After nigh on a ten week summer break, British Rallycross returns to the circuits this weekend when the picturesque South Wales circuit Pembrey, hosts the fourth round of the 2014 MSA British Rallycross Championship in association with the Shannon Group.

Knockhill seems so far away now, but there is no doubt the anticipation and eagerness to get back into the driving seat and the action for a lot of the drivers and teams if social media was anything to go by this week.

A healthy entry list of over fifty cars will be in attendance at Pembrey this weekend, with the possibility of some late entries too, and with nine entries in the MSA Supercar class in association with ODYSSEY® battery, the action should be good.

Current Championship leader Julian Godfrey will be at Pembrey in his rapid Ford Fiesta, and with a twenty-point lead over Steve Harris in the Ford Focus, will be looking to extend that lead further. Harris though has been consistent so far this year, and will relish Pembrey and the chance to mix it too. Recent returnee Ollie O’Donovan will be out in the ex-Kevin Procter Ford Focus, and with rumours of a new livery too for the car, and he is sure to be in the midst of the action. Steve Hill heads to Pembrey in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10, the circuit should favour the power the car has, while the word is that Kevin McCann will debut a new Subaru as well, this time, one in the shape of the S14 world rally cars. Its good to see Kevin back, but another Subaru driver who has returned is that of Simon Horton, and he will be aiming to put his version into the middle of the Supercar battle at Pembrey. When you then add in the likes of Colin Anson in the Ford Ka, which is always rapid, Andy Grant too in the Ford Focus, as well as Steve Cozens in a Ford Focus, there is no doubt that whoever wins at Pembrey will have worked hard for it.

The MSA Supernational’s this year has been a case of the Stuart Emery show, the Kent driver impressive on all rounds this year, and that performance sees him hold a twenty one point lead over Gary Dixon in the Vauxhall. With Emery and Dixon entered, as has Vince Bristow in the BMW, and Guy Corner in the Peugeot 205 the battle for more points, will be a fascinating one, with Dixon no doubt keen to take points off the leader, while Emery will be keen to extend that lead. Alan Tapscott will have the Vauxhall Corsa on hand, and Slawomir Woloch will once again be competing in the Ford Fiesta, and they are joined by the likes of Steve Rattue in the MG ZR. Mike Howlin of course will be at Pembrey, and sure to be a crowd favourite in the very quick Ford Fiesta, while the Supernational’s sees the added bonus of two Lotus Exiges taking part. One has Clifford Sayer driving and the other is in the hands of Paige Bellerby and both of these will be very quick on the fast Pembrey circuit.Paige of course recently announced a new sponsorship deal with Sayers Road Tankers and Fuchs Titan Race along with sister Drew, and of course Dad Dave, is well known in Rallycross circles as well.

Drew as mentioned above, will be competing in the MSA Junior Rallycross at Pembrey this weekend, and she will be joined by Charlie Bean, Jake Taylor and Jennie Hawkes. This year has seen some great races over the first three rounds of the championship, and Drew leads Charlie by just two points heading to Wales, while just nine points separate all four in the overall battle. This could be a good battle to watch this Sunday.

In the HotHatch battle this year, it has been a great performance so far from Craig Lomax in the Xtreme Motorsport Citroën Saxo with maximum scores on the first three rounds to give him a twenty one point lead over Tomasz Wielgosz, however with Wielgosz not taking part at Pembrey, the battle will be with the likes of Tomasz Marciniak and possibly Stephen Gaunt who are also driving Saxo’s. Jeff Hope Davies will be hoping for a good run in his Saxo, while Mariusz Mehlberg will be aiming to push his Peugeot 106 GTi into the points as well.

The RX Racing 150’s will see defending champion Marc Scott appear at Pembrey, where he will be aiming to extend his lead over James Grint. The battle between these two this year has been nothing short of superb, but with Grint not entered, Scotts job will now be that much easier. Capable of pushing him though will be Kevin Keeney, who is tied on second with Grint in the championship, so he too should be able to make gains in the championship. Jake Harris makes an all to rare appearance and do not discount him, pushing his RX150 right into the middle and perhaps the top of the action. Larry and Adam Sargent will be on the grid as well, and aiming to do well, while Tejas Hirani makes his first appearance at Pembrey in one of the RX150’s.

In the Suzuki Swift Sport title race what can you say, except do not miss this for anything. Great races so far this year, and currently only fifteen points separate Tristan Ovenden, Chris Mullen, Graham Rodemark and Rob Maynard at the head of the points table. The battle should in theory be between this quartet, but do not rule out the likes of Darren Scott who traditionally goes well in Wales, or for that matter Jack Brown. Mark Dodsworth trails Brown by only five points, while there are entries too for David Ellis and newcomer Nathan Heathcote.

Super1600 sees Jack Thorne and Phil Chicken in a pair of Citroën C2’s, with Chicken leading Thorne by ten points, while David Bell and Rebecca Ryder will also be in action at Pembrey in a pair of BMW Mini’s, with Bell holding a healty points advantage over Ryder so far.

One of the stars this weekend, will be Retro Rallycross, and with the likes of Rob Gibson back out in the Metro 6R4, following some engine repairs, as well as Marc Griffin in the Fiesta and also Ray Morgan in the Ford Escort BDA, the action will be good to watch once again. There is no doubt now that Retro Rallycross is gaining hugely in popularity all the time, and the recent news that they have been invited to the World Rallycross event in France in a few weeks time is evidence of that. Lance Foster and Ian Biagi will be in action in the Mini’s, while Paul Smith will compete in the VW Polo, as too will Barry Stewart in the Porsche 911.

Whatever happens this weekend, there will be a lot of fast and furious action at Pembrey in South Wales.

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