Team RX Racing driver OIlie O’Donovan had an event of mixed emotions as ‘the home of rallycross’, Lydden Hill, hosted the second round of the MSA British Rallycross in association with the Shannon Group.

Driving his Yokohama supported Ford Focus Supercar, O’Donovan entered the event on the back of a strong second place finish at round one. A technical glitch kept him on the side-lines for timed practice and a puncture in heat one put O’Donovan eighth overall.

Needing two solid times to get himself back in contention, the London-Based Irishman set a pair of second fastest times in heats two and three to land a front row start for the all important A Final.

The race had to be started twice following contact between other cars, while O’Donovan made two blinding starts from the outside of the front row to run second behind reigning champion Julian Godfrey. However, when the race was red flagged for a third time, O’Donovan was forced to retire with turbo problems.

“It was disappointing for me to not get a result as we had over 100 sponsors, guests and fans at the event and I really wanted to give them a good result. In the final we had a brand new component fail, which isn’t good. On the positive side, we made a good showing in the second and third heats to get on the front row of the grid and there will be plenty more pace to come from our new Ford Fiesta, which we will debut at the next round. It just would have been nice to sign my time off racing the Focus with a win,” said O’Donovan.

Run by rallycross preparation experts Tony Bardy Motorsport, the team continued to work closely with Yokohama Tyre engineers at Lydden Hill, and came away with positive results. “We carried two compounds of tyre over to Lydden from Croft, and tried another totally new one. We made some great progress with the data gathering and development work on the tyres, and we’ve elected the tyre we will use going forward. I can’t wait to try them out on the new Fiesta,” explained O’Donovan.

Fellow Team RX Racing driver Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Evo X) retired from his ‘home’ event following engine failure in free practice.

Andy Scott (Peugeot 208) claimed Lydden Hill victory, followed by Godfrey (Ford Fiesta) and Steve Harris (Citroen DS3).

The next round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship takes place at Pembrey, South Wales (10th May), one week before the first round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Mettet in Belgium (15th - 17th May).

Lydden Hill Result

1 Andy Scott – Peugeot 208 (#26)
2 Julian Godfrey – Ford Fiesta (#1)
3 Steve Harris – Citroen DS3 (#88)
4 Andy Grant – Ford Focus (#3)
5 Steve Mundy – Ford Focus (#52)
6 Pat Doran – Citroen DS3 (#46)
7 Kevin Procter – Ford Fiesta (#10)
8 Ollie O’Donovan – Ford Focus (#2)
9 Mark Flaherty – Peugeot 208 (#77)
10 Jos Jansen – Ford Focus (#54)

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