Not sure how many people are looking in this part of the forum now the SES Facebook page is in full swing, but I thought I’d post these for anyone who is still here!
The World Rallycross Championship was back at Silverstone last month. I’m still not sold on the circuit, but couldn’t resist the lure of rallycross, so had to be there.
Few pictures...
I think the Audi S1 makes for a great looking rallycross car, but it looks even better in a plain finish.
There are two GCK teams in this year’s Championship, with the lead team running the Renault Megane again: though notably without Prodrive technical support now.
The opening day was dominated by Kevin and Timmy Hansen. Both are running in ex-works cars and Timmy won both qualifying one and two.
I have never really warmed to Anton Marklund, but he put in an excellent performance at Silverstone, posting several very quick lap times and eventually finishing third overall.
Mark Higgins made his first rallycross appearance of 2019 in the Albatec Peugeot 208, lining up alongside Oliver Bennett and Liam Doran to give three home drivers for the UK fans to cheer for. Sadly Higgins didn’t make it beyond the qualification stages and Bennett caught fire (for the second time at Silverstone) in his semi-final.
Kevin Hansen began the weekend as the Championship leader and, although he didn’t look quite as quick as his older brother Timmy, it looked like he would finish the weekend at the top of the standings. A silly mistake in his semi-final resulted in him throwing a good finishing position – and the Championship lead – away.
I was a bit concerned about the Hansen cars dominating the whole weekend, but Andreas Bakkerud came out fighting Sunday morning and won qualifiers three and four, elevating him to second overall at the close of qualification.
In addition to the main Championship categories, Retro Rallycross also ran some support races with an assortment of classic 2WD and 4WD cars.
With several of the front runners dropping out with mechanical issues and/or damage, Steve Harris just had to hold off Rob Gibson to take the Retro win. I think the modern cars are brilliant, but it’s fantastic to see the classics in action as well.
Rubbing is racing!
Liam Doran fared best of the British entrants, making it all the way to the final. Liam looked like he had speed, but he just couldn’t quite piece it all together. Damage sustained in the final resulted in him finishing sixth.
The overall win was contested by Timmy Hansen and Andreas Bakkerud. Bakkerud took the lead from the line, but Hansen had the pace and a perfect joker lap…
…saw Timmy snatch first from Andreas. Real shame for Bakkerud but, as with several occasions last year, I think poor tactics cost him the victory.
It’s not the best rallycross circuit, but it still provided two days of close racing, so was well worth the trip!
Loads more pictures here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/229616...57708971275916
If you want to see more!