Oss boss in LAT-LIT. O’Donovan double in Wales. Borseth born again.

27 August / The 5 Nations British Rallycross Championship regroups at Pembrey in south Wales where Patrick O’Donovan continues his spectacular maiden Supercar season and notches up his fourth win of the year. O’Donovan (Fiesta) was fastest in Q1 and qualified second to Tristan Ovenden (Citroen DS3) who was fastest in Q2. O’Donovan won semi-final two and then stamped his authority on the final, leading home former champion Nathan Heathcote (Citroen C4) and Julian Godfrey (Fiesta). Will Ovenden qualified fourth among the Junior racers but came good in the final where he passed Owen Robbins to take the win. Dave Bellerby dominated the BMW Mini series, beaten only in Q1 in which Bradley Turner was fastest. Andrew Hawkes placed second ahead of Tom Constantine. Tony Lynch (Toyota MR2) beat Terry Moore (Mini) to win the Retro final while John Cross won SuperRetro ahead of Allan Tapscott (Escort) and Nigel Davey (Peugeot 205). Max Weatherley beat James and Luke Constantine to be best of the Swift Sport field. Supernational mustered just three starters, Darren Bleasdale (Vauxhall VX220) claiming his first win after brother Jason (who is dominating the class in 2022) was forced to retire his similar VX220 at the start of the race. The Mini All4 series shared the track with the Supernational cars, Ed Stallard making a winning return to rallycross in the first event with a new car. Guest racers Jann Mardenborough and Jamie Chadwick placed first and second in the RX150 series, Ben Hardy placing third and clinching the championship title as a result.

27 August / Edijs Oss (Skoda Fabia) won the fifth round of the Latvian-Lithunian Championship at Jekabpils. Beaten only in Q2 by Marcis Martinovs, Oss was top qualifier and took the final ahead of Andri Oun. In Super2000 Kristaps Kasparovics led the charge, beaten only in Q3, Kasparovics won the final ahead of Ligitas Kordusas and Marko Muru. Janno Ligur was unbeaten in Super1600, the Skoda Fabia driver taking a clear win. The BMW 3000 class mustered 19 starters and was won by Karlis Nebars. Kristaps Martinovs won the Lada RX class and Linards Jasons was unbeaten in the Yaris Cup.

28 August / In the second of two days at Pembrey, Patrick O’Donovan claimed another win, his fourth Pembrey win in as many starts this year and his fifth championship event win of the year. O’Donovan was unbeaten on Sunday and was joined on the podium by championship’s most successful driver of all time, Julian Godfrey, and Ollie O’Donovan who climbed to third having started last on the grid in his Ford Focus. Tristan Ovenden and Derek Tohill recovered from troubled first days to place fourth and sixth, Steve Hill fifth in his Mitsubishi. Will Ovenden doubled up on his Saturday success and won again in the Junior championship. Max Langmaid, however, regained the championship lead after placing second in the final. Dave Bellerby put his name to the BMW Mini championship after another dominant performance. Jason Bleasdale borrowed brother Darren’s Vauxhall VX220 and won the Supernational section, now reduced to just two starters. In so doing Bleasdale won the championship. David Bell held off a strong challenge from Ed Stallard to win the Mini All4 class and clinch the title. The Retro Rallycross title was decided in Tony Lynch’s favour, the geriatric driver guiding his Toyota MR2 to another win. Allan Tapscott (Escort) won the SuperRetro final after John Cross spun in the first lap. Max Weatherley gained another Swift Sport win. Guest driver Jann Mardenborough was beaten only by Jamie Chadwick in a heat as he raced to a second straight win in the RX150 class.

28 August / The fifth round of the Norwegian NM Rallycross series took place at Gol where Knut Ove Borseth (Ford Focus) cemented his return to the top of Class Four (Supernational). In the mix all weekend, Borseth won B final and then progressed to take the A final ahead of Simen Engsvik (VW) and Emil Sivesind (Audi). Petter Leirhol (BMW) won two qualifiers and was top qualifier in Class Three where he went on to win the final. Joakim Vestli (BMW M3) was second while Sander Engsvik (BMW) worked hard for third place, progressing to the main event via victories in the C and B finals. Trond Simen Larsen (Mazda) beat the similar car of Sigurd Erik Egeland to win Class Two. In Class One (Super1600) Espen Isaksaetre (Peugeot 208) was unbeaten, winning all four heats and the final. Mats W Marthinsen (VW) placed second ahead of Per Magne Svardal (Audi) who also won the B Final. Jens Hvaal (Honda Civic) came out on top of the 18-strong Junior class and was joined on the podium by Sindre Haug and Nikolai Karlsen, both in similar Hondas. The Historic class returned to the series and boasted 16 starters. Arnfinn Bergseng (Ford Escort MkI) was again best of the pack, chased home by the VW Beetles of Bjorn Egil Dalen and Marius Sannerhaugen.

This weekend / The FIA World Rallycross Championship moves to Riga for an event that has become a popular cornerstone of the series in recent years. It’s the first of the double-headers that will be run through to the end of the year. The event also has RX2e and Euro RX1. Meanwhile, in France Loheac hosts the French championship for the first time since 2012. The CEZ series visits Melk in Austria, the event also counting for the Austrian and Czech championships. RX Portugal moves to Macao Verde Horizonte and Finland’s SM Rallicross visits Hyvinkaa.

pics: British RX, Rallycross LV, NBF,