Supercar wins for Godfrey, O’Donovan, Serazin and Pucher

Julian Godfrey and Ollie O’Donovan won a round each as the British Rallycross Championship returned to Mondello Park for the first time since 2011, for a double-header weekend. Championship leader heading into the event, Andy Scott, had a dismal time. Contact on the first lap of the A final on both days ruled him out of a podium finish and Godfrey now leads the standings with three rounds to run. O’Donovan rounded off his weekend with victory in the one-off Superfinal, which was without a joker lap. 2014 World RX driver Derek Tohill drove O’Donovan’s Ford Focus for the weekend but spun in the B final on Saturday. On Sunday, Tohill qualified on pole for the A final and finished second after a close race with the cars owner. Kevin Procter (Ford Fiesta) finished second on Saturday, ahead of Irishman Geoffrey Dolan (Opel Astra.)

The British and Irish SuperNational and SuperModified competitors raced together at the event. Brit Tony Lynch (BMW Mini) qualified on pole for the final on Saturday before Irishman Padriag Leeson (Vauxhall Corsa) won. On Sunday the similar car of Willie Coyne claimed the win. Aiden Hills and Jack Brown took a win each in the Suzuki Swift category while Bradley Durdin and Drew Bellerby shared the spoils in the Junior Swifts. Barry Stewart dominated the Retro Rallycross division through the weekend. Chrissy Palmer and Marc Scott both won in RX150, the category joined by George Tracey Jnr and British Rally Champion Daniel McKenna over the weekend.

At the fifth round of the French Rallycross Championship at Lavare, Gaetan Serazin (Peugeot 208) fought back from rolling out of the previous round to win in Supercar, ahead of Christophe Jouet (Citroen DS3) and Alain Hue (Citroen C4). Championship leader Christophe Wilt (Citroen DS3) retired and now leads Serazin in the series by just one point. Former Super1600 front-runner David Olivier (Dacia Logan) made his Supercar debut and only just missed a dream podium, he finished fourth. In Super1600, Laurent Chartrain (Citroen C2) led home the similar car of Maximilien Eveno and Enzo Libner (Renualt Twingo). British drivers Phil Chicken and Michael Boak made the trip across the channel to compete in their Citroen C2s and both made the semi-finals. Guy Moreton (Toyota Yaris) and Steven Lefrancois (Peugeot 206) again won in Divisions Thee and Four respectively. Marceau Launeay won the Twingo R1 Cup category.

The biggest rallycross track in the Czech Republic, Sosnova, hosted an event of several championships. Max Pucher (Ford Fiesta) claimed victory in his World RX car ahead of Dutchman Ron Snoek (Seat Leon) and Janko Wieszt (Seat Leon). Former World RX driver Jos Jansen (Ford Focus) was fast in the heats and but retired from the final. German Sven Seeliger (Ford Fiesta) won Super1600 with Thijs (Ford Fiesta) and Luigi (Skoda Fabia). Experienced rallycross driver Roman Castoral (Opel Astra) won SuperTouringCars – and Steve Volders (Ford Escort) won SuperTouringCar +.

Albatec Racing ran at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where James Grint drove one of the team’s Peugeot 208 Supercars. Monster Energy were present at the event in force – Liam and Pat Doran doing runs in their Citroen DS3 and RS200 while Ken Block also drove. Team Peugeot-Hansen displayed one of their World RX Supercars with Peugeot.

The ‘Magic Weekend’ takes place in Holjes this weekend, round six of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, where Daniel Holten will debut the new Eklund Motorsport Volkswagen Beetle. Team owner and 1999 European Rallycross Champion Per Eklund will also race himself in a Saab 93. Stig-Olov Walfridson returns for a one-off event and Niclas Gronholm, son of double WRC Champion Marcus will make his World RX debut. 15 RX Lites will compete at the event with 20 Super1600 and 19 TouringCars.

JRM Racing will make its third World RX appearance of the season at the Canadian round next month, where home drivers Patrick Carpentier and Louis-Philippe Dumoulin will drive a pair of Mini RX Supercars. Carpentier made his rallycross debut at the event last season. “I did the event last year and loved it. I have never done much rally driving during my career but when I raced in Indycars I did a lot of training on motocross bikes between races. I see a lot of similarities between that and rallycross, so it’s a sport I certainly feel at home in. I’m looking forward to driving the JRM Mini RX,” he said.

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