Fraser McConnell – Syndication Server

McConnell keeps in Nitrocross title hunt with Vegas victory

Championship outsider Fraser McConnell kept himself in the hunt for the Nitrocross title with a dominant victory in the penultimate round of the season in Las Vegas. With overtaking difficult on the tight track constructed at Planet Hollywood on the …

Championship outsider Fraser McConnell kept himself in the hunt for the Nitrocross title with a dominant victory in the penultimate round of the season in Las Vegas.

With overtaking difficult on the tight track constructed at Planet Hollywood on the Strip, the Dreyer & Reinbold JC driver needed to make his start in the six-lap final count – and he duly did, launching into an early lead.

Polesitter Oliver Eriksson retaliated in the first heavy braking zone however, retaking the lead up the inside of the banked dirt turn, but his time at the front would be a short-lived as he got tagged by McConnell just after the joker merge two turns later, contact that would send him into the wall and leave him at the mercy of Robin Larsson.

Larsson, though, had his own issue to deal with, brewing hounded by Timmy Hansen, who was making his first Nitrocross appearance since 2021. Hansen was faster than the points leader, but couldn’t find a way past, and couldn’t dive into the joker for clean air either as that would have left him open to attack from Andreas Bakkerud who had taken the alternate route on his first pass through.

That battle allowed McConnell to take off in front, while Hansen and Larsson took their respective jokers on lap three and four, the alternating strategies not changing the order, however.

McConnell – who signed a contract extension with DRR this week, keeping him with the team for the 2024-25 season – ultimately crossed the line 3.76s ahead of Larsson who held off Hansen right to the line, both crossing it alongside one another.

Guillaume de Ridder finished fourth on his Nitrocross debut, six seconds off McConnell, with Travis Pastrana and Bakkerud the remaining finishers.

Kevin Eriksson was classified seventh after retiring at the halfway point following a first lap spin, while his brother and OMSE teammate Oliver Eriksson also retired following his own lap 1 incident.

NITROCROSS LAS VEGAS I FINAL RESULTS

Four drivers failed to make the final, with series debutant Patrick O’Donovan and Viktor Vranckx being eliminated from the first Last Chance Qualifier, while Conner Martell and Oliver Bennett failed to advance from the second.

O’Donovan and Vranckx came together at the Joker split on the opening lap of their LCQ, with the latter ending up in the wall, necessitating a red flag and a trip to a local hospital for checks. When that race restarted, O’Donovan was off the pace as a result of damage sustained in the clash.

In the other LCQ, Martell had a tense fight with Vermont SportsCar teammate Pastrana throughout the contest, with the 2021 champion ultimately prevailing.

Before nightfall, Oliver Eriksson had been quickest in the opening practice session, and won both his heat race, the Top Qualifier race, and his semifinal, with McConnell won the other semi, having started his day with a seeding heat win as well, but fourth in the Top Qualifier race.

NITROCROSS LAS VEGAS I OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

Casper Jansson extended is record winning run in NItrocross NEXT. Qnigan/Nitrocross

In Nitrocross NEXT, Casper Jansson won a record-extending seventh race in a row, beating Lane Vacala and series newcomers Elias Sevenson and Ellis Spiezia.

Pastrana took his third win in the last four races in Side-by-Sides, leading home Tyler Remmereid and Gray Leadbetter, whom he recently shared the Legacy Motor Club car in Extreme E with.Teenager Kainan Baker dominated in the open SxS PRO invitational class, winning ahead of Kory Willis and Remmereid, who like Baker was pulling double duty in both SxS class.

Ryan Rodriguez won in the Baja Bugs category, leading home Blake Wilkey and Jim York.

Sainz and McConnell riding high after a strong Extreme E start

Acciona Sainz came within a lap of winning the Extreme E championship in 2023, and with that painful heartbreak still fresh in the mind – after all, last season’s finale was only two short months ago – the team was keen to get this year off to a …

Saturday’s Desert X Prix final brought an unlucky slow roll in deep sand and perhaps wasn’t the best start to the team’s latest crusade, but a victory in Sunday’s final more than made up for it.

“I think it was a fantastic way to start the season for the team,” team boss Carlos Sainz Sr. told RACER. “It’s very good for the confidence of the team, also the way we finished last year was very hard and we were a little bit down. Saturday wasn’t easy, but in the end this victory will give the whole team a good boost, the drivers good confidence, and for the morale, it’s really the best way to start.”

The win was Acciona Sainz’s third in Extreme E, and a repeat of last year when it won the second part of the season opener then, too. A key difference this time around, though, was the addition of Fraser McConnell who joined the team in the off season, replacing Mattias Ekstrom, and the former X44 man is already impressing his new boss.

