Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel impress with pace at Finland RX 29.08.2020: FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP RD3: FINLAND - KOUVOLA RX As round 3 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship kicked off in Finland as part of a doubleheader weekend, both Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel drivers showed off

FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
RD3: FINLAND - KOUVOLA RX



As round 3 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship kicked off in Finland as part of a doubleheader weekend, both Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel drivers showed off their racing abilities and the potential of the GCK Mégane R.S.RX despite challenges: While a broken rim and broken rear upright following contact in Q3 meant the end of the race day for Doran, Bakkerud raced his way to a p4 in the semi-final but lacked the grip needed to make it into the final.
 


Having put down a promising 3rd fastest time in free practice, Andreas lined up alongside Liam for Q1 and both battled the grid successfully, crossing the finish line next to one another in p2 and p3, with Bakkerud less than 1/10th of a second faster than his team mate.
 


With a good p6 and p8 respectively following the first qualifier, the Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel lined up together again for Q2 but the double act did not quite work out for both guys equally this time as a broken prop shaft in lap 3 saw Doran retire from the race and push him into p12 overall.
 


Bakkerud, however, managed to shoot ahead into P1 despite initially lacking some grip off the start and easily led the pack to cross the finish line in first. His final qualifier of the day was more of a battle for Andreas as a lack of traction off the start saw him stuck in traffic later through the race with him finishing in 5th, putting him in p7 going into the semi-finals.
 


Q3 saw Doran put down his signature send around the outside to take an impressive lead but contact following the first corner resulted in a broken rim and rear upright for him, resulting in him retiring and finishing the race day in p17 overall.
 


Fighting for that extra little bit of performance in the semi-finals, Bakkerud pushed into 3rd into the first corner, but came out in 4th following the joker. Having crossed the finish line in 4th, Bakkerud ended round 3 of the Championship in p7 overall.




ANDREAS BAKKERUD
SEMI-FINAL P4
Q1 P6 / Q2 P3 / Q3 P10  


“We were super strong in the free practice but as the track evolved, we struggled to compensate with the car and lost grip as a result, which meant we couldn’t step it up in performance the way we wanted to for the semis and were lacking the pace to fight in the final.



We’ll now get to work with the engineers and investigate where we can adjust to optimise the set up. The car definitely feels good, we just need to finetune the details to really be able to nail it.”, Bakkerud added.
    





LIAM DORAN
P17
Q1 P8 / Q2 P19 / Q3 P19


“We showed some promising pace this morning and can see the potential of the car. The broken prop shaft in Q2 put us on the back foot and meant I had to push massively in Q3, where contact resulted in us having to retire, which is frustrating of course but is what makes rallycross what it is.



The track here is one of my favourites and it suits my driving style so much, so I’m just looking ahead to tomorrow, where we can hopefully build on this morning’s performance.”, Doran commented.

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