Godfrey wins in Wales and World RX stars head to Lada race in Latvia

Four-time British Rallycross champion Julian Godfrey won the sixth round of the 2015 series at Pembrey in South Wales. Godfrey (Ford Fiesta), beat title rival Andy Scott (Peugeot 208) in the final while Steve Hill (Mitsubushi Evo) ran third on the last lap but was forced to retire after transmission failure. Andy Grant (Ford Focus) finished third with Ollie O’Donovan (Ford Fiesta) fourth. Kevin Procter (Ford Fiesta) was forced out with engine problems. Scott’s Albatec Racing team-mate Kristian Sohlberg (Peugeot 208) was ruled out of contention by a fire in heat two. Gareth Wood (Ford KA) won the SuperNational final to claim his first win while nearest rival Dan Rooke (Citroen AX) was slowed by gearbox problems. Aiden Hills won the Swift Sport category and Bradley Durdin won the Junior division. Chrissy Palmer won his third RX150 event of the season, he held off the attentions of GP3 racer Jann Mardenborough who spun while battling for the lead. Craig Lomax (Citroen C2) won the Super1600 / Hot Hatch final to claim the Super1600 title, and Barry Stewart won the Retro Rallycross Challenge division.

The Belgian Rallycross Championship got back underway after an early season break where seven Supercars took to the grid after Jos Kuypers (Ford Fiesta) and Ronny Scheveneels (VW Scirocco) failed to start. Jos Jansen (Ford Focus) qualified on pole position but it was Jochen Coox (VW Scirocco) who claimed the win ahead of Ron Snoeck (Seat Leon) and Jansen. Davy Van Den Branden (Citroen DS3) won the Super1600 final after Bart Stouten (Peugeot 206) ran into problems. Steve Volders (Ford Escort) won SuperNational + and Steven Stessens (Opel Corsa) won SuperNational -.

Austrian Alois Holler (Ford Focus) won the latest round of the CEZ at Sedlcany ahead of World RX driver Max Pucher (Ford Fiesta) and Janko Wieszt (Seat Leon). ‘Luigi’ (Skoda Fabia) won the Super1600 category while Thomas Strobl (Citroen Saxo) finished second. Experienced Czech driver Roman Castoral (Opel Astra) won SuperTouringCars – and Attila Toth (BMW E36) won SuperTouringCars +.
The RallyX Nordic Championship returned to Kalix for the first time in recent years, where Kevin Eriksson (Ford Fiesta) won his third Supercar round in succession. Olsbergs MSE team-mate Sebastien Eriksson (Ford Fiesta) followed him home while Eric Faren (Peugeot 208) claimed his maiden Supercar podium. Lukas Walfridson (Renault Clio) finished fourth while Finnish driver Jorma Karhaapaa (Subaru Impreza) was fifth and Fredrik Tiger (Ford Focus) was classified sixth. Kevin Hansen won the Supercar Lites final ahead of Tobias Brink and Viktor Johansson.

Winner of the Belgian round of the European Rallycross Championship in 2010, Francois Duval, will race in the French round of World RX this season for the Pailler competition team. The Belgian driver recently won a round of the French Championship for the team at Faleyras. “It is clear that the list of drivers already entered is impressive. It’s always nice to see drivers like Yvan Muller joining the party. However, what I’m looking forward to most is challenging people that I faced in the past, in the World Rally Championship, like Petter Solberg. If I manage four good runs in the qualifying heats, I am more than confident about my chances of making the semi-finals,” said Duval.

Several World RX drivers will compete in the sixth round of the Lada Cup in Latvia on Saturday. Held on the Baroni Race Track near the town of Jekabpils, Reinis Nitiss. Andreas Bakkerud, Toomas Heikkinen, Guy Wilks and Janis Baumanis will make star appearances, while World RX TV commentator Andrew Coley and rallycross journalist Hal Ridge will also compete. Testing was held on Friday evening at a nearby airfield where the various drivers acclimatised with their rear-wheel drive single-make machines. The event features 58 entries, 47 of which are in the production-based category.

Also taking place this weekend is the French Rallycross Championship at Kerlabo, while the Global Rallycross Championship holds a double-header event in Detroit.

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