Volkswagen Earns First Global Rallycross Manufacturer’s Title
Tanner Foust’s victory Saturday at Red Bull GRC Seattle also gave Volkswagen its first ever Red Bull Global Rallycross manufacturers’ championship.
While we won’t know which driver is Red Bull Global Rallycross champion until Oct. 9, we do know who’s the winning manufacturer. The league announced Sunday that Volkswagen has clinched its first-ever Red Bull GRC manufacturer’s championship.
Both Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross drivers – two-time champion Tanner Foust and defending titleholder Scott Speed – remain in contention for the individual title, but together their seven race victories gave VW an early lock on the manufacturer’s win.
Foust’s coming in first at GRC Seattle also provided his manufacturer a seven-point lead over runner-up Ford with two races left to go. Third-place Honda is eleven points back while Subaru is the only manufacturer to only have a single-digital score.
“When we started this program two years ago, our goal was simple: to reach the top of Red Bull Global Rallycross,” said Volkswagen Director of Motorsport Clark Campbell in a statement released Sunday.
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“Last year we were able to take our first driver’s title, but to earn a manufacturer’s championship in the series is truly special. Tanner Foust, Scott Speed, and every member of the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team has proven to be championship caliber.
“It’s an honor to reach this level of achievement against such strong competition. Now we will focus on adding another driver’s championship this year before defending our manufacturer’s title in 2017.”
In just three short seasons in Red Bull Global Rallycross, Volkswagen has established itself as being to GRC what Team Penske is within the Verizon IndyCar Series: a team that simply dominates the competition, no matter what anyone else seems to try.
Speed won the first title for Volkswagen last year, and now just one year later the outfit has its inaugural manufacturers’ championship. When both of your drivers are sitting in the top two spots on the GRC leaderboard it’s no surprise that you’re earning these kind of accolades.
What is more surprising is the parity that they’re pointing toward. Speed was also the first GRC champion who wasn’t driving for Olsbergs MSE at the time he won his title; even Foust was with the foreign superpower when he earned his back-to-back championships.
Next: Red Bull Global Rallycross Seattle Results
But Olsbergs have struggled with the switch in drivers and also manufacturers; they began racing Honda Civics this season, while Joni Wiman and sophomore teammate Sebastien Eriksson are all turned around. That’s left the door open for Volkswagen to pounce and have they over the last two-plus seasons.
We’ll see which driver takes home the GRC championship in just a few weeks but we now know which manufacturer ges the good news. And we also know that there’s a new super-team on the grid and it’s named Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross. VARX have taken the league by storm and now they have something to show for it.