Scott-Eklund Racing - 2012 GRC-spec Saab 9-3

From PaddockTalk:

Scott Eklund Racing is preparing for the biggest challenge in the team’s short four-month history with its Global Rallycross Championship debut in the opening 2012 round at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 26, as part of the Coca-Cola 600 event.

Armed with the Scott-Eklund Racing 600bhp, two-litre 16 valve Saab 9-3, Team Principal and driver Andy Scott, from Dumfries (Scotland) will lead the private team into its first GRC event, staged on a custom-built three-quarter mile Rallycross course constructed along the frontstretch and pit road of the famed Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Scott-Eklund Racing was founded by Scott and Swedish rally and rallycross legend Per Eklund in January 2012 and since then a small crew of 15 team members hailing from the United Kingdom, Sweden and America have worked around the clock to create and establish Scott-Eklund Racing as a serious GRC title contender.

What the fledgling outfit has achieved in that short time is no mean feat. Not only has Eklund’s experienced crew built two GRC-spec Saab 9-3s from the ground-up, but the entire team operation has shipped and set-up camp in the US.

By the time Scott-Eklund Racing arrives in North Carolina, the cars will have already travelled a staggering 8,845 miles. From Eklund Motorsport’s Swedish operation in Arvika, the first port of call was the first wheels-down test in Dreux, France, at the end of March before heading across the English Channel and up to the team’s Scottish base.

Sailing out of Southampton (England) across the Atlantic to New Brunswick early April, the cars and 17-metre long trailer packed with Saab spares, body parts and tools, journeyed onto the team’s new US base at Champion Racing’s Headquarters at Pompano Beach, Florida.

The Scott Trawlers-backed team then made for Starke, Florida, to complete its second successful pre-season test before heading to the opening GRC rounds in Charlotte, where the full, multi-national Scott-Eklund Racing team will meet for the first time.

In the hands of Scott, one of Britain’s finest rallycross exports, the Scott-Eklund Racing Saab 9-3 is primed for battle against a fiercely competitive field of the world’s top rallycross teams in its debut season.

Combining the energy of motorsport with the attitude of action sport, Global Rallycross will offer a unique style of racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fans will have a close-up view of the action as drivers steer through hairpin turns, crossover jumps and through a series of chicanes and water features designed to test every driver’s focus and control through multi-car heats and an eight-car final.

The GRC action starts with official testing at 18.00 on Tuesday, May 22, followed by practice and seeding sessions from 18.00 on Friday, May 25. The opening round kicks off following the HISTORY 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series Race on Saturday, May 26, with heats starting from 19.00 and the main race taking place at 20.50 EDT. (All timings are provisional and subject to change.)

In addition to the on-track action, Scott will join the GRC drivers’ autograph signing session, and visit fans in the grandstands prior to the start of Saturday’s Global Rallycross feature event. The Scott-Eklund Racing Saab 9-3 will also be on view alongside the entire field of 600-horsepower turbo-charged machines throughout the Coca-Cola 600 race weekend in Rally Park, a special pit area set up outside of Turns 1 and 2.

Tickets for the HISTORY 300 and Global Rallycross double-header start at $25. Children 13 and under are admitted free. To purchase tickets, call the Charlotte Motor Speedway Ticket Office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267) or visit Charlotte Motor Speedway.

To coincide with the opening round of the 2012 Global Rallycross Championship, the new Scott-Eklund Racing website is about to go live, where you can see all the latest information about the new team, key personnel, and the Saab 9-3, plus download high-res copyright free images in the media gallery at Scott-Eklund Racing

Andy Scott, Scott-Eklund Racing Team Principal & Driver:

“We’ve been waiting to get to this point for what seems like a very long time, when in fact we’ve created the team from scratch in little more than four months. It’s been a monumental effort to deliver a year’s work in a fraction of the time and we’ve coped with obstacles every step of the way and only come out stronger.

“I am so proud of what my team has achieved. I know we have the best group of professionals married with fantastic facilities at our US base, and it’s a great feeling to be heading into the first event as a multi-national team joining together for the first time.

“The Saab 9-3 is on solid form. We made positive gains throughout two pre-season tests and the latest development parts from Trollspeed have already run extremely well on dyno testing.

“Of course, the sessions on Tuesday and Friday will give us vital track time. Everything is new to us, from the jumps to the all-tarmac surface. Even the race formats, but we’ll be taking it all in our stride. Overall it’s going to be an amazing experience, not just to compete in our first GRC round but to soak-up the atmosphere at Charlotte Motor Speedway. I can’t wait.”

Per Eklund, Scott-Eklund Racing Technical Director:

“I am very happy with the level of preparation on the car. We’ve conducted two extensive tests and completed very positive testing on the dyno. We know that the Saab 9-3 and Andy are both strong and we are 99% ready.

