PoloDriver

Andretti Autosport fired the opening salvo of its 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship last weekend, with a victory for US driver Scott Speed at the Top Gear Festival in Barbados. Speed was driving a Marklund Motorsport-prepared Polo RX Supercar with over 550bhp, similar to the cars driven in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The former F1 and Nascar driver finished ahead of Ford drivers Steve Arpin and Brian Deegan.

Speed was pleased with his result. ‘What a fantastic weekend. We had the right pace from start. The team did an amazing job right from the word go and set the car up perfectly for the race. For Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross, it’s our first event as a team. There’s a lot of new guys here, and for us to come out with a win in our first stop, it’s great, because we’re only going to get better.’

Speed’s team-mate and Top Gear USA host Tanner Foust crossed the line at the Bushy Park circuit in eleventh place in the second Polo RX. The pair are using European Polo silhouette cars before their more US-centric Beetle racers arrive later in the season. The next round of the Global Rallycross Championship takes place at the Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas (USA), on 7 June.

2014 GRC BARBADOS RACE RESULTS
1 Scott Speed, #77 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross VW
2 Steve Arpin, #00 Royal Purple Racing/OMSE2 Ford
3 Brian Deegan, #38 Rockstar Energy Drink Ford

[Images: Alison Padron, Tanner Foust and Scott Speed]