2014 Swift Rallycross Champion Tristan Ovenden couldn’t have made a better start to his campaign to retain his title. His faultless performance saw him fastest in all three heats. That in turn earned him pole position for the A Final which saw an all Kent front row with Darren Scott (Sittingbourne) and Rob Maynard (Deal) lined up next to Ovenden, both hopeful to spoil his perfect start to the season. It was all down to the start. Ovenden didn’t let the pressure get to him and he was just ahead of the pack into the fast first corner. From there he didn’t relinquish the lead until he took the checkered flag 6 laps later.

Tristan Ovenden, #72: “The anticipation of a new season, especially this year, with lots of new drivers makes the opening round an exciting one and carrying the number ‘1’ on the Goody Demolition Swift created even more expectation!”

“I was very pleased to go through the meeting finding out that we were still very competitive. The car felt good all day and we managed to stay incident free to post the fastest times in all 3 heats. In the final we just needed a good start and I knew we'd do well. The start was good and I led through the first corner. I did make a mistake on lap 3 which allowed the field to close up on me slightly but I then put 3 good laps together to take the win. I couldn’t be more delighted."

Barnsley local Jack Brown began his British Swift Rallycross Championship challenge at Croft Circuit on Sunday 15th March.

After a disappointing first heat, finishing in 11th place only, it was obvious there was clearly a mechanical issue. On closure inspection of the car, the team worked flat out to change a problem clutch before the second round of heats. In the second heat, Jack drove to a 3rd place that would place him in 6th overall and gain him a second place for the A final.

The final would see jack hit the first corner in fourth place in the perfect position to gain a top three position after some first corner jostling saw him pushed off the racing line onto the grass. After some tenacious driving and a complete gearbox failure Jack took the flag in fifth spot and secure some valuable championship points.

Jack Brown #38: “To sum up the weekend I think we did really well considering the clutch change after the first heat and a smashed gearbox in the final a 5th place was a good result. We are working on the car with a view to be on the podium at Lydden and hopefully all these faults will be sorted”

Reigate based Swift Sport Rallycross hopeful Alex Spencer opened his season in an action packed first round that saw a bumper entry of 13 cars at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire. In his opening heat Alex was challenging for the lead into the first corner but narrowly missed out on finishing the heat in third place. Alex started the second heat on pole position, but clutch problems saw him spin on the final lap as the car became difficult to handle on the loose.

Alex managed to secure a front row start for the B final, but he was again hampered as the clutch troubles reappeared and saw him spin on the loose section, bringing him home in fourth place. In a championship where anyone has the ability to win races it won’t be too long before Alex claims a spot on the podium.

Alex Spencer #96: “It was a challenging weekend with a few mechanical hiccups with the car and I made a few errors myself but we have come away from the weekend with some lessons learned”

“We are looking forward to pushing ourselves for the coming rounds. Big thanks to Peter Gwynne Motorsport for the help and to my team who worked flawlessly throughout the day.”

Debuting in the Swift Sport Championship young Jake Taylor hit the ground running at Croft Circuit with two third places and a fourth in the heats. He would have sneaked a second place in heat 2 but took the hairpin slightly wide and got bumped out the way and into third. Along the way he was showing some truly excellent driving skills making planned passes on the loose sections look easy.

This dogged determination earned him a well-deserved place on the second row for the A-final.

A spin at the first corner trying to avoid an incident saw Jake loose a couple of places. Jake eventually claimed a well-deserved 6th spot scoring him valuable championship points that will stand him in good stead for the remaining rounds.

Jake Taylor, #3: “It all feels right” beamed an elated Taylor

“The car is just perfect, the work that Graham and his team at Autopoint have done is just outstanding. I’m learning everytime I go out in it, and that’s the plan to learn and improve my racecraft this season”

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