Jamaican Rally Cross driver Fraser McConnell was once again in brilliant form over the weekend, rattling up first, second and fourth-place finishes over the two-day Nitro Rallycross global series which closed off on Sunday in Sweden.

McConnell had to do double duties after competing simultaneously in the Group E electric car class, as well as the Supercar series. The Jamaican and his Betomik Racing team secured victories in all the supercar races which propelled him to the final.

“As a double weekend I did about three times the amount of driving that I normally do and that is a huge victory, because of all the work the team has done on the car,” McConnell explained.

The young driver says he is learning after each race and seeking to make the necessary adjustments every time.

“My mindset every time I step into the car is, I need to be better than I was the race before and learn from the mistakes I have made in the past, think about why they happened and just improve on those mistakes.”

In the final on Sunday, the Jamaican crossed the finish line first, however, after he was assessed a three-second penalty for hitting a track marker, Swiss driver Yuri Belevskiy was awarded the win. McConnell was philosophical after that setback.

“We almost made it a three-peat, but the penalty prevented that on Sunday. It was a frustrating penalty that could have been avoided when I look back at it, but as they say hindsight is 20 20.

“We have eight rounds to go and only two rounds under our belt and we have made the finals consecutively, so that’s a big win for us.”

But after the last weekend, the 23-year-old is looking forward to showing his more experienced competitors that he is in it to win it.

“It was an incredible experience and the team I’m with this year had a one, two, three, four, five finish. It’s a great group of guys and we all share information to make things go faster for each of us.

“I’m a rookie, but I’m hot on their tails and they know that if they slip up, I’m there to take the victory.”

The Group E Final was very competitive and included the top Rallycross drivers in the World.

The hometown favourites Andreas Bakkerud of Norway and Robin Larson of Sweden battled for first and second place, respectively, while McConnell had an exciting battle with Johan Kristofferson of Sweden for third place, but the four-time world champion beat the Jamaican to the line in a nail-biting finish.

McConnell has a few months to prepare before he takes to the track again and has promised to do something special with the electric car especially.

“I’m looking forward to the USA leg in October. I can watch the videos, get acclimatised, get up to speed, so I can shake up the competition in October.

“The electric car is a heavier machine. The electric car is all of 1,000 horsepower and is a faster car. It’s the future of racing, so I look forward to the races to come.”

McConnell now sits in third place in the Group E Championship heading into the USA leg of the Series which will take place from October 1-2 in Minneapolis.

— Dwayne Richards