Scott Speed leads Subaru 1-2 at ERX Motor Park

Subaru didn’t take long to counter the early success of Red Bull Hansen in the 2021 Nitro Rallycross season, and did it with style as Scott Speed was the steaming train that carried the team’s 1-2 at the ERX Motor Park, in Minneapolis, putting a lot of fire in the championship.

Kevin Hansen was the winner of battle brackets on Saturday, but while most of the session delivered the thrill expected, the final with Scott Speed was a sign of their tactical intentions, as the American let the Swedish driver go to the win, crawled over a few meters of the track and threw off the run. While the strategic value was there for the Heats and no sporting sanctions were applied to Subaru, the team was fined in US$ 10,000 for the anticlimatic act, and the fine funds were donated to a local foundation. The championship organization was quick to state that the battle bracket rules for Round 3 will be changed to avoid another scene like this.

Heat 1 had Kevin Hansen and Travis Pastrana going physical for first place, with the Subaru WRX getting the upper hand with the Hansen Peugeots right on his back. Kevin Hansen was keeping it close, but it wasn’t enough to outpace Pastrana at the Joker Lap, so the top two stayed Subaru and Peugeot.

Heat 2 had Andreas Bakkerud barging his way to second place and protecting Scott Speed from the rest of the field. Once they got some gap, they pushed hard to get away from Steve Arpin, eventually isolating from him and securing the top 2 places, while Arpin had Fraser McConnell hot on his back, and then right in front of Arpin when he completed the Joker.

Semifinal 1 saw Steve Arpin get out of the mess to be first, but with Tanner Foust on his back, he absolutely couldn’t relax. Some sort of relief came as Foust spun and the fight for second was way distant from Arpin’s attentions, as Cabot Bigham was on a mission against Oliver Bennett, and while Arpin had the first place totally for himself, Foust nearly jumped to second, only to see Bigham steal it right in his face at the line, only for Foust to recover it as Bigham got penalized for excessive contact.

Lots of rubbing between Timmy Hansen and Fraser McConnell started Semifinal 2, and the Jamaican kept his Olsbergs Fiesta on chase mode behind Hansen, but with actually no room to make a decisive move on Hansen and some good advantage to Oliver Eriksson, McConnell settled for second.

Last Chance Qualifying saw Bennett leading for a short period before Oliver Eriksson getting it at Turn 2 and go away with it, and without the lead, Bennett opted for an early Joker Lap while Robin Larsson was second. Eriksson had it safe in first place, and Oliver Bennett saw the Final ticket go away in the final lap with Robin Larsson doing an excellent Joker Lap.

Subarus in first, second and fourth in the Final means tactics on fire, and in the Final, and Kevin Hansen found the way past Bakkerud and Pastrana by force, starting the fierce chase for Scott Speed while Pastrana had Hansen totally boxed. Finding the low line on the merges did the trick for Pastrana, as he went second and guarded Speed from Hansen, and while the situation looked bad for the Hansen WRXT, Timmy Hansen opted for an early Joker to be a late reinforcement in the battle.

Despite trying all the tricks up the sleeve, neither Timmy nor Kevin Hansen could outpace the Subarus, with Speed reaffirming his position as favorite and winning the Final, and Pastrana having an excellent run to second place, nearly beating Speed in the process, while Kevin Hansen completed the podium while Timmy Hansen stayed in fourth.

Timmy Hansen and Scott Speed are tied in the standings with 87 points while Kevin Hansen joins the party with 85 and Pastrana is the nearest outsider with 75 points. Next Nitro Rallycross destination is Phoenix, AZ, as the Wildhorse Pass Motorsports Park will hold the Round 3 on 14 November.

PHOTO: Subaru Motorsports USA