O’Donovan, Maloigne & Hedstrom win as Rooke and Kiss claim titles

Ollie O’Donovan (Ford Focus) won the seventh round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship at Pembrey in South Wales by leading the final from start-to-finish, but it was Dan Rooke (Citroen DS3) who stole the headlines by finishing second in the event and in the process became the youngest ever British Rallycross Champion, his 19-years bettering that of Michael Shield’s 23 years of age when he won the title in 1989 driving an MG Metro 6R4. Dave Bellerby (Ford Fiesta) qualified on pole positon for the Supercar final and finished third after running wide at the first corner, while Steve Harris (Citroen DS3) was fourth, Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Evo) crossed the line in fifth and Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta) ended his run of consecutive Supercar titles by finishing sixth, having damaged the intercooler in the first corner joker lap. Kevin Procter (Ford Fiesta) retired with engine issues.

Guy Corner (Peugeot 206) was classified as the winner of the MSA Supernational Championship final, although the result remains provisional due to contact in the race with Paige Bellerby (Lotus Exige). Points leader Tony Lynch (Ford KA) retired from the final with driveshaft issues. Sam Jones (Suzuki Swift) extended his lead in the MSA Junior Rallycross Championship with victory, while Jack Brown (Suzuki Swift) moved himself into title contention in the Swift Sport category with victory as title protagonists Aidan Hills and Nathan Heathcote retired from the semi-finals with technical woes. Chrissy Palmer secured his second straight RX150 title win victory as guest buggy driver Osian Pryce finished second, while Paul Coney (Vauxhall Corsa) won Super1600, Robert Potyra (Citroen Saxo) was victorious in Hot Hatch and Kris Hudson won the BMW Mini Championship final.

Former champion Peter Hedstrom (Volkswagen Polo) won the penultimate round of the RallyX Nordic Championship at the Knutstorp Ring, ahead of points leader Kevin Eriksson (Ford Fiesta) and Eklund Motorsport driver Alexander Hvaal (Volkswagen Beetle). Christer Dalmans (Ford Fiesta) almost made it two Hedstrom Motorsport cars on the podium in fourth, while former European Championship event winner Morten Bermindgrud (Ford Focus) was fifth and Mats Ohman (Ford Fiesta) was classified sixth. In the Supercar Lites category, points leader Thomas Bryntesson was disqualified from the final for contact with Tobias Brink, while Simon Olofsson won ahead of Joachim Hvaal. Brink finished on the podium and William Nilsson scored his best result of the season in fourth.

At the same event, Volkswagen RX Sweden driver Johan Kristoffersson (Seat) won race one in the final round of the Swedish Touring Car Championship, while sometime World RX Supercar racer Richard Goransson (Volvo) secured the championship title.

Andrea Dubroug (Citroen DS3) topped the Intermediate Classification at the seventh round of the French Rallycross Championship at Mayenne, but it was Philippe Maloigne (Peugeot 208) who claimed victory. Sixth at the Intermediate Classification, Maloigne made a brilliant start in his semi-final, before taking advantage of an accident between Dubourg and Chirstophe Jouel (Citroen DS3) at the start of the final to claim the lead and take victory. Fabien Pailler (Peugeot 208) enjoyed a podium with second place, in a difficult season for the former champion, while Florent Beduneau (Peugeot 208) was third. Fabien Chanoine (Renault Clio) was fourth, with Alexander Theuil (Citroen DS3) in fifth. Maximilien Eveno (Citroen C2) won the Super1600 final from points leader Samual Peu (Citroen Saxo), while Jimmy Terpereau (Citroen C2) was third. Twingo R1 Cup points leader Marceau Launay claimed victory in the single-make category, Christophe Saunois (Toyota Corolla) extended his margin at the head of the Division Three table with another win. It was a Peugeot 306 one-two in the Division Four final, as Stephane Hameau led home series leader Sebastien Le Ferrand.

Tamas Pal Kiss (Peugeot 208) won the penultimate round of the Hungarian Rallycross Championship at Mariapocs to secure the title, in an event sandwiched by Euro RX appearances for the former GP3 racer. Zoltan Harsanyi (Mitsubishi Lancer) finished second with Csaba Spitzmuller (Skoda Fabia) third. Tamas Karai (Skoda Fabia) finished fourth having battled with Kiss for the lead of the race. Gergely Marton (Skoda Fabia) won the Super1600 final, Szabolcs Vegh (Citroen Saxo) was second and Marcell Kovacs (Suzuki Swift) was third. Czech driver Roman Castoral (Opel Astra) won the SuperTouringCars final from Patrik Kadar (Honda Civic) and Bruno Csirmaz (Honda Civic).

The final round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship will take place in South Africa, the series announced last weekend. The event will be Killarney Race Circuit in Cape Town. “Killarney is delighted to be hosting this first of its kind event in Africa. Our thousands of loyal fans and spectators, Cape Town and its New Seven Wonders of Nature Table Mountain deserve no less,” said the circuit’s Executive Manager, Des Easom. “This is a thrilling, highly competitive form of racing with international appeal and media coverage, and a great addition to our whole-year racing calendar and spectators can look forward to an international and world-class event.”

Four members of the Hvaal family will race at the final round of the RallyX Nordic Championship next week in Norway, as Super1600 racer Ada Marie Hvaal will race an Eklund Motorsport Volkswagen Beetle Supercar alongside experienced Supercar racer Alexander Hvaal. Joachim Hvaal will race his regular Supercar Lites machine for JC Raceteknik, while youngest sister Helene Hvaal will race in one of the support categories. “It is great that so many of the family is racing,” said Ada Marie Hvaal. “This is a sport we are all passionate about and love to be involved with. I also want to thank my family and Eklund Motorsport for this chance. It’s an incredibly cool opportunity that was impossible to refuse.”

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