Men of Kent aim to stop champion's winning streak
Out of action since round three of the MSA British Rallycross Championship at Easter, Will Gollop (Canterbury) and Pat Doran (Milstead) return to action for their local event at Lydden on Bank Holiday Monday (August 30) intent on ending the five-event winning streak of defending champion Dermot Carnegie.
Gollop started the year by winning round one of the championship, but component supply problems have kept him on the sidelines since his Ford Focus Supercar suffered engine failure in round three.
"It's been frustrating not being able to race, specially after we were so competitive at the start of the championship," said Gollop, "I've missed three events so there's no chance to do anything in the championship, but I want to get some good results at the end of the year."
The Easter event was also the end of Doran's title bid, three consecutive non-finishes being enough for him to retire his Ford RS200. As his new Ford Fiesta RS-based challenger will not be ready until 2005, Doran will race an Escort WRC at Lydden: "I've got an Escort World Rally Car and we've been busy turning it into a Rallycross car. I'm going to use it in the last four rounds of the championship starting at Lydden," said Doran.
After non-scoring in the first round of the championship, where the engine in his Ford Focus blew up, Carnegie (Dublin) has produced a remarkable run of five consecutive event wins and is now within striking distance of championship leader Lawrence Gibson.
A brilliantly consistent run of top three finishes through the first five events allowed Gibson (Banbridge) to move ahead in the championship, before a heavy crash in round six at Pembrey last month. Gibson is now working to repair the damage of the crash and be on the start line at Lydden by rebuilding his MG Metro 6R4 into a new bodyshell.
"I still have a good chance of winning the championship so we're doing everything possible to be at Lydden, I'm not going to give in easily!" said Gibson.
BRDA Rallycross ChampionshipRunning alongside the British series, the BRDA Rallycross Championship is open to drivers in all four technical categories and is led overall by Adrian Horsley (Redcar) who has the distinction of winning all six rounds of the championship held to date.
Racing in the Stock Hatch category, Horsley and his Citroën Saxo VTR have proven unbeatable and now lead the championship by 15 points over John Binks (Gosforth). Minicross class leader Binks matched Horsley point for point as he also won five times in the first five events. But in round six the duel was broken when Binks finished fourth.
Supercar class leader Lawrence Gibson holds third place ahead of Minicross racer Matt Roach (Thundersley) and Stock Hatch Peugeot driver Julian Godfrey (Heathfield).
Junior Rallycross ChampionshipCompleting the programme is the Junior Rallycross Championship in which Ash Davies (Cwmbran) leads the way ahead of Jonny Greer (Belfast) and Andrew Jordan (Sutton Coldfield).
Davies holds a 45 point lead in the championship (which caters for 14 to 16-year-olds driving 1.0-litre Minis) but the real threat to his championship aspirations comes from fourth place Joe Powis (Hereford). The winner in round one, Powis failed to score in round two of the championship but has since climbed back into contention with wins in rounds four and five. With eight scores from the ten rounds counting at the end of the year, Powis is still very much in the picture.
Event detailsMSA British Rallycross Championship, round seven, Monday August 30Lydden Circuit (on A2 between Canterbury and Dover)Practice 0900, racing from 1000Admission: Adults £10, children up to 16 free
