona at Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium May 19 was called off because of weather conditions. The Munich round, originally scheduled for June 30, was converted into a doubleheader round with races on June 29 and 30. [4]

Season summary

The first event of the season in Foz do Iguaçu was performed on a purpose built gravel track, with the start/finish straight having the only tarmac section. Fifteen drivers took part in the event. Liam Doran set the fastest laptime in the seeding round. [5] Heat 1 was won by Finnish driver Toomas Heikkinen, who took advantage of a crash at the start of the heat. Ken Block took second place, with Liam Doran placed third, after retiring on Lap 1. Heat 2 was won by Brian Deegan followed by Travis Pastrana is second. Nelson Piquet Jr. finished third despite being penalized for a jump start. Bryce Menzies finished the heat in last place. In Heat 3 the reigning champion Tanner Foust took victory over Steve Arpin. Patrik Sandell and Mauricio Neves finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Scott Speed was the winner of Heat 4 by passing Anton Marklund on the last corner, despite spinning on the first lap. Buddy Rice ended up third, with Eduardo Marques, Jr rounding off the heat. Buddy Rice won the Last Chance Qualifier, meaning he qualified for the final along with second-place finisher Patrik Sandell. Doran's car failure at the start of the race, retires both himself and Bryce Menzies, denying them both of qualifying for the final.

The Final saw mayhem at the first turn on Lap 1, which shook up the field, placing Heikkinen into the lead from Speed and Marklund after Lap 1. After Lap 2, Speed slowed down, which allowed Marklund to jump into second place. By the end of Lap 3, the race is red flagged, and is scheduled to restart, after retirements from Foust, Pastrana, Block and Rice. On the restart, Scott Speed sat on pole from a six car grid. Travis Pastrana, Buddy Rice, Ken Block and reigning champion Tanner Foust were all unable to make the restart. On Lap 1 Toomas Heikkinen aggressively made his way into the lead, ahead of Speed and Arpin by the end of the lap. On the second lap, Arpin took the joker lap, but failed to pass Speed, leaving the top three the same after the end of the lap. On Lap 4, Sandell takes the joker lap to pass Arpin into 3rd place, as Speed starts closing down Heikkinen for the lead. On the final lap, Speed finally used his joker lap to pass Heikkinen on the last corner of the race, to take the gold medal. Heikkinen won the silver, and Sandell the bronze. For all three of them it was their first X Games medals, most notably Speed, who had not ever drove a rally car prior to the event. Steve Arpin finished 4th, ahead of Brian Deegan in 5th, and Anton Marklund in 6th.

The second round of the season was set to take place in Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, as part of the Barcelona X Games. Spanish drivers Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz, both Dakar Rally champions, arrived to debut in this event. [6] [7] However, after heavy rain all day, the whole event was eventually moved to Munich after several delays on May 19, and the Munich event turned into a doubleheader. Day 1 featured Liam Doran win in his new Mini, while Toomas Heikkinen won gold in race 2. The Subaru PUMA Rallycross Team USA made their 2013 debut, and Townsend Bell made his GRC debut in the #7 Royal Purple Ford Fiesta, for OMSE2.

Round 4 took place in Loudon, New Hampshire, at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. GRC Lites made their debut there, and Joni Wiman won the first-ever Lites race. In the Supercar class, Travis Pastrana returned, and Tanner Foust led 9 of 10 laps in the final, but crashed in the final corner, handing the win to Heikkinen. The fifth round of the season took place in Bristol. Joni Wiman won the Lites final, which had to be restarted because Kevin Eriksson flipped over on the first lap. Patrik Sandell won his heat, but Heikkinen cruised to an easy third victory in a row. Round 6 took place at Irwindale Speedway, as part of X Games Los Angeles. David Sterckx, Rhys Millen, and Stephan Verdier made their 2013 debut, and Reinis Nitišs made his Lites debut. In Supercars, Sverre Isachsen won heat 1, which had to be restarted because Steve Arpin crashed. Heat 2 saw Liam Doran win. Toomas Heikkinen won Heat 3, while Heat 4 went to Ken Block. Anton Marklund crashed on the 1st turn of the LCQ, and that caused the 2nd red flag of the day. Marklund was out. On the restart, Rhys Millen and Scott Speed advanced. In the final, Ken Block, Liam Doran, and others crashed on the first turn. Toomas Heikkinen won the final X Games LA gold medal in history. Tanner Foust took silver, and Sverre Isachsen took bronze.

Round 7 took place at Atlanta Motor Speedway, as a standalone event. Bryce Menzies was replaced by Henning Solberg in the #99 Dodge, and Travis Pastrana was once again replaced by Timur Timerzyanov. Patrik Sandell crashed into a dirt embankment in the LCQ, sending him airborne. Toomas Heikkinen almost secured the championship with another win, while Joni Wiman won in Lites. Round 8 took place at the dirt track at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Pat Moro debuted his new Chevrolet Sonic and Dave Mirra helped Prodrive make its official debut, after having rented its Mini to Doran for much of the season. Block, Speed and Deegan took heat victories, while Foust missed the final after rolling his car during the final heat. Speed won the final, while third place for Heikkinen (having qualified via the LCQ) gave him the championship title.

