Onslow-Cole wins Turkish RX Lites rallycross drive

In the MSA supported RX Talent Search at Lydden Hill held on Thursday, former BTCC driver Tom Onslow-Cole was selected as winner and will race at the Turkish round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in October in the RX Lites category. Of the final 12 competing at the event, which included two runs apiece for drivers in an RX Lites car and interviews with a panel of judges, Onslow-Cole was selected for the final four, which included Sennan Feilding, Dan Rooke and Chris Ingram before coming out on top in the final interview process. “It’s important to have a positive attitude so I woke up this morning hoping it would be my day, although I definitely wasn’t expecting it. Not only is the prize fantastic but to come here and be pitched against what the RX Talent Search deemed to be the best talent in the UK and come out on top is a nice confidence boost,” said Onslow-Cole. “I think the whole initiative is fantastic and I’d like to thank everyone involved in putting it together; I hope to do them all proud in Istanbul.”

Last weekend an experienced Finn won in Belgium while in Finland a rising star scored his first Supercar victory. The third round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship took place at Mettet in Belgium, where it was Toomas Heikkinen (VW Polo) who repeated his 2014 success at the Belgian venue. Petter Solberg (Citroen DS3) finished second, despite jumping the start of his semi-final and having to take two joker laps at penalty. He still finished the semi-final race in second position. Reinis Nitiss (Ford Fiesta) completed the podium, while PG Andersson (VW Polo) started on the front row but ran wide in the first corner and couldn’t make it back into the top three. Andreas Bakkerud (Ford Fiesta) was slowed with a puncture and Mattias Ekstrom retired after sustaining front-end damage to his Audi S1.

Jerome Grosset-Janin (Peugeot 208) won the opening round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercars ahead of Ole Christian Veiby (VW Polo) and Tamas Karai (Skoda Fabia). Tommy Rustad (VW Polo), Frode Holte (Hyundai i20) and Francois Duval (Ford Focus) all failed to finish the final. Janis Baumanis (Renault Twingo) won the Super1600 category ahead of his Supercar debut this weekend at Lydden Hill, while Fredrik Magnessen (Ford Fiesta) rolled his TouringCar on day one but recovered to win the final.

At Kouvola in Finland, Niclas Gronholm (Ford Fiesta), son of double World Rally Champion Marcus, took the lead at the second corner of the final to go on to win his first Supercar event from Atro Maatta (Ford Fiesta). Ari Perkiomaki (Ford Fiesta) finished third driving a brand new car built by Reinsalu Sport. Janne Kanerva (Citroen C4) drove his ex-Hansen car to fourth place, ahead of Mike Liinamaa (Skoda Fabia) and Aki Karttunen (Honda Civic). In the SuperNational (SRC) category it was Jarno Kukkola (Ford Fiesta) lead home Jussi Klemola (Ford Escort) and Peter Helenius (VW Scirocco).

At the second round of the French Rallycross Championship, held at Lessay, Chirstophe Wilt (Citroen DS3) claimed victory and heads second place finisher Chirstophe Jouet (Citroen DS3) in the championship by three points. Gaetan Serazin (Peugeot 208) finished third. Jimmy Terpereau (Citroen C2) won the Super1600 division ahead of Laurent Chartrain (Citroen C2) and Enzo Libner (Renault Twingo). Chirstophe Saunois (Toyota Corolla) won Division three from Guy Moreton (Citroen DS3) while Steven Lefrancois (Peugeot 206) won Division four. In the Twingo R1 Cup, Marceau Launay lead home championship leader Tom Daunat and Pascal Huteau.

Lydden Hill hosts the fourth round of the World Rallycross Championship in five weeks this weekend, where regulars are joined by an additional twelve drivers including Andrew Jordan (Peugeot 208), Tanner Foust (VW Polo), Guy Wilks (Mini RX), Andy Scott (Peugeot 208), Kevin Procter (Ford Fiesta) and Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta). British racer Tristan Ovenden will make his debut in the RX Lites category, while 18 TouringCars will take part in the second round of their championship.

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