Subaru Rally Team USA drivers Bucky Lasek and Sverre Isachsen had the pace to win at the inaugural Washington DC Global Rallycross this weekend but were stymied in the Final. Lasek qualified an impressive 2nd fastest overall and was buoyed with confidence after earning a Silver medal two weeks ago at the ESPN X Games Global Rallycross event. Isachsen and Lasek, each at the wheel of 600hp Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive Subaru WRX STI Rallycross cars, advanced to the Final but were unable to capitalize finishing 10th and 11th respectively.
The Washington DC round of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship represented round three of the ten event series and was held on a purpose built track outside of RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. The short and technical track featured both dirt and tarmac along with a large dirt jump.
Lasek and Isachsen began the event brimming with confidence. Nearly two years of development work on the team’s Subaru WRX STI rallycross cars have now begun to pay off and the team has now proven they have the speed to compete at the top. The team has earned three podiums in the last six rounds going back to 2013, including Lasek’s Silver medal two weeks ago at the X Games round.
The Washington DC event began with Lasek at the top of the timesheets earning the #2 seed with the second fastest lap time in qualifying. Isachsen qualified seventh, just .4 seconds behind Lasek. Lasek earned two impressive second overall finishes in both of the heat races. But a difficult race in the semi-final found Lasek needing to earn his spot in the Final via the LCQ which put him toward the back of the grid in the Final. The chaotic Final saw Lasek run in seventh for a majority of the race before dropping back with a punctured tire late in the race.
“Our pace in our Subaru is there, but it just came down to some tough racing and tough luck which made the Final a real challenge,” explained Lasek. “It was great to qualify second fastest and our confidence is still high even after a tough result like this one, we are eager to get a clean run and get on that podium again for sure.”
Isachsen started from the second row of the grid in the Final but jumped the start. After stopping his car in an attempt to save the false start he was forced to then re-launch the car after the entire field had started. Isachsen could not recover the lost time and finished 10th overall.