“Yesterday, obviously he was honestly unlucky… He really did a fantastic job the whole weekend, settled really well in the team,” said Sainz. “I was sure he was going to deliver, but now he delivered a very good race, a very good weekend. Now we just need to keep pushing, keep working. This is only the first step.”

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Joining such a high caliber team and replacing an equally high caliber driver, McConnell knew he had big shoes to fill, but is relishing the opportunity to work with the Spanish outfit.

“Joining a team with everyone who’s so experienced, so knowledgeable with the car, a really professional group of guys and Laia (Sanz) of course is so fast – Last year she proved herself to be the fastest girl bar none – I knew I was filling quite a big role,” he said. “I really prepared as much as I could and gave the team absolutely everything while I was out on track.

“Yesterday, maybe I tried too much, but if I see tomorrow, I’m going to do it again. It was a great feeling to come back again today and finish the weekend high.

“We know we can do it. We’re not here to participate, we’re here to win. Red Bull coming onboard as well, everyone at QEV, Acciona, Sparco have given me this chance to go out there and show that I can do it so I’m living the dream and I’m going to round three even stronger.”

McConnell these days is firmly established as one of off-road racing’s elite, but at Acciona Sainz he’s surrounded by legendary talent in teammates — the multiple trials champion Sanz, and double World Rally and recently-minted four-time Dakar Rally winner Sainz, both of whom he’s keen to keep impressing.

“There’s still such a far way for me to go,” he insisted. “It’s only my fifth year racing internationally, and Carlos was and still is an inspiration, so when you get to race for one of your childhood heroes you almost have to pinch yourself. I’ve been giving absolutely everything to try and make sure I’m going out there and doing what they signed me up for.”

McConnell takes first Nitrocross Phoenix win after Pastrana penalty

Fraser McConnell was classified as the winner of round four of the 2022-24 Nitrocross season at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park after on-the-road winner Travis Pastrana was hit with a penalty. Vermont SportsCar driver Pastrana was demoted two …

Fraser McConnell was classified as the winner of round four of the 2022-24 Nitrocross season at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park after on-the-road winner Travis Pastrana was hit with a penalty.

Vermont SportsCar driver Pastrana was demoted two positions for making contact with Dreyer & Reinbold JC RX Cartel driver Robin Larsson and Olsbergs MSE’s Kevin Eriksson on the last lap of the final.

Pastrana had previously attempted to grab the lead on the opening lap. Starting on the front row of the grid alongside Larsson — both being the most recent winners this season, as well as the victors from last year’s visit to Phoenix — Pastrana swung sideways across the front of Larsson’s car in the first turn, but the Swede resisted.

Larsson ceded the lead at Turn 2, before taking the joker shortcut to move ahead moments later. Pastrana then unusually opted for the joker on the second lap, rather than waiting for his last tour, as is customary when against someone who took it on the first. But Larsson’s pace in the opening part of the race allowed him to remain ahead when the Joker strategies had played out in full.

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Going into that last lap, the top five were covered by 1.5s, with Pastrana third behind leaders Larsson and Eriksson. He had a look up the inside of Eriksson going into Turn 1, but it was Turn 2 where things really kicked off.

Eriksson swept up the inside of Larsson — who was nursing a puncture sustained the lap before — with the pair making light contact. As they squabbled, Pastrana came into the turn fast, hitting both before snatching the lead on the corner exit.

When the pack got to Turn 3, Larsson’s RX Cartel teammate Andreas Bakkerud closed into the leaders, making contact with Eriksson, sending him up the bank on the outside of the turn — a move he would also get a two-place penalty for.

Pastrana emerged from the mayhem in the lead ahead of DRR JC man McConnell, who capitalized on Eriksson and Bakkerud’s shunt to move into a podium position, while Bakkerud held on for third.

Larsson nursed his car home to fourth, ahead of Kevin Eriksson, while his brother and teammate Oliver Eriksson – who dropped out of contention due to lap 1 contact with VSC’s Conner Martell – was sixth.

FINAL RESULTS

FULL EVENT CLASSIFICATION

The win for McConnell is his second on the season, and came after a rotten start to the day where, due to mechanical issues, he only completed three full laps before his Last Chance Qualifier race, which he won.

Meanwhile, the last-lap carnage ended Kevin Eriksson’s podium run. The points leader has finished in the top three at every round so far and was set to continue that streak before his coming together with Bakkerud in the final.

Kevin Eriksson began the day as the top qualifier. Qnigan/Nitrocross

The clash wasn’t their first of the day, either, with the pair colliding in the second semifinal. They came together on the joker merge, taking both out of contention and handing an easy win to Pastrana. Robin Larsson won the earlier semi ahead of Martell who snuck past Oliver Eriksson on the final turn of the final lap.

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Brian Deegan, driving a fourth DRR JC entry, was the only driver to not make the eight-car final. He began the day with a heat win over McConnell after the Jamaican suffered the first of his three retirements in the preliminary rounds.

