British championship at Croft

Julian Godfrey won the Monster Energy MSA British Rallycross Championship by taking his third event win of the year in the final round of the series at Croft. Godfrey retained the title he won for the first time last year with a confident run through the last of the seven events, ending the day by leading the A final from start to finish and fending off the constant challenge of home track favourite Kevin Procter.

The event was something of a mathematical challenge as Godfrey faced off with title rival Pat Doran, but the professorial defending champion had a master plan. “I knew that I had to stop Pat getting the bonus points for fastest times, without those he wasn’t going to beat me,” said Godfrey whose task was helped a little by an increased entry in  the Supercar class. Andy Scott picked up the bonus point for fastest lap in practice, denying Doran that opportunity and Godfrey then sprinted away to a clear race win and best time in the third heat where Scott and Doran were embroiled in a heated battle that slowed both.

Procter, Scott and Godfrey shared the front of the row of the A final grid, Godfrey making the best start from the outside and sweeping across to take the lead. Procter ran second and heaped the pressure on Godfrey but the champion was rock steady and nothing Procter did could unseat the race leader.

Jos Jansen ran fourth early in the race  but a spin dropped him down the order and allowed Doran up to fourth where he closed on Scott. That particular battle ended when both went off the track in the last lap, Finnish visitor Silvo Viitanen the major beneficiary and snatching a last gasp third place ahead of Jansen, Scott and Doran.

Ash Simpson was already assured of the Supernational title but added his fifth event win of the year while Andy Knowles won to pip Russ Simpson to the Super1600 title.

Result 1 Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta VI) 2m56.764s; 2 Kevin Procter (Ford Focus II) + 1.0s; 3 Silvo Viitanen (Ford Fiesta VII) +16.6s; 4 Jos Jansen (Ford Focus III) + 1.3s; 5 Andy Scott (Ford Focus II) 2.6s; 6 Pat Doran (Citroën DS3) + 2.0s; 7 Andy Grant (Ford Focus) 2 laps; 8 Steve Mundy (Ford Focus) 1 lap.

Championship 1 Godfrey 101; 2 Doran 89; 3 Grant 68; 4 Simon Horton (Subaru Impreza) 57; 5 Gary Pusey (Subaru Impreza) 57; 6 Ollie O’Donovan (Ford Focus) 47; 7 Scott 47; 8 Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Lancer E10) 42; 9 Mundy 42; 10 Liam Doran (Citroën DS3) 34

[portfolio_slideshow]