The so-called Seeding of the 2013 Global RallyCross Championship opener in Brazil was decided by a preliminary victory of Liam Doran over Scott Speed and Tanner Foust.

On Saturday the so-called Seeding runs, similar to timed practice sessions in European Rallycross, were dominated by Briton Liam Doran who set the fastest time of all 15 competitors. Those drivers who were out early in one of the four groups had an advantage over those driving later on, as the all clay/silt soil became more and more slippery during those ten minutes of track time each group had available. Second fastest to the English Citroën DS3 campaigner was ex-Formula 1 driver Scott Speed, the American impressed a lot of people during his first attempt to master a loose surface circuit. Third place was claimed by Speed’s compatriot Tanner Foust in the newer ST version of the Mk7 Fiesta.

Scott Speed asked about his reaction to qualifying second fastest: “Qualifying went really great for us. We qualified second and really glad we were able to put down a fast lap when it counted. From my first lap on the track to now, I went from just trying to make the final event to feeling like we may have a shot at winning. I couldn’t be happier and couldn’t ask for a better team or better guys on my team. Andréas [Eriksson], Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan have been unbelievable in my transition into Rallycross and without those guys this learning curve for sure would not have been as quick as it was. I am excited and ready to go tomorrow.”

Asked about the course in Foz do Iguaçu Scott said: “Regardless of the track I feel like because of my background, in moto racing and that I’ve been racing my whole life, my instincts are to have a better feel to get the speed through the corner and not as much as the sideways driving. When I tried putting the car sideways it definitely looked cooler but it wasn’t quite as fast. After trying sliding my car sideways,  I went back to a natural form of racing. It’s kind of a hybrid, because these cars are four-wheel drive, you can’t drive it like a normal car it’s more of an integration of driving and you still have to slide them. Myself and the other open-wheel drivers are sliding a little less and I think this course will be good for us.”

OlsbergsMSE team principal Andréas Eriksson about Scott: “Scott did a great job. There are still things he needs to learn about the course and I’ve been working with him to keep him consistent on each lap. This is his first time in the Rallycross Fiesta and I think he’s doing really good. He will now have to understand that when we start the race it will be different driving with pack of cars instead of one-by-one. I told him to just focus on one thing at a time and now he’s found the flow to get real speed. And here we are with him second fastest in qualifying. The track here in Brazil, is really hard to drive well on so the guys that are trained and drive a lot in the Rallycross cars can’t get much out of it because the grip is not there. They can’t use the car in the right way and Scott uses his car great because he uses speed when he can and we will see how he continues to do in the race.”

• FINAL RESULTS SEEDING:
• 1. 39:00 Liam Doran (GB) Citroën DS3
• 2. 39:04 Scott Speed (USA) Ford Fiesta Mk7
• 3. 39:14 Tanner Foust (USA) Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST
• 4. 39:23 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BR) Mitsubishi Lancer E10
• 5. 39:41 Brian Deegan (USA) Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST
• 6. 39:50 Steve Arpin (CDN) Ford Fiesta Mk7
• 7. 39:62 Buddy Rice (USA) VW Polo Mk5
• 8. 39:78 Ken Block (USA) Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST
• 9. 40:10 Toomas Heikkinen (FIN) Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST
• 10. 40:12 Anton Marklund (S) VW Polo Mk5
• 11. 40:19 Patrik Sandell (S) Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST
• 12. 40:32 Travis Pastrana (USA) Dodge Dart
• 13. 41:00 Bryce Menzies (USA) Dodge Dart
• 14. 41:61 Mauricio Neves (BR) Peugeot 207
• 15. 42:38 Eduardo Marques Jr. (BR) Peugeot 207

Photo: Ex-F1 driver Scott Speed drove his 2012 Ford Fiesta Mk7 to the second fastest seeding time. © QBA/ERC24

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