The RX150 Class of this year’s 2015 MSA British Rallycross Championship in Association with The Shannon Group will see two new faces taking part at the Mondello Park double header event on 27-28 June.
British Rally Champion Daniel McKenna is taking time out from his 2015 Junior World Rally Championship campaign where he drives a Citroen DS3, to pilot an Jelf-sponsored RX150 Buggy at the Southern Ireland event on 28 June, which will mark his debut in Rallycross.
“I’m really looking forward to Mondello. Ollie O’Donovan has given me a great opportunity to race the buggy. There are a host of young drivers in Ireland that could have been chosen, so I’m delighted to get the chance. I’ve never done anything like this before rallycross wise, but I did do a bit of racing when I was 10-years old in junior stock car, so I’ve got a bit of experience. I come from mainly a rallying background,” said McKenna.
“I’ve been watching YouTube clips of the buggies and they look good fun. I’ve experience in rear-wheel drive Mk2 Escorts, so I should be able to adapt. Hopefully I can make a good go of it. I’ve driven the circuit at Mondello in rally sprints and stuff, but I’m sure the rallycross track in a buggy is very different. Hopefully I can get up to speed quite quickly and do as well as I can.”
However the Jelf RX150 Buggy will see action on the Saturday, which is the fourth round of the 2015 BritishRX season, in the hands of RTE Television Presenter John Kenny. Kenny himself has previous experience of Rallycross action, where he drove in the Stock Hatch class last year.
“I’ve raced before in the Stock Hatch class, but this will be the first time I’ve driven anything like the RX150 in rallycross. I saw Kenny Mckinstry handle one at Mondello once and it looked like a tiger all right. I’ve been watching videos on YouTube and they are quick. I want to get it home in one piece,” said Kenny, who also works as a radio reporter and writer in Ireland.
RX150 Championship Co-ordinator and BritishRX race Ollie O’Donovan is overjoyed to have both McKenna and Kenny at the Irish rounds of BritishRX.
“Having the current British Rally Champion in RX150s is great and Daniel is clearly a very talented driver. I’m sure he will do well and have fun, and John has experience in rallycross so should get up to speed in the buggies well too,” said O’Donovan. “It’s great for the regular drivers in the championship to be able to compare themselves to the reigning British Rally Champion, on a circuit that is new to almost all of them.”
The Jelf Buggy has been piloted by several drivers this season. Dave Bellerby took the class win at Croft, whilst BTCC star Tom Ingram set fastest times during his stint at Lydden Hill. Chrissy Palmer leads the championship by four points from double champion Marc Scott.