Toomas Heikkinen makes most of late opportunity for Global Rallycross win: Heikkinen passes Tanner Foust on final turn as Ford sweeps podium at New Hampshire

Heikkinen passes Tanner Foust on final turn as Ford sweeps podium at New Hampshire

By: Autoweek Staff on July 12, 2013

Ford Racing - Toomas Heikkinen won the Global Rallycross event in New Hampshire on Thursday.

Toomas Heikkinen won his second consecutive Global Rallycross event of the nine-race season, capturing first place in the Sylvania Silverstar zXe at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Thursday.

Heikkinen overtook Tanner Foust after a last-corner accident ended Foust's dominating run.

?Yeah, it was a great day for me,? said Heikkinen. ?Although it has been a long day with rain in the morning, but the finish was really exciting for me. I was in third a lot of the race but passed for second and then on the final lap my spotter was telling me to push and so I was putting the pressure on Tanner [Foust]. He made a mistake and that was the key to my win today."

Foust, who finished fourth, slammed into the outside guardrail on the elevated hairpin, losing the lead in the main event for the second year in a row.

?That was a tough way to end the race -- that's never fun," Foust said. "Topi (Heikkinen) was pressuring for the whole race, and then on the very last straightaway, it seemed like he had a little bit of a run. So I thought I'd play it safe -- my spotter said he had a chance on the inside, so I played it safe and hit the brakes on the inside corner to protect the turn. But there's just gravel from all the rain, dragging that mud out. As soon as I touched the brakes, I knew I was in for a pretty wild ride. The car just rotated, went straight into the wall, and then was face-to-face with Brian [Deegan] coming in at 100 miles per hour.

"The first events of the year, the first six seconds have been the most exciting, and this one, it was the last six. I don't know what hurts more, but it was a pretty exciting day. Hopefully it was a good show.?

Brian Deegan finished third to make it an all-Ford podium as Ford drivers accounted for the top five places.

Heikkinen, Foust and Ken Block won the three heat races. Foust and Block both scored top five finishes for the second year in a row at New Hampshire. Foust finished fourth in both races, while Block finished fifth each year.

?I think it was difficult for everyone, with the raining and drying," Heikkinen said. "There were a lot of different things. For all of us, we had a tough day -- it was tricky to change your setup every time. Even the qualification was a little bit different for everybody. But all in all, it was a great day.?

GRC at New Hamphire Motor Speedway Results:

1, Toomas Heikkinen, No. 57 OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST

2, Patrik Sandell, No. 18 OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST

3, Brian Deegan, No. 38 OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST

4, Tanner Foust, No. 34 OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST

5, Ken Block, No. 43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST

6, Sverre Isachsen, No. 11 Subaru PUMA Rallycross Team WRX STI

7, Travis Pastrana, No. 199 Pastrana Racing Dodge Dart

8, Bucky Lasek, No. 81 Subaru PUMA Rallycross Team WRX STI

9, Scott Speed, No. 77 OMSE2 Ford Fiesta

10, Nelson Piquet Jr., No. 12 X Team Racing Mitsubishi Evo

11, Bryce Menzies, No. 99 Pastrana Racing Dodge Dart

12, Steve Arpin, No. 32 OMSE2 Ford Fiesta

Driver Points

1, Toomas Heikkinen, 76

2, Tanner Foust, 51

3, Brian Deegan, 47

4, Patrik Sandell, 46

5, Liam Doran, 43

Manufacturer points

1, Ford, 147

2, Dodge, 43

3, Subaru, 41

Sign up to have the Autoweek Daily Racing report, Racing Weekend Wrap-Up, Daily Drive and Breaking News delivered right to your inbox.

Autoweek loves passionate comments and debate, but remember that you're part of a diverse community. Above all: be respectful. Critique statements, not people; talk about the automotive world, but skip the political rhetoric, hate speech, and obscenities. While we can't read every post, this site is moderated and Autoweek will remove comments as we see fit. Questions? Read our Terms of Use or email moderator@autoweek.com.

Source: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130712/MOTORSPORTS/130719946?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=

E3 2013 Titanfall Killer Instinct New Xbox 360 cnet Game of Thrones Season 4 Battlefield 4