Irishmen stood atop the podium in the final round of the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship at Croft on Sunday (October 21) where Dermot Carnegie (Dublin) was the event winner and London-based Irishman Ollie O’Donovan put his name to the championship title.
Entering the final round O’Donovan was four points ahead of main rival Andrew Jordan (Lichfield) in the championship battle. It was Jordan who qualified on pole for the Supercar A final, O’Donovan alongside and Carnegie completing the front row starters. O’Donovan made the best start and led the finalists away. For three laps O’Donovan led Jordan, but a spin while challenging for the lead dropped Jordan to last place. Moments later O’Donovan too was in trouble, a broken driveshaft slowing his Peugeot in the last two laps of the race. Swedish visitor Per Eklund moved ahead to take the win from Carnegie and Kevin Procter (Northallerton) while Jordan recovered well to take fourth place ahead of Steve Hill (Aylesbury), Pat Doran (Milstead), O’Donovan and Andy Grant (Barnstaple).
Both O’Donovan and Jordan made it the Superfinal which Carnegie led from the start. Eklund, Jordan and O’Donovan moved ahead of Hill at the end of the first lap but, try as he might, Jordan was unable to make further progress. O’Donovan suffered another driveshaft failure in the Superfinal, but was far enough ahead of Hill this time to hold on to fourth place.
“I knew I just had to follow Andrew round to win the championship,” said O’Donovan. “I dropped back a little so I wasn’t in his dirt and then played safe. I’m absolutely delighted to win the championship, we didn’t have a very good start to the year but in the second half of the championship I kept nipping away and it turned my way.”
SuperModified Ben Power (Welshpool) won the SuperModified class for the third time this year after passing James Bird (Midhurst) and then breaking away to record a convincing race victory. Bird had battled with champion-elect Dave Bellerby (Northallerton) through the first two laps and Bellerby had take the lead before a rare technical problem forced him to retire his Lotus Exige. The failure of a seal in the fuel system caused a brief fire which marshals quickly extinguished with major damage to Bellerby’s car. Bird then led again before Power made his move and took the win.
Stock HatchThe Yokohama Stock Hatch championship was won by Tony Lynch (Wigan) who secured the championship after placing fourth in the A final in which defending champion and title rival Julian Godfrey (Heathfield) was a non-starter. “When I realised Julian wasn’t in the race I was driving round trying to work out the scores and convince myself that fourth place was good enough to win the championship,” said Lynch.
Ryan Lawford (Canterbury) took his first British championship class win and led home Ash Simpson (York) and Craig Brown (Northampton) in the A final.
Junior RallycrossRuss Simpson (York) ended the year with on a high note after taking his first win in the Bill Gwynne Rallyschool Junior Rallycross Championship. George Tracey Jnr. (Mullingar) led the final before Simpson and then Conor Flynn (Derby) moved ahead . The top three then remained closely matched until the chequered flag.
BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross ChampionshipThe BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship was also settled at Croft where Stock Hatch racer Ash Simpson (York) and Junior star Ben Rennison (Richmond) both started with a chance of winning the title.Although Simpson went on to collect his seventh class win of the year and put his name to the championship title with a maximum points score, the championship was actually decided early in the day when differential failure halted Rennison’s Mini and put him out of the event.
Conor Flynn (Derby) won the Junior A final which was halted when George Tracey Jnr. (Mullingar) crashed and John Wood (Newcastle) won the SuperModified class in his Toyota MR2.
Result: Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship, Croft October 21: 1 Dermot Carnegie (Ford Fiesta ST) 4m32.530s; 2 Per Eklund (Saab 93 Aero) 4m34.187s; 3 Andrew Jordan (Ford Focus) 4m34.395s; 4 Ollie O’Donovan (Peugeot 306) 4m40.896s; 5 Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Lancer E9) 4m41.798s; 6 Andy Grant (Ford Escort (4m45.707s); 7 Pat Doran (Ford Fiesta ST) 4m47.672s; 8 Kevin Procter (Ford Puma) 4m47.859s; 9 James Bird (Renault SportClio V6) 5m10.769s; 10 Mike Sellar (Renault SportClio V6) 2 laps.
Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship 1 O’Donovan 155; 2 Jordan 153; 3 Carnegie 139. Class champions: Supercar Andrew Jordan. SuperModified Dave Bellerby. Stock Hatch Tony Lynch. Junior Ben Rennison
