Last weekend’s Los Angeles X Games at Irwindale saw another Gold Medal claim by Finn Toomas “Topi” Heikkinen. Here some post-event quotes we collected.
Toomas “Topi” Heikkinen (FIN) Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST – Gold Medal SuperCars: “It’s cool! It’s cool to have a lot of points. Still we’re leading, and now we have a little bit less pressure, but the next race is in six days, and we have work to do. I think the gap opened a little bit, because Tanner didn’t win his heat and I got the one extra point, plus three points more in the Final. (Since last year) I just made my own work, what I had to do. I exercised at home and the gym to get myself ready for this season. Everything is good right now, and I’m not doing anything else than smiling.”
Tanner Foust (USA) Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST – Silver Medal SuperCars: “It was a pretty productive weekend. It would have been nice to double gold, obviously, but I can’t complain, especially where I started in the Final. It was not a good spot – I was outside of the second row, and I just watched the mayhem happen. I was thinking ‘oh, 10th place, okay,’ and then all of a sudden, Ken spins, tires are flying everywhere, so I just took the outside line and ended up, I thought, in third, but I guess it was second. And I just followed Topi’s dust.”
Sverre Isachsen (N) Subaru Impreza GR – Bronze Medal SuperCars: “It was awesome! I had a good start. They said it was a jump start, but anyway, we sat in the Penalty Box, took our punishment, and then went back in the race. It was a perfect race the whole way. Third place today is like winning for us at Subaru. Of course we’ll go for it in Atlanta as well. We’re taking the car small steps at a time and hopefully can try to get to the top.”
Rhys Millen (NZ) Hyundai Veloster – 4th overall SuperCars: “I’m really, really happy – to not have driven the car for eight months, to do a shake-down for literally a couple of hours, fly out of town and fly back in, (then) to win the LCQ and finish fourth from the back of the row. It’s just a testament to how strong and reliable that car is, and for me how much fun it is to drive.”
Travis Pastrana (USA) Dodge Dart – 5th overall SuperCars: “Irwindale is awesome! We had our first NASCAR race out here, with the East-West shootout, and had a sixth there. We were fifth, so maybe if we keep coming back we’ll keep moving up the ladder! The guys worked real hard on the Discount Tire Dodge Dart. We avoided some carnage on the first lap, but we had an overheating issue. We’re working with a lot of stuff – we’ve just got to test, go with Bryce [Menzies]. Every race we’ve struggled a bit to get going, but we’ve always been close at the end.”
Scott Speed (USA) Ford Fiesta Mk7 – 9th overall SuperCars: “It was destruction derby out there. The who is kind of irrelevant, because it’s a product of the beast, just people running into each other. I honestly don’t remember too much. The car is destroyed, unfortunately, which sucks for the guys, because they have a quick turnaround. I hate it for my two guys – they did great. We were fast enough to win this weekend, we just didn’t make it through enough corners. It was just really hard to see. I couldn’t really get close enough to make a pass. We got a terrible start [in the heats] somehow, I don’t know why, and we just couldn’t make any ground up. I feel like we were faster than both of the guys in front of us, we just couldn’t make up enough ground to pass, because the visibility was really, really bad. The closer you got, you couldn’t see anything.”
Liam Doran (GB) MINI Countryman JCW 1.6 – 10th overall SuperCars: “I’m super bummed that Ken [Block] and I collided. Once I got hit, I had no steering and the rest of the field was coming up quick behind us. This is not how I wanted the final X Games to go. A weekend of very mixed results, and I’m happy I took Bronze at Gymkhana GRID last night at least.”
Anton Marklund (S) VW Polo Mk5 – 17th overall SuperCars: “So, today wasn’t a good day for me! I wasn’t strong in Seeding and I had a bad start in my heat, as I got further into it, I took a hit and broke my front suspension and ended up last of my group. Then the LCQ was even worse! Straight off the finish line I smashed into the wall, damaging the car and taking me out of the race – fingers crossed we’ll have better luck in Lohéac.”
Timur Timerzyanov (RUS) VW Polo Mk5 – 18th overall SuperCars: “I feel that the Polo was good, we only had a few small things to adjust after practice and Seeding and I felt like it could’ve gone so well. I had a good start in my heat but I made a mistake on the dirt, clipping the wall, causing me to lose time. Tanner caught up with me and we began to battle for 2nd, I tried to keep my line clean but we were side by side and he pushed me out on the last corner, breaking my suspension and causing me to finish 4th. Ten minutes between my heat and the LCQ wasn’t enough time to fix the car. It’s disappointing that we didn’t make it to the LCQ and Final, but it’s always small things that can cost you a race.”
Joni Wiman (FIN) Ford Fiesta Mk7 – Gold Medal GRC Lites: “It took very exact driving. It was very difficult to drive the first three or four laps, but then it was normal. In the hairpins, I saw the guys, and I could see if they were catching me. I didn’t know if they had done the shortcut, so the pressure was on. Of course we’re starting to think about the championship, but we can’t too much. We have a good lead, and it’s safe, but you never know.”
Mitchell DeJong USA) Ford Fiesta Mk7 – Silver Medal GRC Lites: “It’s great. I’m just thankful to be able to race in X Games. To be able to come out with a podium is so cool, and I can’t thank everyone enough for getting the car ready from Bristol. It was a tough track – it was a little wet, which made it extra challenging. I just did my best, tried to stay smooth and stay off the walls, and it seemed to work. It was a lot of fun, the car was great, and I can’t complain about it at all. It was cool!”
