Albatec Racing continued to lead the way in both the MSA Supercar and RX150 Classes of the 2015 Shannon Group MSA British Rallycross Championship at Pembrey in Wales last weekend.
Championship leader and Team Principal Andy Scott was looking for his third BritishRX win in a row and he was joined by James Grint in the second Peugeot 208 WRX Supercar as he prepared for his own debut for the Albatec Racing squad in the 2015 FIA European Rallycross Championship a week later at Mettet in Belgium.
Grint made a spectacular start to his Supercar career as his finished his Heat One race in 2nd place behind Ollie O’Donovan and was placed third fastest. He followed this up with 5th place overall in heat two and 4th place in heat three. This meant he would qualify in 7th position for the A Final and after contact with the slow starting Kevin Proctor, Grint also survived a mid-race spin as he fought back to finish in fourth position.
James Grint in action at Pembrey (Credit: Matt Bristow/www.rubberduckdoes.com)
Andy Scott enjoyed an impressive run through the heat stages as he qualified for the A Final. He finished Heat one in sixth position overall before going on to win Heat two overall from Procter and O’Donovan. An exciting Heat three race saw Scott have a thrilling battle with his young team-mate as they went on to secure a 1-2 finish in the race. In the A Final, Scott led from the start and he led all the way until the last lap when he was overtaken by Event winner Julian Godfrey. However the Dumfries driver retains the lead in the MSA Supercars class after his earlier wins.
In the RX150 class, Marc Scott reigned supreme in the heats after taking two heat wins and a second place to put him on the front row for the Final. Scott led the action from the front before a late spin pushed him back to second place behind winner Chrissy Palmer.
Andy Scott was very happy with his performance at Pembrey, saying: “The Final was always going to be a tall order because Julian was very quick in the third heat, but there was always the chance that if I took a good start, which I did. If I’d taken my joker a lap before I could possibly have won, but it’s great for the championship.
“Only Julian has taken any points off me, and I have to be happy with two wins and a second from three rounds. The first heat was a disaster, starting from the third row, coming onto the gravel section I couldn’t see anything for dust, so I pulled to one side for safety, but for the other two I had a good grid position.”
Andy Scott in action at Pembrey (Credit: Matt Bristow/www.rubberduckdoes.com)
He was also impressed by the performance of his team-mate Grint, adding: “James has been absolutely fantastic today, he displayed great maturity and speed and I think it’s been great grounding in preparing him for his European debut in Mettet this weekend.
“While Marc, like me, led for most of his final, it just wasn’t meant to be for him either, it just shows how competitive the championship is, which is good.”
Grint is confident he can carry forward what he has learnt at Pembrey to the EuroRX première, saying: “It’s been an amazing day, the car is incredibly quick and the team did a great job, so it’s given me confidence ahead of this weekend.
“In the final I made a good start, I saw Kevin get away but then I just had nowhere to go and the next minute I’m up on two wheels. Luckily there wasn’t too much damage and I was able to keep going.”
Marc Scott in action at Pembrey (Credit: Matt Bristow/www.rubberduckdoes.com)
Marc Scott was very happy with his work at Pembrey, saying: “I can’t really complain, I made a mistake and spun just coming onto the gravel at the hairpin and that cost me the win, but it’s been a good day otherwise, some good heats, it’s just so competitive this season.
“I managed to recover and make up some time and there’s still a long way to go in the series.”
Albatec Racing now looks forward to Mettet in Belgium this weekend as Grint and Jerome Grosset-Janin begin their EuroRX campaign.
