Palmer and Scott share Irish RX150 spoils
Championship protagonists Chrissy Palmer and Marc Scott undertook a weekend long battle at the fourth and fifth rounds of the MSA British Rallycross Championship in association with the Shannon Group at Mondello Park, Ireland and each claimed an RX150 final victory. The pair are now tied at the top of the RX150 points table with three events remaining.
Saturday hosted round four of the RX150 championship and it was Scott who started from pole position. Palmer made the best start from the front row of the grid to lead on lap one, ahead of Scott and George Tracey Jnr, making his return to rallycross in an RX150. RTE TV’s John Kenny ran fourth in the early stages, driving the Jelf Insurance RX150 on his debut, but was passed by Mitchell Flaherty mid-race for the position. At the front of the pack, Scott took the lead on lap two, only to make a mistake on the last lap allowing Palmer back through to win his second event in a row. Albatec Racing’s Scott finished second with Tracey third. Stephen Jones retired early in the race. “Learning the track took a couple of heats, we had some brilliant racing with Marc. I put some new tyres on after a couple of sessions and they transformed the buggy. We had another great battle with Marc in the final and it was brilliant to win,” said Palmer.
Scott again qualified on pole position for the final in round five on Sunday but it was current MSA British Rally Champion Daniel McKenna who made the best start from the outside of the front row, but lost out in the first corner, running wide and dropping down the order. Driving the Jelf Insurance buggy, McKenna was one of the event’s stars in the qualifying heats. Immediately at home in the RX150, the Irish Junior World Rally Championship competitor was one of the most spectacular drivers around the Mondello Park circuit.
Double RX150 champion Scott led the final on lap one, with Tracey climbing from the second row of the grid to run second, Palmer passing the Irishman on lap two before Tracey re-took the place. Palmer passed Tracey again at the start of the third lap, but by then Scott had pulled out a significant lead to win his second event of the season. Palmer finished second with Tracey again third. Jones retired on the fourth lap. Flaherty finished fifth and moves up to fourth in the overall championship. “Chrissy is certainly keeping the pressure on me all the time. It’s so hard to pass when you’re both at such a pace. The weekend was brilliant, I made a couple of mistakes but overall a first and a second is great and I’m really looking forward to Pembrey,” said Scott.
Championship coordinator Ollie O’Donovan thinks the fact that Scott and Palmer are tied on points after round five of the championship is a testament to the competiveness of the RX150 series. “It’s great that Chrissy and Marc are tied on points. They are both pushing right to the limit and it’s very exciting to watch. That’s the beauty of a single-make series and we work hard to give all drivers equal machinery. There’s a lot of talent on display in RX150s and we have more drivers lined up to get involved this season,” said O’Donovan.
The next round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship takes place at Pembrey, South Wales (19th July).
RX150 Round Four: Results
1 – Chrissy Palmer
2 – Marc Scott
3 – George Tracey
4 – Mitchell Flaherty
5 – John Kenny
6 - Stephen Jones
RX150 Round Five: Results
1 – Marc Scott
2 – Chrissy Palmer
3 – George Tracey
4 – Daniel McKenna
5 – Mitchell Flaherty
6 - Stephen Jones
RX150 Championship Standings
1 – Chrissy Palmer 166
= – Marc Scott 166
3 – Stephen Jones 132
4 – Mitchell Flaherty 101
5 – Larry Sargent 71
6 – Dave Bellerby 65
7 – Brett Harris 54
8 – Kevin Feeney 52
9 – George Tracey Jnr 50
10 – Richard Moore 49
