Citroen DS3 Supercar driver Dan Rooke (Holsworthy) won the fifth round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship in association with ODYSSEY Batteries at Maasmechelen in Belgium [July 16 – 17] to extend his lead at the top of the championship standings in his maiden Supercar season, and only second year in rallycross.
Rooke went the entire weekend in Belgium unbeaten, winning every time he hit the Maasmechelen circuit to become the second double-event winner of 2016. Top at the Intermediate Classification, Rooke won his semi-final and final to claim top points from the event.
Reigning champion Julian Godfrey (Heathfield) finished second to consolidate his position behind Rooke in the championship standings, while Ollie O’Donovan (Iver) completed the podium, driving his Ford Focus Supercar.
“I’m really happy, the weekend has gone so much better than any of us could have imagined, it’s a really strong haul of points for the championship,” said Rooke. “We couldn’t have asked for much more and my confidence in myself and the car is growing with each event. We just need to take each event at a time but I’m really looking forward to racing at Lydden next time out.”
Godfrey now lies 21 points behind Rooke in the points race. “I had a difficult start to the weekend, I got a bit held up in Q1 and then broke a driveshaft after contact in Q2,” said Godfrey. “Dan was quick here. We made changes to the car in the final so we were closer to him than before. The championship is still possible. I need Dan to have a bad weekend really, but he doesn’t have many of them.”
O’Donovan also kept his title chances alive with the podium finish, and is now tied in third place in the standings. “Dan is really quick and I just couldn’t live with the two boys at the front in the final,” said O’Donovan. “I’ll have to work on that for the next round. I really like the track here, it’s a good drivers’ track and it’s great to be on the podium.”
Pat Doran (Dolton) was fastest of the British RX competitors in the event’s Free Practice session on Saturday evening, driving his Citroen C4, and finished fourth in the final. The event ran together with a round of the Belgian Rallycross Championship; Belgian drivers Jos Jansen and Johnny Verkuringen finishing fifth and sixth respectively in the final.
Multiple rallycross champion Dave Bellerby (Northallerton) just missed out on a place in the final; he finished fourth in the second semi-final and is tied with O’Donovan in the British RX standings ahead of round six at Lydden Hill next month. Steve Harris (Hillbridge) also just missed out on a place in the final, finishing fourth in semi-final one.
Albatec Racing’s James Grint (Kimpton) endured another challenging weekend in his Peugeot 208 Supercar; contact with other cars in Q1 and Q2 effectively ending his chances of a strong result, he finished sixth in semi-final two. Power Maxed Racing driver Dave Newsham (Inverness) had his most competitive outing to date in the MSA British Rallycross Championship. Seventh fastest in Q1 he was sixth in Q2 but was forced to retire from the event in Q3 with technical issues.
For the second event in a row, Kevin Procter (Northallerton) had to retire from the event in the qualifying races. Second to Rooke in Q1, Procter crashed out of Q2 in his Ford Fiesta, causing too much damage to be repaired at the event. Steve Hill (Thame) made it into the semi-finals but made a slow start and finished sixth.
MSA British Rallycross Championship results (Supercar): 1 Dan Rooke (Citroen DS3), 2 Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta), 3 Ollie O’Donovan (Ford Focus), 4 Pat Doran (Citroen C4), 5 Jos Jansen (Ford Fiesta), 6 Johnny Verkuringen (Subaru Impreza)
MSA British Rallycross Championship points (Supercar): 1 Dan Rooke 135, 2 Julian Godfrey 114, 3 Ollie O’Donovan 100, 4 Dave Bellerby 100, 5 Steve Harris 87, 6 Kevin Procter 85
Lynch extends Supernational lead with Belgian victory
Tony Lynch (Wigan) extended his margin at the head of the MSA Supernational Rallycross Championship standings by claiming victory at Maasmechelen. Like Rooke, Lynch took a clean sweep at the Belgian event, winning all three of his qualifying races and the final.
