GCK ANNOUNCE DRIVER LINE.UP FOR REMAINDER OF 2018 WRX SEASON

GCK announce driver line-up for remainder of 2018 WRX season

GC KOMPETITION are excited to announce a line-up of 3 drivers in 3 GCK Mégane R.S. RX for the remaining 3 races of the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship.

25-year old Swedish rallycross driver Anton Marklund will race the inaugural World RX round in the USA next weekend alongside team owner and driver Guerlain Chicherit, while “British Bomb” Liam Doran will race the season finale of the Americas Rallycross Championship (ARX) in COTA, which he last competed and podiumed at in Silverstone, UK, at the SpeedMachine event.

Anton, Guerlain and Liam will all race the 2 final FIA World Rallycross Championship rounds in the GCK Mégane R.S. RX as a 3-car team, operated by Prodrive.

Marklund is a well-known face in the Rallycross paddock, having started his racing career at the age of 15. After 4 years competing nationally, Anton raced in Europe for the first time in 2011 in the rear-wheel Touring Car category, where in 2012 he secured his first European title.

In 2013, Anton switched to Supercars and raced in the European championship as well as competing in X Games Rallycross events in Brazil, Spain, Germany and the USA. The following three years, Anton was asked to drive the FIA World Rallycross Championship for different teams, grabbing a 2nd place in Canada in 2014.

In 2017, Marklund decided to focus on the European Championship and to combine it with racing the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia, to develop as a driver. Later in 2017, he became FIA European Rallycross Champion for the 2nd time.

This year, Anton finished runner-up in the 2018 FIA European Rallycross Championship, and has already secured the title in the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia with one more race to go.

“British Bomb” Liam Doran joined GCK this year and put down an impressive debut for GCK in the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Lohéac RX in September 2018 and has since raced Latvia RX alongside Guerlain also. Doran and Chicherit together raced both GCK Mégane R.S. RX into the semi-finals at both events, and have been open about the significant changes and subsequent improvements to the cars’ set up and driving since working together.

Karl O’Sullivan, GCK Team Manager, commented: “Adding Anton and a third car to our team for the final quarter of 2018 is an exciting step for GCK. We are pleased with our improved results in Lohéac and Riga and expect to further accelerate the development of the GCK Megane R.S. RX through the addition of a driver of Anton’s experience and quality. Running Anton with Guerlain and Liam for the remaining events of 2018 will be an exciting way to close out our first season as a WRX competitor.”

Anton Marklund commented: “I really want to thank Guerlain and the GCK team for believing in me and for giving me the opportunity to race in Austin. It’ll be a lot of fun I’m sure and I’m really looking forward to the race – I wasn’t quite ready to finish the season with the European RX finale in Latvia, so I’m looking forward to getting another chance to race again, and race in a car like the GCK Mégane R.S. RX! I’ve had a first taste of the Mégane in Riga on Monday after the race event and I could definitely feel the potential within the car and entire team. We made some changes to the set-up in Latvia to suit my driving, so hopefully COTA will give me the opportunity to really test its full potential! Of course, no one has raced that track before, so we don’t have any data to prepare with but at least that aspect is the same for everyone. Racing in World RX in the US against some of the world’s best in a new car is something I’m sure won’t be easy but I’ll definitely race my heart out and think the track layout looks really exciting. I don’t have huge expectations but of course, any time I put that helmet on, I want to win. I’m looking forward to being part of GC KOMPETITION and look forward to being part of further developing a car as exciting as the GCK Mégane R.S. RX.”

Liam Doran added: “I’m super excited to be finishing the season with GCK and Prodrive. It’s been a great experience so far and I feel I’ve been able to have a positive impact in developing the car further alongside Guerlain. We have really improved our lap times and overall performance and I’m looking forward to building on that over the next few races until the end of the season. It’s unbelievable for me, it’s an opportunity I never thought I’d get and I’m so appreciative to have been given it, I’ll make sure to give it my all to prove them right. I’m looking forward to racing ARX, I’ve got a lot of awesome fans in the US and of course my family, so I’m excited to race in front of them. I did the first round of ARX in Silverstone earlier this year and got a good result, so I think it’ll be really good for me and for the team to race this final round of the Championship and be in with a good chance of getting a good result here in the 3rd GCK Mégane R.S. RX.

To then be able to finish the World RX season as part of GCK is incredible, I’m so looking forward to Estering, a track I’ve raced a few times and like a lot and to experience South Africa for the first time, something I’m really looking forward to – I’m going to work as hard as I can to get the best results possible and I’m stoked to have this fighting team behind me.”

GCK Media: Nini Mikolajski

September 20, 2018
FIA World RX Championship 2018 / Round 09, Riga 15/16-September, 2018 // Photo: Worldwide Copyright:GCKRX/McKlein