MSA British Rallycross bound for Holland
This weekend sees the second round of the 2014 MSA British Rallycross Championship in association with the Shannon Group head across the channel and to the Valkenswaard circuit in the province of North Brabant.
The opening round of this years Championship at Lydden Hill two weeks ago, provided some superb heats and finals throughout the two days, and it is likely that this weekend will be no different.
Top points finisher in the MSA Supercar class in association with ODYSSEY® battery at Lydden, Julian Godfrey will once again take part in his Ford Fiesta and will be joined by Steve Harris in the Ford Focus. Simon Horton will bring out his rebuilt Subaru Impreza and debut in Holland this weekend, having taken to social media to express his disappointment at missing the Lydden round.
In the MSA Supernational, Lydden Hill winner Stuart Emery will be out to try and extend his lead in the class, following a super display at Lydden. He said “It was great to win at Lydden after all the hard work that the team had put in leading up to the event. We had problems too over the weekend, but the win made it all worth while.” Gary Dixon will be out in his rapid Vauxhall Astra and will no doubt push Emery all the way, but you cannot discount Vince Bristow in the BMW or for that matter Martin Hawkes in the Peugeot 206 Other notable entries include Todd Crooks in the BMW Mini, Slawomir Woloch in the Fiesta and Michael Boak in the Audi TT.
One of the categories that provided drama all weekend at Lydden with some great racing, has again got a good entry for this weekend, and the fans of the RX150’s are sure to be watching Marc Scott and James Grint repeat the battle the pair had at the opening round. Marc said at Lydden “Its great to have someone like James come into Rallycross from the BRC, and he will be good to race against.” Kevin Feeney will join them, and as last year, had a very consistent meeting at Lydden. They will be joined by Richard Moore, always capable of putting his RX150 right in the middle of the action and Larry and Adam Sargent will add to the racing as well.
David Bell in the BMW Mini will make the trip across, as will Hot Hatch regular Craig Lomax. Lomax who took the win at Lydden, will be trying very hard to repeat this once again this weekend, and following a lot of winter work certainly seems to have the Citroen Saxo set up exactly to his liking. Tomasz Weilgosz will no doubt be trying to push Lomax as far as possible in his Peugeot 106, while Paul Maybourne and Stephan Gaunt will want to make sure that they are in the middle of any battle taking place.
In the Swiftsport Suzuki’s, it looks as though we are in for a repeat of the opening round that featured the traditional battle between Tristan Ovenden and Graham Rodemark. That said it looks very likely that we can now add Rob Maynard to this pair, as Maynard was certainly on form at Lydden and joined them on the podium as well as providing a three way battle for the win. With Darren Scott entered we could see a four way scrap emerge in Valkenswaard, as Scott has proved in the past he has the speed, and race guile to stay at the front. Chris Mullen cannot be discounted either, and but for a broken gear linkage at Lydden may well have finished higher. Kris Fruru will be eager to get in among the leaders this weekend, and like many times last year, and again at Lydden this year, the Suzuki Swifts are not to be missed.
In the Retro Rallycross, it is hoped that Rob Gibson will cure his engine issues in the MG Metro 6R4, and he can join the likes of Ray Morgan in the glorious sounding BDA Escort, along with Barry Stewarts Porsche 911. Lance Foster and Ian Biagi, will join them in the Austin Rover Mini and BMC Mini Clubman respectively
The Circuit opens on Saturday at 14.00hrs for Signing On and Scrutiny, while on Sunday it opens at 07.30am with Practice scheduled to start at 09.00am.
The circuit is signposted from the N69 entering Valkenswaard
Navigationaddress:
5563 VB Westerhoven
(Bergeijk)
More details at
www.britishrallycross.co.uk
or
www.eurocircuit.nl
