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Red Bull GRC: 2017 Preseason Q&A with Anders Krohn

P-20161010-00066_News

Red Bull Global Rallycross prepares to kick off its 2017 season this weekend at Memphis on the NBC Sports Group networks. Race coverage airs Sunday at 1 p.m. on NBC.

We checked in with NBC Sports analyst Anders Krohn, who will again call selected Red Bull GRC Supercars and GRC Lites races, for his take looking ahead to the new season (2016 midseason review linked here):

MST: A lot of change is coming to Red Bull GRC this year, with a number of different lineups. Do you see Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross well positioned to win its third straight title or are they vulnerable this year?

Anders Krohn: “The Beetles will definitely be hard to beat, but Honda and Subaru have stepped up their game, big time. It’s cool to see it becoming such a big fight between manufacturers, and one can only hope that 2017 is closer than in years past. Andretti Autosport recently took delivery of two brand new cars for Scott Speed and Tanner Foust, and I’m pretty certain the 2017 spec cars will be another noticeable step forward.”

MST: Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE should be much better in its second season. What are some of the goals and expectations here for this talented trio of drivers in the second year of the Honda Civic Coupe program?

AK: “Almost to the detriment of their program last year, they got a podium at their first race weekend in Phoenix, so the expectations were already quite high from that point on. This year it’s quite simple, they need to win races. Last year they were quite a bit overweight, so if they’ve been able to shave those extra pounds off the car, they could be in good shape.”

MST: Subaru has made big improvements in the offseason with Patrik Sandell moving over and Chris Atkinson on for the season. Do you think they can return to winning races?

AK: “Subaru have done more testing than any other manufacturer and this week we’ll get to see if the investment paid off. They’ve had a couple of tough years, and I know they are gunning for the title this year. With Patrik Sandell and Chris Atkinson they have a truly lethal combination and I like what each of them bring to the team. In 2016 we were left wondering too often if the lack of pace was down to driver or car, but for this year that certainly will not be the case.”

MST: There’s a lot of excitement with new faces coming into the series... Cabot Bigham, Oliver Eriksson and Mitchell DeJong all set to make their full-season debuts. Having covered them a bit in GRC Lites what is their potential like when they step up to Supercars?

AK: “Mitchell DeJong obviously crushed the GRC Lites field in 2014, so his chance in a Supercar is well overdue and I give credit to Honda, Red Bull and OMSE for trusting in such a talented, young American to get the job done for them. Cabot Bigham and Oliver Eriksson finished first and second in what was probably the most competitive GRC Lites season ever. Having talked with Cabot’s new team owner Bryan Herta, he’s been massively impressed with Cabot’s outright pace and feedback so far. Oliver will be a natural fit within his already familiar OMSE home, albeit with an additional 350 horsepower under the bonnet. I genuinely feel as though these guys will turn some heads this year and show just how strong of a feeder series GRC Lites is.”

MST: Memphis kicks off a different schedule this year with a lot of new venues. What are some of the places for fans/series observers to be excited with this year?

AK: “GRC is turning into a manufacturer dogfight and that is a great thing for the overall health of the sport, and should provide plenty of entertainment for the fans. I also like that the privateer teams of Rahal Letterman Racing with Austin Dyne, Loenbro Motorsports with Steve Arpin and Bryan Herta RallySport with Cabot Bigham, will have a chance to slug it out. All these guys are in Ford M-Sport Fiesta’s, which, under the right circumstances, could very well take it to the big teams with manufacturer support.

“Memphis looks like a super fast track, and using the oval part of the raceway means the wear on the tires will likely be extreme. With only 17% dirt, I expect a relatively stiffly sprung, low car to be the way to go, something that VW is obviously well known for. I’ve personally never been to Memphis, but it sure looks like a great chance to get some good BBQ, enjoy cars jumping 100 feet and banging into each other.

“If we can have three different manufacturers on the podium at the opening weekend, I think we’ll be in for a great season.”

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