Dan Rooke capped off a successful campaign in the 2016 MSA British Rallycross Championship by taking a podium in the British Rallycross Grand Prix after mechanical issues saw him fail to finish in the final round of the series on Saturday.
The 2016 Champion, who sealed the title at Pembrey last month, started the Grand Prix off well by going fastest in his LD Motorsports Citroën DS3 Supercar and remained in the hunt for the rest of Qualifying as his team-mate and former World RX competitor Liam Doran, leading the way during the event in the sister car.
With his car sidelined with an engine issue which saw both the Dan Rooke Racing and LD Motorsports teams work overnight to get his car ready for Sunday’s action, Rooke lined up on the front row and looking to take his first-ever Rallycross Grand Prix win.
Credit: Matt Bristow/ Rubber Duck Does RallyX Photography
A fast start from Doran meant that Rooke would slot into second place into the first turn and despite applying pressure during the Final, the 19-year-old would take second place at the flag to give LD Motorsports a one-two finish as Doran took the win. Rooke recognised the hard work from both teams to get ready for Sunday.
“It was disappointing not to be able to have one final blast in the championship on Saturday due to the engine problems, but to be fair at least we didn’t have that happen earlier in the season,” said Rooke.
“The boys did an amazing job working until 2.30am fixing the car. I can’t thank them enough for the commitment they put in this weekend to get us out in the Grand Prix.”
Rooke reflected on how close he was to his team-mate during the weekend.
“It’s nice to have had a clean day and finished close to Liam, and celebrate with some donuts at the finish. Through the weekend I was able to match Liam on times, which I’m really happy about because his car is very up to date and Liam has many years of experience.
“It’s good to see where I am against someone with that experience. I can’t do much more than winning the British Championship in my first season in Supercar, hopefully we can secure enough support to progress next season.”
