So after getting soaked at the British Drift Championship a couple of weeks ago I was hoping the weather would be better when the British Rallycross visited Lydden: sadly my hopes were dashed as it pissed down!
Thanks to a hastily modified up freezer bag I was still able to use my camera though, so here are some pictures…
A few Belgian Super National drivers made the journey over. Coupled with a couple of Super 1600’s cars, the mixed-grid Super National races were the most interesting of the day.
Dave Bellerby won the Super National final with a great drive in his Lotus Exige…
…but the best drive (for me anyway) came from Jack Thorne in a S1600 Citroen C2. Not only was he the fastest Super 1600 car on track, but he was faster than most of the more powerful Super National field as well.
The Suzuki Swift class has been the closest Championship of 2014, with 3 drivers in sight of the title.
Chris Mullen looked the man to beat at Lydden, but he was taken out in the final leaving Tristan Ovenden a clear track to take the win.
Ovenden now has an 11 point Championship lead over last year’s Swift Champion Graham Rodemark with just one round to go. Gutted I can’t make it to Croft as I’m sure there will be some paint traded to decide the Championship winner!
Marc Scott took the RX150 Championship at Lydden with his fifth win in five rounds.
Despite a couple of last minute cancellations (including Pat Doran in his RS200
), there was a good showing in the Supercars, including the return of 90’s rallycrosser Mark Flaherty. With zero seat time in the car prior to the first set of heats, it was a pretty steep learning curve for Flaherty. He took a respectable fifth and I’m sure there is more to come once he has the measure of the car.
Ollie O'Donovan is now running the ex-Kevin Procter Ford Focus and he was bloody quick (despite being down on power on the day).
Ollie took a slightly controversial win (the final was originally flagged and there was some discussion as to whether Ollie should have been allowed to run), but it didn’t make a huge difference to the Championship as Julian Godfrey still scored enough points to take the 2014 title.
I've got my fingers crossed that Ollie O'Donovan's pace and the return of Flaherty is a good sign for 2015, as Godfrey hasn’t really faced any consistent challenge in 2014.
Wil Teurlings having a moment in his Volvo S40. I’m assuming this is running an inline 5 cylinder engine, as the engine note sounded exactly an 80’s Sport quattro. Very cool!
With 4WD on his side Rob Gibson was, unsurprisingly, the winning Retro car in the Retro Rallycross Challenge.
James Harrold had his Beetle out again. It looked a bit of a handful in the wet…
..plus it was chucking out lots of flames: double win!
Not the most pleasant conditions for spectating, but the rain really mixed up some of the racing. I now have a whole two days wait to watch some more rallycross!
