SuperNational rallycross racer Dan Rooke finished fifth at the sixth round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship at Pembrey, South Wales [July 19], to maintain a 14 point lead at the top of the championship standings with two rounds to go.

The Devon driver ran at the front of the competitive category throughout the day in Wales, driving his 1600cc Citroen AX. He set a pair of second fastest times in heats one and three and was fastest overall in heat two, securing the two additional championship bonus points for setting the quickest race time of the weekend.

Starting from the front row of the A final grid in second position, Rooke made the best launch away from the start line and ran second in the opening laps, pressuring leader Gareth Wood (Ford KA) for the lead. Unfortunately for the Dan Rook Racing team, the car suffered a transmission problem on the second lap, leaving the 18-year old to nurse the car to end of the race and collect points for a fifth place finish. “The heats went very well, the traffic wasn't too much of an issue and we had fairly clear runs. In the first heat we suffered from under steer, but the team made a few alterations to the suspension, which soon fixed that. I felt a lot calmer at this event compared to the last round at Mondello Park and it paid off by being in the top two all day, until our problem in the final,” explained Rooke. “We had a gearbox issue on the second lap which caused us to only have first and second gear. Still, I managed to nurse the car home. We won't know what the problem is until the gearbox is stripped, but we will work hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Despite the disappointing result, Rooke remains upbeat about his championship chances; with his fighting fifth place finish he continues to head the title race. “We have come away from Pembrey feeling quite positive, we now know that the pace is there to win with recent developments we’ve made to the car, we just need to string it all together for a strong result. We haven't lost out too much in the championship because some of our rivals also had problems. Getting the bonus points for setting the fastest heat time of course helps too - every point counts! The car ran well all day, I wasn't losing too much time out of the tight corners which was a problem we had at the last Pembrey event, so we’re very pleased about that and think we can be strong at the next round at Lydden Hill,” concluded the former autocross champion.

The next round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship takes place at Lydden Hill, Kent [August 31] - the home of rallycross - where Rooke scored his maiden rallycross victory in April.

British SuperNational Rallycross Championship Standings (after 6/8 rounds)

1 Dan Rooke – Citroen AX - 181
2 Gareth Wood – Ford KA - 167
3 Allan Tapscott – Vauxhall Corsa - 161
4 Tony Lynch – BMW Mini - 148
5 Stuart Emery – Peugeot 206 - 140
6 Paige Bellerby – Lotus Exige - 135
7 Mike Howlin – Ford Fiesta - 134
8 Todd Crooks – BMW Mini - 114
9 Gary Simpson – BMW 325 - 92
10 Slawomir Woloch – Ford Fiesta - 88

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