Retro Rallycross Championship competitor Jordan Bowes will race in the third and fourth rounds of the MSA British Rallycross Championship in association with ODYSSEY Battery this weekend, driving his Volkswagen Golf Mkl in the series for pre-1990 machinery.

Bowes, who is being backed by Labman Automation for his first full rallycross season, painstakingly rebuilt the Golf over the winter period and made his first appearance in the car in round one at Croft, only to roll into the first corner gravel in the third qualification race. The Middlesbrough driver returned at round two, Lydden Hill, but was plagued by gearbox failure in practice.

“We made the decision to flush the gearbox of debris and try to complete a race as the gearbox was assumed to be beyond future repair, and he needed to set a time to qualify for the final,” said Bowes’ father, Stewart, who races a Mini Clubman in the Retro class. “With only third gear operational, a chequered flag was taken and he actually finished the final, so out of a disastrous start, Jordan scored some points and came away reasonably happy.”

The Bowes Racing team returned home from Lydden to assess their options, and have chosen to fit a competition gearbox to the car. “Since Quaife Engineering is a sponsor of the championship, I contacted them about a replacement gearbox for the Golf. Dave King (Quaife salesman) said he had attended the Lydden Hill event and saw both the Mini and Golf in action. He was more than happy to help find a new gearbox and support us a little too. A new dogbox from Quaife has been ordered and we are currently waiting for parts to be manufactured. This will take four to six weeks, so Jordan will be racing the car at Pembrey this weekend but it won’t have the new gearbox until the next round.”

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