Paige Bellerby (Northallerton) led the final on lap one, Lynch passing the Lotus Exige driver for the lead at the start of the third lap. Bellerby made a small error on the fifth lap, allowing Guy Corner (Northallerton) into second. The positions remained the same to the finish, despite Corner running wide at the final corner of the race and almost being re-passed by Bellerby.
Welshman Mike Howlin (Haverfordwest) finished fourth with Brian Jukes (Barnard Castle) fifth and Vince Bristow (Hastings) sixth.
“I’m absolutely made up,” said Lynch. “The team has worked hard to get the car to where it is. Julian Godfrey’s helped us to set it up since Pembrey and we came here with good confidence. I needed the win for the championship, hopefully we can stay strong for the rest of the year.”
MSA Supernational results: Tony Lynch (Ford KA), 2 Guy Corner (Peugeot 206), 3 Paige Bellerby (Lotus Exige), 4 Mike Howlin (Ford Fiesta), 5 Brian Jukes (Audi TT), 6 Vincent Bristow (BMW E36)
Rumsey wins again
Following his first rallycross victory at the third round of the Hot Hatch Rallycross Championship at Pembrey, Graham Rumsey (Tunbridge Wells) claimed his second win in the category in Belgium to close the gap on points leader Tomasz Weilgosz (London), who finished second. Kris Hudson (Harrogate) led home younger brother Keifer Hudson (Harrogate) in the BMW Mini Rallycross Championship final. 2015 champion David Bell (Harrogate) completed the podium.
In the Swift Sport Rallycross Championship, Aidan Hills (Worthing) fought back from rolling at the previous British RX weekend at Pembrey to claim victory. Championship protagonists Nathan Heathcote (Ashford) and Simon Ovenden (Canterbury) completed the single-make podium. In the RX150 buggy category, Chrissy Palmer (Chichester) maintained his unbeaten record this season, ahead of returning double-champion Marc Scott (Dumfries) and Jake Harris (Canewdon). Swedish driver Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (Karlstad) made her RX150 debut and finished fourth.
The British Super1600 Rallycross Championship ran with Belgian competitors at Maasmechelen, Paul Coney (Dartford) finishing best of the travelling drivers with fourth in the final. Tristan Ovenden (Canterbury) finished sixth and claimed second British Championship points, while Craig Lomax (Knottingley) was forced to retire from his semi-final with head gasket failure. Rob Gibson (Crewe) claimed victory in the Retro Rallycross Championship ahead of Ray Morgan (Ford Escort) and Barry Stewart (Porsche 911).
Swift Sport results: 1 Aidan Hills, 2 Nathan Heathcote, 3 Simon Ovenden, 4 Jack Brown, 5 Chris Woollett, 6 Brett Harris
RX150 results: 1 Chrissy Palmer, 2 Marc Scott, 3 Jake Harris, 4 Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinshy, 5 Mitchel Flaherty, 6 Kevin Feeney
BMW Mini results: 1 Kris Hudson, 2 Keifer Hudson, 3 David Bell, 4 Andrew Hawkes, 5 Martin Hawkes, 6 Frankie Helliwell
Super1600 results: 1 Peter Vingerhoets (Peugeot 206), 2 Davy Van Den Branden (Citroen DS3), 3 Gerji de Brouwer (Suzuki Swift), 4 Paul Coney (Vauxhall Corsa), 5 Dennis Remans (Ford Fiesta), 6 Tristan Ovenden (Suzuki Swift)
Hot Hatch results: 1 Graham Rumsey (Citroen Saxo), 2 Tomasz Wielgosz (Peugeot 106), 3 Mark Henrey (Alfa Romeo 147), 4 Michael Labedz (Citroen Saxo)
Retro Rallycross results: 1 Rob Gibson (MG Metro 6R4), 2 Ray Morgan (Ford Escort), 3 Barry Stewart (Porsche 911), 4 Jordan Bowes (Volkswagen Golf), 5 Stewart Bowes (Mini Clubman)
Full event results can be found here.
Championship standings can be found here.
Highlights of the MSA British Rallycross Championship will be broadcast on BT Sport and Motors TV in 2016.
The next round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship takes place at Lydden Hill on August Bank Holiday Monday [August 29].