British championship at Lydden

The opening round of the Monster Energy MSA British Rallycross Championship in association with MaKTraK should have seen the debut of Liam Doran’s new European championship Citroën DS3 but delays in the supply of components to complete the wiring of the car meant that it stayed in the paddock all day; a bitter blow for Doran and the combined forces of Mtechnologies and Autopoint Specialist Engineering who worked round the clock through the last few days to get the new car to the event. The delays in completing the first DS3, and the necessity to meet PR obligations had also delayed the completion of Pat Doran’s longitudinal DS3 which had, minus engine and many other major components, been displayed at Goodwood, Monster Energy’s Masters of Dirt and other events over the last couple of weeks in which progress on the build had come to a halt.

Doran senior at least made it into the event for the start of his British championship campaign and ultimately placed second at the wheel of George Tracey’s Irish championship winning Citroën Xsara. Just getting into the car had been a problem for Doran who is, well, a different shape from Tracey! While a real Irishman had helped out “Plastic Paddy”, it was London-based Irishman Ollie O’Donovan who stamped his authority on the championship opener. In his first event with the ex-Doran Focus, O’Donovan immediately hit his stride and raced hard throughout the day, muscling past title holder Julian Godfrey in the third heat to seal pole for the A final.

Godfrey had run rings around everyone in the first heat, more than five seconds faster than anyone else he was then slapped down with the 30-second penalty for missing the Joker Lap. Unbowed, he took FTD in the second heat but a spin in the A final dropped him from contention. In the final Godfrey had fought for second place with Andy Scott who was on it in his Peugeot 306, but who also lost out in the main event, a puncture ending his challenge. Steve Hill ran second but with the bonnet of his Mitsubishi Evo 10 open, was powerless to resist his challengers. Doran went by for second and, having had three Shredded Wheat for breakfast, Steve Mundy completed an excellent day by bagging third ahead of Andy Grant who lost out with a slow start.

Supernational was fast and close all day, Irish championship star Ian O’Connell fending off the challenge of James Bird and Ash Simpson in the first lap before breaking away to take a clear win. Richard Norman won the incredibly close Swift Sport A final and Ulrik Linnemann faced no real opposition in the ndew Super1600 class but was happy with what was a test outing in his rebuilt Peugeot 207 which was fast and completely reliable.

• Supercar
• 1 Ollie O’Donovan (Ford Focus)
• 2 Pat Doran (Citroën Xsara)
• 3 Steve Mundy (Ford Focus)
• 4 Andy Grant (Ford Focus)
• 5 Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Lancer E 10)
• 6 Steve Harris (Citroën C4)
• 7 Andy Scott (Peugeot 306)
• 8 Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta VI)
• Supernational
• 1 Ian O’Connell (Lotus Exige)
• 2 Ash Simpson (Lotus Exige)
• 3 James Bird (Renault ClioSport V6)
• 4 Steve Cozens (Lotus Exige)
• 5 Gary Dixon (Vauxhall Astra E)
• 6 Michael Boak (Audi TT TDi)
• 7 Mike Howlin (Ford Fiesta VI rwd)
• 8 Ryan Lawford (Ford Fiesta VI)

 Full event results

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