Ollie O’Donovan has withdrawn from the opening round of the 2016 FIA European Rallycross Championship in Belgium this weekend, but the time this offers means that he is now able to compete in more rallycross events during 2016.
The London based Irishman finished in eighth place overall in the 2015 season and is looking forward to improving on that position during 2016, however waiting for parts to allow the Tony Bardy Motorsport outfit to upgrade the Ford Fiesta Supercar to be eligible to compete in FIA World Rallycross Championship events has meant that the Team RX Racing driver will miss this weekends Euro RX event.
“It’s very disappointing that we are unable to race in the first round of the European Championship this weekend, especially after we had such good run last season, but it just isn’t possible,” explained O’Donovan.
“Following our big crash in Italy last season, the car has needed to be fully rebuilt and it’s going to be as beautiful as any Bardy car – Tony has worked really hard on it. It’s my decision to change plans a little and that means we are going to miss Belgium, but we’re using the opportunity of missing the Belgian event to fully upgrade the car to World Championship specification and although we won’t be at Lydden Hill later this month we do plan to race in selected World Championship events later in the year, alongside our existing plans.”
This move does mean that the former British Rallycross Champion is able to expand his 2016 programme which currently involves the 2016 MSA British Rallycross Championship and Euro RX, to be able to compete in World RX events as well. With the second round of Euro RX taking place at Hell in Norway on June 10 – 12, O’Donovan is confident of having the car ready to go for the Norwegian round.
