James Grint endured a weekend of mixed fortunes at the Croft circuit in Yorkshire as he took part in both the final round of the 2016 MSA British Rallycross Championship on Saturday and then the 2016 Procters Coaches MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix on Sunday.
The former British Rally Championship competitor started out well on Saturday in the final round of British RX as he stayed well within the top ten during Qualifying to earn a place in the Semi-Finals. Grint then guided his Albatec Racing Peugeot 208 RX Supercar to a place in the Final from there and was looking good to take a podium finish before a broken propshaft ended his hopes for a high finish.
Grint was back out again on Sunday for the Grand Prix where in difficult and mixed conditions, he stayed well within the top eight to qualify for the ten car B Final. With only the top four cars going through to the all important A Final of the event, Grint finished in fifth place however he was later moved up to fourth and into the A Final itself. Grint would make a good start in the race and keep a solid race pace to come home in sixth place after making progress up the order.
James Grint in the Albatec Racing Peugeot 208 RX Supercar in the 2016 MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix. Credit: Albatec Racing
Team Principal Andy Scott was very happy with the performance of his young charger during what has been a challenging season.
“I’m delighted for James that he could end his season with a solid result, against a quality field in the British Rallycross Grand Prix. He posted some respectable lap times throughout the weekend, both in the series finale and the Grand Prix, which allowed him to demonstrate his potential. It’s disappointing that we didn’t get the result he deserved on Saturday, but that’s rallycross, sometimes you have good luck other times bad luck.”
Grint himself was happy with the progress he made over the weekend.
“I’m pretty happy with the outcome on Sunday, to finish where we did against such strong opposition was actually very enjoyable, the most fun I’ve had all year. The weather conditions were awful, with no grip and very tricky for everyone, which made the racing exciting to say the least. It was an absolute pleasure to drive the Albatec Peugeot to a good result to end the season,” explained Grint.
“On Saturday we had a half decent run across the first heat but were held up a little by another driver, in the second I made a couple of mistakes, and the third was pretty average. We managed to get through to the semis and everything was going well for a place in the Final until we had to retire. Across the weekend though the car was great to drive, and our lap times were fast, a decent end to the year.”
