SuperNational rallycross driver Dan Rooke produced a mature performance at the fourth and fifth rounds of the MSA British Rallycross Championship at Mondello Park, Ireland [27 – 28 June] to extend his lead at the head of the championship standings.

Racing together with Irish competitors at their home circuit, Rooke and several other front-running British championship competitors qualified for the B final in round four on Saturday. At the front of the field, Rooke and local driver Patrick Ryan were involved in a fantastic battle right to the finish line - the pair spilt by under a second - much to the delight of the enthusiastic Irish spectators. With ever increasing confidence on the Irish circuit, Rooke started on the back row for the A final and quickly made up ground on those ahead, making a series of impressive passing maneuvers to be able to take his joker on lap four and return to the main circuit in fifth position, second of the British Championship drivers.

“I was a bit slow in the morning, I couldn’t quite get to grips with the track but qualified for the B final against some much more powerful cars and I started to feel myself. The A final was a lot of fun, there was some great racing. Mondello’s a brilliant circuit, hard to overtake on and really fast. It’s exciting, especially with the extended joker lap because it’s takes quite long. It took me some time to get used to the new gearbox but it got better and better,” said the Devon based driver.

A series of consistent heat times on day two, round five of the British Rallycross Championship, put Rooke in the middle of the B final. The 18-year old moved up to third at the end of lap one and immediately took the compulsory joker lap, but returned to the main circuit in traffic. A close battle with fellow British competitors Gareth Wood and Paige Bellerby followed, Rooke just unable to find a way through but content to claim another good points haul.

“We had a really good run in heat three on Sunday and I was sixth fastest. We struggled on the straight, and I just couldn’t quite get into the A final. We scored good points though and I didn’t want to do anything stupid. It’s been a good weekend for us. The changes we’ve made to the car have paid off, I think we would have struggled a bit here if we hadn’t made those developments. I have to thank Gordon Rogers for his help and advice, it’s been invaluable,” explained Rooke, who is looking forward to the final three rounds of the championship, all on circuits that he now has experience of. “I’ve raced at all of the circuits that we’re going to for the rest of the year now, so that should help rather than having to learn something new every time, compared to the others who have been doing rallycross much longer than I have. I really can’t wait for the next round.”

The next round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship takes place at Pembrey, South Wales in just three weeks time [19 July]. Find out full details on the MSA British Rallycross Championship website.

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