The season finale took place in Las Vegas during the week of the SEMA Show as a two-day event, with practice, seeding, and the first set of heats run on Wednesday and the second set of heats, LCQ, and final run on Thursday. Heikkinen aimed to continue his streak of eight consecutive podiums with a pair of heat wins, while Foust, Block, and Speed also swept each of their heats. The LCQ saw Nelson Piquet Jr. spin Sverre Isachsen to earn a transfer spot and land his Mitsubishi in the final, but a protest from Isachsen saw stewards disqualify Piquet for aggressive driving and restore the transfer spot to the Norwegian. In the final, a jump start from Foust forced him into the penalty box, giving Block a lead that he would never relinquish. Block would earn his first GRC victory in his 17th GRC start, while Foust ended the season with a runner-up finish and Travis Pastrana completed the podium.

Results

Events

No.EventSeeding RoundHeat 1Heat 2Heat 3Heat 4WinnerTeamManufacturer
1 Foz do Iguaçu Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Liam Doran Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of the United States.svg Brian Deegan Flag of the United States.svg Tanner Foust Flag of the United States.svg Scott Speed Flag of the United States.svg Scott Speed Flag of Sweden.svg OMSE2Ford
2 Munich Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Liam Doran Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Liam Doran Flag of the United States.svg Tanner Foust Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Liam Doran Flag of the United Kingdom.svg LD MotorsportMini
3 Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of Sweden.svg Mattias Ekström Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Liam Doran Flag of the United States.svg Brian Deegan Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of Sweden.svg Olsbergs MSEFord
4 Loudon Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of the United States.svg Tanner Foust N/A Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of Sweden.svg Olsbergs MSEFord
5 Bristol Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of Sweden.svg Patrik Sandell Flag of Norway.svg Sverre Isachsen N/A Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of Sweden.svg Olsbergs MSEFord
6 Irwindale Flag of the United States.svg Brian Deegan Flag of Norway.svg Sverre Isachsen Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Liam Doran Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of Sweden.svg Olsbergs MSEFord
7 Atlanta Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of the United States.svg Tanner Foust N/A Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of Sweden.svg Olsbergs MSEFord
8 Charlotte Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of the United States.svg Scott Speed Flag of the United States.svg Brian Deegan N/A Flag of the United States.svg Scott Speed Flag of Sweden.svg OMSE2Ford
9 Las Vegas Flag of the United States.svg Tanner Foust Flag of the United States.svg Tanner Foust Flag of Finland.svg Toomas Heikkinen Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of the United States.svg Scott Speed Flag of the United States.svg Ken Block Flag of the United States.svg Hoonigan Racing DivisionFord

Drivers standings

Points are awarded to the top sixteen finishers using the following structure:

Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th  11th  12th  13th  14th  15th  16th 
Points20171513121110987654321

GRC Lites

Pos.DriverNo.Team Flag of the United States.svg
LOU
Flag of the United States.svg
BRI
Flag of the United States.svg
IRW
Flag of the United States.svg
ATL
Flag of the United States.svg
CHA
Flag of the United States.svg
LV
Pts.
1 Flag of Finland.svg Joni Wiman 93Set Promotion111111128
2 Flag of Sweden.svg Sebastian Eriksson 37 Olsbergs MSE 25333393
3 Flag of the United States.svg Mitchell deJong24 Olsbergs MSE 4224581
4 Flag of Sweden.svg Kevin Eriksson 39Set Promotion36457675
5 Flag of Sweden.svg Alexander Westlund55Set Promotion53645774
6 Flag of the United States.svg Austin Dyne99AD Racing621088466
7 Flag of the United States.svg Geoff Sykes65 Olsbergs MSE 74972866
8 Flag of the United States.svg Harry Cheung88Cohesive Front Racing9789646
9 Flag of Turkey.svg Halid Avdagic4 Olsbergs MSE 88729
10 Flag of Latvia.svg Reinis Nitišs 15 Olsbergs MSE 5623
11 Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Benson60 Olsbergs MSE 1091022
12 Flag of Sweden.svg Eric Faren21 Olsbergs MSE 218
13 Flag of the United States.svg Brent Lee35 Olsbergs MSE 98

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References

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  2. Horsey, John (August 4, 2013). "Officials warn overly aggressive drivers". XGames.com. ESPN. Archived from the original on August 11, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  3. "2013 GRC Schedule". Global-Rallycross.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  4. "Rain forces cancellation of Global Rallycross at X Games Barcelona". Archived from the original on 2013-06-19. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
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  6. "Carlos Sainz estará en los X Games Barcelona". Motor y Racing. May 14, 2013.
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