Tanner Foust had a massive advantage before the final event of the 2019 Americas Rallycross Championship season at Mid-Ohio, but it didn’t took long for the Volkswagen Andretti driver to start the celebrations, in what is his first ARX title.
The first two qualifying heats had Foust in excellent form, winning by a good margin to be the overnight top qualifier, and with his position more than secure, he didn’t take any risks in both Q3 and Q4, which handed the championship to him, even though he shared the top with Joni Wiman.
The final part of the event was more to settle the places below, and in the first semifinal had a bit of the bad weather that was affecting the region, but the wet track didn’t seem to bother Andreas Bakkerud and Cabot Bigham, with the two doing rocket starts and going straight to Joker.
Bigham was all over Bakkerud and all over the place with less grip than the Subarus, and Patrik Sandell gave them thanks and went to first as they were fighting for position. The low grip mess that was the track made the race quite a procession, with Sandell winning with a good margin while Bakkerud and Wiman driving styles nullified each other and the Norwegian ended in second.
Semifinal 2 had Steve Arpin in front but Foust having better grip in the dirt, which gave him the first place and a massive gap, but Arpin hit back with and excellent Joker and more grip in the asphalt out the transitions.
All drivers were roughly in the same situation when it comes to grip on dirt, barely keeping the track limits and going really wide, and this benefited the precise and soft drive from Chris Atkinson as he came on top and was keeping his line. Atkinson won it without threats, and with penalties being given to second-placed Foust, Steve Arpin and TRavis Pecoy got the remaining places to the Final.
In the Final things weren’t much in terms of track grip, which turned the first lap into a huge mess, and Atkinson proved somehow that crawling through the corners was the best way to go as he was leading and opening the gap.
Atkinson had no one in his mirrors and this stood until the checkered flag, and it was the second place battle that had action, as Sandell tried everything and failed to pass Arpin.
Foust finished the championship with 143 points while Atkinson conquered second place with 131 and Sandell finished third with 130, while Arpin was the best qualified Ford in fourth with 124 points. By missing the final two rounds due to back injury, Scott Speed tumbled down to sixth with the 100 points he had before it.
PHOTO - Andretti Autosport
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