The MSA British Rallycross Championship made its annual Easter stop over for round 2 and the biggest talk before the event talking point was the weather as storm Katie was due to sweep across the Kent circuit over the two-day event. However the storm that they should have been talking about was Storm Dan!
Liam Doran taking an incredible line into paddock bend, one of a kind!
Q1 saw reigning champ Julian Godfrey on top, then in Q2 Saw WRX regular Liam ‘British Bomb’ Doran totally blow the whole field apart by nearly 3 seconds! Unfortunately this signalled the end of Doran’s march as he sustained damage to his drive shaft on his Citroen C4 and would prove ineffective for the remainder of the weekend. Q4 was all about Kevin Procter who came out on top, closely followed by Ollie O’Donovan and Dave Bellerby.
Dave Bellerby on maximum attack
The promise of the three qualifying rounds was not to disappoint. In a cruel twist of fate Julian Godfrey failed to make the grid for the first semi final as he was stuck in paddock traffic after leaving his refuelling until the last-minute. It was Procter who won with Rooke, Albatec Racings James Grint and Belgian visitor Johnny Verkuringen going forward to the final. The second semi-final saw O’Donovan, Andy Grant, Steve Hill and Mark Flaherty the only finishers.
The final itself looked to be one of fast and furious racing. But reliability would play a part in the out come with Procter, O’Donovan, Hill and Grant all falling foul of engine problems. Albatecs James Grint showed fantastic early pace but an error of judgement after The Esses saw him spin, what followed was some of this season most spectacular driving to regain position and ultimately third overall. Flaherty drove a constant race and crossed the line in second, but it was Devon based teenager Dan Rooke that smashed the final finishing an incredible 20 seconds ahead of the rest of the field!
In other classes it was Kent’s Stuart Emery who took the honours in the Supernational class. While in the RX150’s Chrissy Palmer seemed unabashed by the thought of racing against Team Austria WRX driver Janis Baumanis and stormed to victory.
Sam Jones took a clean sweep in the junior class
It was Kent based youngster Nathan Heathcote who imposed in the Swift Sport class and took the top step and along with it an early lead in the championship. Sam Jones who took a clean sweep in the juniors. Team Poland seemed to hold onto their strangle hold in Hot Hatch with Tomasz Wielgosz picking up top honours.
Visiting Lithuanian young driver Kasparas Navickas won the Super 1600 category
In a star studded European line-up it was Visiting Lithuanian young driver Kasparas Navickas who took the round win with Phil Chicken being the top placed British Driver in fourth place. Keifer Hudson took the honours and the lead in the BMW Mini championship