“The only thing we cannot prepare for is the two jumps at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but everyone should be in the same situation. With two jumps every lap, that’s 16 jumps per race, they are going to be a big factor.

“The first Global Rallycross round will be a great spectacle for the crowds. For the drivers, the most important thing will be getting a clear run through Turn 1 to keep any damage to a minimum.

“Andy is 100% ready for this. He’s a strong driver who can hold his own against a super field. No-one’s going to settle for second and we’re aiming for the top.”

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Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina – Saturday, May 26, 2012; Scott-Eklund Racing proved its pace against the established manufacturer-run Global Rallycross Championship teams during the season-opening official practice and seeding session on Friday, May 25, ahead of the first series round at Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina.

Taking the wheel of the Scott-Eklund Racing Saab 9-3 with ENEOS Motor Oil for the first time, X Games bronze medallist Samuel Hübinette quickly mastered both car and course to seed eighth, just three tenths of a second adrift of multiple X Games gold medallist and four-time Rally America Champion, Travis Pastrana.

Andy Scott also impressed during his three official practice runs, cementing his form from Tuesday’s inaugural shakedown test on the .77 mile custom-built GRC course in which the Scott Trawlers-backed entry ran as one of the fastest of the field. The team founder, however, was denied the chance to truly battle for a top seed place when an issue with the Saab 9-3’s turbo charger prevented him from posting any flying laps during the 10-minute qualifying run.

Scott-Eklund Racing’s driver duo will now line-up side-by-side in the same first round Heat, alongside Toomas Heikkinen’s Bluebeam Ford Fiesta, Rhys Millen in the Hyundai Rallycross Veloster and Bucky Lasek’s Subaru Puma Rallycross WRX STi, as the privateer team tackles it’s very first GRC challenge amid its debut season.

GRC race day action follows the HISTORY 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series Race on Saturday, with the first stage heats kicking off from 18.45 and the main race taking place at 20.25 EDT (all timings are provisional and subject to change).

The opening GRC round staged within the Charlotte Motor Speedway promises Coca-Cola 600 race weekend fans an adrenalin-fuelled close-up view of tyre screeching action from the world’s best rallycross stars blasting their 600bhp all-wheel drive cars from 0-60mph in two seconds through multi-car heats and an eight-car final.

Tickets for the HISTORY 300 and Global Rallycross double-header start at $25. Children 13 and under are admitted free. To purchase tickets, call the Charlotte Motor Speedway Ticket Office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267) or visit Charlotte Motor Speedway. Race fans can catch the action live on ESPN 2 from 20.00.

Andy Scott - Scott-Eklund Racing Team Principal & driver, Car #26:

“I was very confident of setting a top time in my first GRC seeding session, so I’m obviously greatly disappointed that the car encountered a problem. But I know that we can still salvage something from the first rounds of the season.

“The Scott-Eklund Racing Saab 9-3 was feeling good in practice. We deliberately didn’t go hard in the first session because we were scrubbing in tyres. By the second run we were pushing it a little more but the third session was cut short, so I didn’t really get any chance to get in the groove – if I had, the turbo charger issue may have happened then.

“I’m not relishing starting at the back of the grid but I’m not giving up yet and know that the team will do a great job of getting the car back on form to get back in the game.”

Samuel Hübinette - Scott-Eklund Racing Saab 9-3 with ENEOS Motor Oil, Car #77:

“What an experience, coming out here to Charlotte Motor Speedway with Scott-Eklund Racing and ENEOS Motor Oil. Doing a last minute deal has been quite crazy and I was so tired before I even got to drive the car for the first time. We’ve done so well today that it’s been tremendously encouraging, qualifying eighth out of 17 cars. I have to be happy with that, running just a few tenths of a second behind some of the top names in the industry.

“The Scott-Eklund Racing team, together with the local ASD guys, did a great job and to think that we put together all these skills so quickly is awesome. I’m coming into a proven team founded on Per Eklund’s experience and that has been helpful to me today. But now I know where I can improve a bit for race day and it’s going to be an exciting battle with eight cars racing at the same time. It will be another game tomorrow.”

Per Eklund – Scott-Eklund Racing Technical Director:

“It was an OK day, but it was a pity that the turbo broke for Andy. That wasn’t in the plan, but sometimes this happens. I was surprised that Samuel was so quick on his first time in the car, he hadn’t touched the car before and he was immediately up to speed. In the last timed practice he was very close to [Travis] Pastrana.

“Andy will take the start tomorrow, there’s no problem there, it’s not a catastrophe. We will change the turbo tonight and see why there was a problem. In Andy’s heat there will be five cars, in all the others four, so he must finish in the top four. He needs to go quick, but not too quick, so he can go through to the next round and hopefully get to the final. I know he can do it. Tomorrow is another day.”