That put Deegan in the top qualifier race along with fellow heat winners Bakkerud, Larsson, and Kevin Eriksson — Eriksson going on to win and claim his third Top Qualifier result of the season. But Deegan’s day was undone with a fourth place in the first last chance qualifier. Despite a strong start, late Jokers from Martell and Bakkerud dropped him down the order.

NITROCROSS GROUP E CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Casper Jansson, who finished seventh in the Group E final won the first Nitrocross NEXT round of the weekend, taking the lead on lap four of the six lap contest to leapfrog Lane Vacala after a quiet run up to that point.

Vacala eventually finished second, 5.755s back, with Lia Block claiming her first podium in the category after her previous top three finishes this season were rescinded through penalties.

In Side-by-Sides, Kainan Baker returned to the winners’ circle after his 10th place in the last round ended a three-race victory streak.

It was very nearly a different story, though, after he was bettered by Pastrana — another driver racing in two categories — at the start. Pastrana dominated until lap four when he pulled off the course at Turn 1 with a technical issue.

Baker was ultimately unchallenged after Ben Maier, his nearest challenger, also retired late on. Second went to Tyler Remmereid with Gray Leadbetter completing the podium.

In the first Baja Bugs final of the weekend, Ryan Rodriguez took his third win of the year after a tense battle with Blake Wilkey, while Kyle Zirkus — in his Herbie-liveried Beetle — took third after a last-lap pass on Donny Donnovan.

McConnell powers to Nitrocross season opener win in Oklahoma

Fraser McConnell was the victor as the Nitrocross season kicked off in Oklahoma. The Dreyer & Reinbold JC driver started the final from pole position and resisted a charge from Kris Meeke to secure his second victory in Nitrocross’ premier Group E …

Fraser McConnell was the victor as the Nitrocross season kicked off in Oklahoma.

The Dreyer & Reinbold JC driver started the final from pole position and resisted a charge from Kris Meeke to secure his second victory in Nitrocross’ premier Group E class.

The final was reduced in length from six laps to three as a result of track conditions caused by the extreme heat. However, with the course at MidAmerica Outdoors being the longest in series history, the overall length of the final race itself was no shorter than ther series’ previous mains.

Racing into the first banked turn, McConnell forced Robin Larsson wide, negating the challenge from the reigning series champion, but opening the door for the rest of the field to sneak through. Meeke capitalized on that, rocketing from fourth on the grid and sneaking through a gap in the first corner melee to snatch second.

McConnell took the joker on lap one to gap the field further with Larsson following him into the shortcut. Meeke took that route a lap later, but not before pitching his car onto two wheels after the start/finish straight as he pushed to overhaul McConnell and the chasing Larsson.

Meeke emerged from the joker on-par with Larsson and quickly disposed of the Swede, and he set about getting by McConnell next, but a door-to-door collision broke his car’s suspension, ending what stood to be an immense battle for the win.

McConnell brought his car home virtually unchallenged after the final lap, ahead of Larsson and Kevin Eriksson who inherited the final podium spot after Meeke’s issue, plus a last-lap joker.

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Conner Martell finished fourth, ahead of Vermont SportsCar teammate Travis Pastrana, who hit a wall while trying to avoid Andreas Bakkerud, himself trying to navigate round the slow Meeke. Meeke took sixth, with Bakkerud collecting seventh and Conor Daly eighth in his first appearance in a rallycross-like event

Ahead of the final, Martell, Pastrana and Larsson shared the Preliminary round wins, while in the heats, Bakkerud and McConnell backed up their Battle bracket performance to win again, while Robin Larsson took the third ahead of Kevin Eriksson.

Bakkerud’s win came in a slimmed down two-car grid with Benito Guerra sitting out the day due to injury. A spin for Oliver Eriksson on the first lap further helped Bakkerud’s cause in what became a routine victory.

The last heat featured a thrilling start with Robin Larsson beating Kevin Eriksson at his own game by flying round the outside of the opening banked turn. The elder Eriksson brother continued applying the pressure though, while resisting a charge from Martell. An attempt to sneak up the inside for Pastrana at the start didn’t pay off, leaving him at the back of the pack.

Victories at the heat stage locked Bakkerud, McConnell, and Larsson into the final with the rest contesting a brace of Last Chance Qualifiers.

Martell won the first LCQ from Daly and Bennett, while the second came to an abrupt end after first lap contact between Pastrana and Kevin Eriksson pitched Pastrana into a roll and ripped the left rear wheel off Kevin Eriksson’s car. Bennett missed out on a final berth, however, with the tiebreaker coming down to qualifying performance rather than round performance.

Oliver Erikkson, who was also set to feature in the second LCQ, failed to make the start after succumbing to a motor issue, compounding a tricky day for him that began with gearbox problems. As a result, Meeke was the obvious winner of LCQ 2.