Former motocross rider Oliver Bennett will compete in the Toyo Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship this season, racing an ex-OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta Supercar.

The 24-year old began competing in rallying in a Group N Subaru Impreza last year, and will test the Fiesta Supercar for the first time next week, ahead of the opening round of British RX at Croft Circuit on March 19. “The Fiesta is competitive in the European Championship and I think it’s a good spec car for the British Championship. We looked at doing other classes, but with the way rallycross is growing as a sport I really wanted to be in a Supercar to see what I can do,” said Bennett, who will be sponsored by Xite Energy this season. “It’s going to take me a few events to find my feet but I’m used to driving high performance vehicles so it shouldn’t be too much of a stepping stone hopefully.”

Bennett is hoping to draw on experience from both motocross and rallying, but is cautious about his expectations heading to the opening round of the year. “I did motocross for ten years, where there’s 30 of you in a line at the start of the race, so I’ve been in motorsport from an early age in a competitive way. I’ve got nothing to bench myself against at all going to Croft, but I’m going testing next week so after that I should have a better idea of my pace.”

The Fiesta will be run by Quick Motorsport this season. “Graham [Quick] is a lovely bloke and they’ve got a lot of experience. They’ve never done anything in rallycross before but they know a lot about the cars and are excited to get on with it.”

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