The weekend of May the 1/2 will see the third and fourth rounds of the MSA British Rallycross Championship take place at Pembrey in Wales, on two circuits, but at one venue.
Pembrey, a regular fixture on the British Rallycross calendar and operated by the British Automobile Racing Club, will feature a new layout. The event will be held on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, with the first of the rounds run in reverse (anti-clockwise) to the usual layout. The reason for the changes, initiated by manager Phil Davis is in the hope that they will give drivers more variety of competition, and also better value for money at the two rounds.
Championship manager, Tim Whittington says that “Running the track in different directions is a great innovation for British rallycross and creates new interest and value to competitors taking part in the double-header at Pembrey”, and also suggests that “it’s a fabulous initiative from Pembrey that will present drivers with new challenges, I specially looking forward to seeing Honda Curve as the left-hand first corner.”
The new format won’t be run without having been tested, though. Several drivers have tried it prior to Pembrey, such as Supernational competitor, Mike Howlin. The Welshman said that “I like it, the opposite direction is quite fast and it will make it interesting to race on. Phil (Davies) has done a really good job getting all the work done.”
Davis has added, “We have done a lot of work to the circuit to meet the MSA’s requirements for running the opposite direction, I’ve been discussing with them for about six months.” And, according to the manager, the new format is ‘almost better, it feels really nice’.
He also adds that “Hopefully we should have a really cracking weekend, especially with having Dai Llewellin racing too,” referencing the fact that the two-time British Rally Champion will be racing in the Odyssey Battery Celebrity buggy over the weekend.