Source: Media Release

That's awesome to hear, sure wish I was there to see it! That picture looks like something out of a video game.

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Dumfries, Scotland (UK) – Friday, June 1, 2012 Scott-Eklund Racing heads to the second round of the Global Rallycross Championship (GRC) at the Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday June 9, chasing a podium finish after an impressive debut outing at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. As part of the Firestone 550 IZOD IndyCar event, the privateer team will take on the might of the manufacturer-backed opposition in the inaugural Hoon KaboomTX GRC round, as it looks to improve on its fourth and fifth place finishes in the opening round.

Piloting one of two Scott-Eklund Racing 600bhp, two-litre, 16 valve Saab 9-3s, Scott-Eklund Racing Team Principal and lead driver Andy Scott narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the eight-lap final, after a stirring comeback from the back of the grid, when a turbo charger issue looked set to ruin his chances in seeding. Now firmly established as one of Europe’s finest rallycross exports, the Dumfries fisherman recovered to net a superb victory in the Last Chance Qualifier to earn a place in the grand final, in which he finished a fighting fourth.

In Texas, the Scott-Eklund Racing Team, a new partnership between British Rallycross Vice Champion Scott and the legendary Swedish rally and rallycross star Per Eklund, will go up against top American racers such as Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan, together with last round winner Marcus Gronholm, in the final qualifier for automatic entry into X Games Los Angeles 2012.

For the increased field expected for Texas, Saturday’s Hoon KaboomTX GRC round, held on a .77 mile course incorporating the frontstretch and pit lane, could prove crucial, with the top 12 drivers in the Global Rallycross Championship points following the first two rounds securing entries for the GRC’s flagship event on June 28-July 1.

Featuring a daunting 70-foot gap jump, a 100-foot long jump, car wash and compulsory joker lap, together with a standing start from which the cars accelerate from 0-60 mph in under two seconds, the format for this unique event looks set to have the huge Texan crowds on their feet.

The GRC track activity starts with official practice at 20.30 (local time) on Thursday, June 7, followed by practice and seeding sessions from 10.00 on Friday, June 8. The Hoon KaboomTX race activity kicks off at 15.00 on Saturday, June 9.

In addition to the on-track action, Scott will join the GRC drivers’ autograph signing session in the grandstands immediately following Saturday’s Global Rallycross feature event at 18.00, ahead of the Firestone 550, which starts at 19.00. (All timings are provisional and subject to change.)

Tickets for the June 9 event will include admission to both the Firestone 550 IndyCar Series Race and the Hoon KaboomTX Global Rallycross round priced at $35 plus taxes, or two for $49. To purchase tickets, call the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or visit Hoon Kaboom TX.

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Andy Scott, Scott-Eklund Racing Team Principal & Driver:

“We learnt a lot at Charlotte, but we’re not the only ones that learnt something. All of the other teams, I’m sure, are going to line-up in Texas having learnt a great deal from the experience, so we must never underestimate the potential of our competitors. I just hope we’ve upped our game a bit more than the rest of them, but we’ll have to wait until we get to Texas to find that out.

“When it comes down to it, how competitive we’re going to be depends on what everybody has done between the two races. If I’m being honest, a lot of our time has been spent repairing the car and the damage we sustained. We’ve had to limit our development because of the manpower and hours we’ve got. But I’m sure everyone has had a similar workload and we’ll be equal in advances.

“My training is also back on schedule, as I was actually suffering from a virus in Charlotte and wasn’t in full fitness. I tried to continue training at the same level in Charlotte but found when I got there it was impossible to do anything as my chest was so tight. So I’m hoping to be near-on 100% by the time I get to Texas.

“I am going to be race craft wise before the event and, while not underestimating the opposition, I still feel confident of getting a top five seed and that should convert to another top five or podium finish. There are at least five drivers that are capable of winning but you only have to get off the start in the wrong position and company. There’s going to be a lot of desperate people out there who didn’t come away with a good finish at Charlotte that are going to need to be in the top five to stand a chance of going to X Games. So the pressure is on, but we’re ready for it.”

Per Eklund, Scott-Eklund Racing Technical Director:

“We made the decision to go back to our race shop in Pompano Beach, where as other teams are using the garage facilities provided by Texas Motor Speedway. Our decision was to go back to our own base where we can tap into all of our local expertise and that was the right decision for us.

“We had a very strong finish at Charlotte, but it will be important to be on the pace from the start to get us straight into the final. In Charlotte Andy had to work very hard but he’s a good driver and the car was very good for the races. The turbo problem is all sorted, we’ve stripped everything back and it will be a good race. The car is strong, Andy is strong, and for now I’m not thinking too much about the race itself, just getting the car ready so he has the best chance.”