AWD Podium Gymkhana Grid Marathon 2016 Gordon-2954.jpg Triple FIA World Champion Petter Solberg, reigning GRiD Champion Luke Woodham, World RX racer Reinis Nitišs, multiple X-Games medalist Liam Doran, and Gymkhana GRiD founder Ken Block make motorsport history at the fifth edition of the Gymkhana GRiD: European Gauntlet Series Final.
As the renowned saying goes, ‘Speed is fine, but accuracy is final’. Commending a large portion of 10 years of full-throttle tire-killing disorder, Gymkhana GRiD's European Gauntlet Series touched down in the noteworthy town of Marathon in Greece for its 2016 confrontation. Solberg Action Gymkhana Grid Marathon 2016 Gordon-0182.jpg We don't have to let you know the hustling was extraordinary, and we unquestionably don't have to let you know that the pile of smoking tires toward the end of the mind blowing three-day occasion was nearly as high as the Acropolis itself.
The big news is that after an impressive fire spitting roster of 55cars went head to head and against the clock, Solberg Petter and Woodham Luke emerged victorious in the All Wheel Drive (AWD) and Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) class respectively. Even with the event occupying its usual late October slot in the race season, come race day the sun scorched through the cloudy autumn Athenian sky, lighting up the grandstands filled with fans who had swapped the dusty banksides of the Acropolis rally for the amphitheater style tribunes around the tight GRiD track.
As the sun went down and the temperature dropped, the intensity on the blacktop only amped up. Reigning Gymkhana GRiD champion Luke Woodham and UK-based hotshoe Adam Elder carved through the field to go head to head in an epic battle in the final, with the split between them in the first run amounting to only 300ths of a second. By run two, Woodham just pulled clear, beating Elder to the finish line by a margin of 1.64 seconds. Fellow UK racer Cross Danny scorched to the finish line to defeat ‘Croatian Crusher’ Palijan Marko in his signature E30 BMW to round out the top three of the rear-wheel drive category.
In the All Wheel drive class it was a true clash of the rallycross titans: Solberg Petter, Doran Liam and Nitišs Reinis all pushed through to the final battles, after some of the most horsepower and smoke filled runs Gymkhana GRiD has ever born witness to. In a shock plot twist, reigning series champion Dmitrij Srybnyj was eliminated in the great eight quarter final stages. Another surprising exit came in the form of series founder Ken Block, who had been in contention for the podium, setting some of the fastest times all weekend, when he was eliminatedin the semi finals.
The day culminated in an epic battle between reigning FIA World Rallycross Champion Solberg, and multiple X-Games medalist Liam Doran, both World RX racers, both armed with huge horsepower Citroens, and both drivers out with a point to prove. In a haze of fire and smoke, Petter just nosed ahead, and the rest as they say is history, but only by 1.75 seconds. Nitišs Reinis rounded out the podium with two super solid runs, facing off against the head Hoonigan in charge for third place. Don’t just take our word for it though, check out the inside line from the winning drivers themselves, the recording of the livestream, as well as an eye-popping selection of images direct from our trackside sharp shooter photographers.
Woodham Luke – 1st place (RWD) – 02:03.760
Elder Adam – 2nd place RWD – 02:05.400
Cross Danny – 3rd place RWD – 02:08.880
Solberg Petter – 1st place AWD – 01:57.750
Doran Liam – 2nd place AWD – 01:59.500
Nitišs Reinis – 3rd place AWD – 02:03.020
Original published at "gymkhanagrid" website.
