Williams Esports driver Sami-Matti Trogen showed the form that delivered him last year’s iRacing Rallycross World Championship on Friday, taking the checkered flag in the American Red Cross iRX of Indianapolis from Lucas Oil Raceway to kick off the second half of the Subaru iRX All-Star Invitational presented by Yokohama. With the victory, Trogen ended Mitchell deJong’s three-race win streak, although deJong remained on the podium in second and Parker Kligerman scored his second podium in three races in third.
The preliminary rounds saw plenty of drama and some surprise drivers advancing. A spirited battle between 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi and 2016 GRC Lites champion Cabot Bigham ended with both drivers taking each other out and Ryan Truex sneaking through with second place, while Garrett Smithley and Brandon Semenuk joined Truex as first-time final participants this season. Trogen, who also added his first Yokohama Pole Position Award of the season, and Kligerman took their first heat wins, while deJong and Conner Martell won the other heats and Rossi and Bigham won the LCQs. However, a number of big names went home early, including Scott Speed, Kevin Swindell, and James Hinchcliffe.
The first lap of the final featured plenty of side-to-side contact as drivers tried to force their way through the track’s hard left-hander coming off of the oval, with Semenuk, Bigham, and Rossi among those whose days ended early. Coming from the back of the grid, Trogen snuck his way through the carnage to seize the top spot and extended a sizable lead as the race continued.
Final results from the American Red Cross iRX of Indianapolis, the fourth round of the Subaru iRX All-Star Invitational presented by Yokohama season, were as follows:
Fin. | St. | No. | Driver | Car | Laps | Interval | Led | Best | Pts. |
| 1 | 10 | 1 | Sami-Matti Trogen | Subaru WRX STI | 10 | 0 | 9 | 40.067 | 40 |
| 2 | 9 | 24 | Mitchell deJong | VW Beetle | 10 | -3.765 | 0 | 39.945 | 30 |
| 3 | 8 | 77 | Parker Kligerman | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 10 | -10.799 | 0 | 40.819 | 25 |
| 4 | 4 | 40 | Ryan Truex | VW Beetle | 10 | -18.2 | 0 | 41.372 | 20 |
| 5 | 3 | 51 | Garrett Smithley | VW Beetle | 10 | -21.58 | 1 | 41.803 | 15 |
| 6 | 7 | 21 | Conner Martell | Subaru WRX STI | 10 | -21.763 | 0 | 41.377 | 10 |
| 7 | 6 | 42 | Craig W Breen | Subaru WRX STI | 10 | -31.248 | 0 | 41.385 | 8 |
| 8 | 5 | 180 | Brandon Semenuk | Subaru WRX STI | 10 | -33.674 | 0 | 41.489 | 6 |
| 9 | 1 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | VW Beetle | 3 | -7 L | 0 | 42.41 | 4 |
| 10 | 2 | 2 | Cabot Bigham | Subaru WRX STI | 0 | -10 L | 0 | 2 |
Points through four rounds of the Subaru iRX All-Star Invitational presented by Yokohama season are as follows:
- Mitchell deJong, 182
- Sami-Matti Trogen, 101
- Scott Speed, 91
- Parker Kligerman, 80
- Conner Martell, 69
- Christian Brooks, 63
- Craig Breen, 58
- Cabot Bigham, 55
- Kevin Swindell, 46
- Ryan Truex, 42
The Subaru iRX All-Star Invitational presented by Yokohama returns to action on Friday, May 8 with a visit to Atlanta Motor Speedway, one of two fantasy circuits on the calendar. The race will stream live once again at 6PM ET/3PM PT on the iRacing eSports Network and throughout competitor Facebook pages. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
