London-based Irishman Ollie O’Donovan, the only Irish driver competing in the FIA European Rallycross Championship, will race in the second round of Euro RX this weekend at the Estering in Germany.

O’Donovan debuted his new Ford Fiesta Supercar at the first round of Euro RX in Belgium last month and just missed out on a place in the semi-finals. A week later, O’Donovan raced at his ‘home’ round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill and showed strong pace against the likes of reigning World RX champion Petter Solberg.

The Estering is a new challenge for the former British Rallycross Champion, who is racing in the full European Championship this season. “I’m really looking forward to Germany, it’s a new venue for me to learn but I’m feeling a lot more confident with the car every time I get in it. We worked on the setup at Lydden Hill. Although we didn’t finish high up in the rankings at Lydden, I think we put in a couple of decent laps in every heat race and made good starts so hopefully we can piece it all together in Germany. I think we can be inside the top 10 if we can stay out of trouble,” he said.

“Tony [Bardy] and the boys have worked hard on the car since Lydden. We are learning how this type of suspension works and there is certainly a lot more potential there yet. We ran the car for the first time in Belgium with no testing at all and I didn’t feel comfortable in it straight away. Lydden was a lot better and I’m sure Germany will be better again.”

Yokohama-backed Team RX Racing will head straight from the Estering to Mondello Park in Ireland, to compete in the fourth and fifth rounds of the MSA British Rallycross Championship the following weekend. The events will be the first time O’Donovan has used the new Fiesta in British Championship competition. “We need a good result to keep our British Championship hopes alive. Hopefully the car will come out of Germany nice, square and tidy. If we don’t have a couple of good results in Ireland then we are out of it, but I like Mondello and think we can be strong. You never know, if we can get a bit of Irish luck we could get two wins. Hopefully we can take some Irish luck with us to Germany this weekend too.”

Action gets underway at the Estering at 10.00 on Saturday and 09.00 on Sunday (local time). To find out more about the FIA European Rallycross Championship, visit the official championship website, which also has links to live timing and livestream: www.rallycrossrx.com

FIA European Rallycross Championship standings:

1 Jerome Grosst-Janin (Peugeot 208) 29

2 Ole-Christian Veiby (VW Polo) 23

3 Tommy Rustad (VW Polo) 23

4 Francois Duval (Ford Focus) 21

5 Frode Holte (Hyundai i20) 19

6 Joni-Pekka Rajala (Saab 93) 14

7 Tamas Karai (Skoda Fabia) 13

8 Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (Citroen C4) 12

9 Jonathan Pailler (Peugeot 208) 11

10 Fabien Pailler (Peugeot 208) 11

11 Lukas Walfridson (Renault Clio) 8

12 Koen Pauwels (Ford Focus) 7

13 Ollie O’Donovan (Ford Fiesta) 4

14 James Grint (Peugeot 208) 3

15 Ramona Karlsson (VW Scirocco) 2

See all news »