MSA British Rallycross competitor Oliver Bennett has announced that he will take part in the British round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship on 26-28 May at the Lydden Hill circuit in Kent, the same venue where he also scored his first national championship podium last month.
A former rally driver, Bennett has switched to rallycross for this season, campaigning an Olsbergs MSE-built Ford Fiesta Supercar in the MSA British RX. He scored a fourth-place finish on his début, round one of the championship at Croft, improving to a podium finish on the following meeting, and is now eager to take on motorsports legends such as reigning World Rallycross champion Mattias Ekström, former title holder Petter Solberg, and nine-time World Rally Champion-turned-rallycrosser Sébastien Loeb in his first-ever rallycross event at international level.
“I know Lydden quite well now, it was the first place I drove a Supercar and we got a good result there in the last round of the British Championship, so I’m really looking forward to the World event,” said Bennett.
“We’re throwing ourselves in at the deep end, but I don’t think we’re going to make ourselves look silly. We’re a bit behind the World guys on lap time, but we know where there is time to find from the car and I can get more out of myself too.”
Oliver is currently joint second in BRX standings, behind leader Ollie O’Donovan, who is also set to compete in WRX at Lydden. “I’ve only got about a year’s experience of driving, I did about six rallies in my Group N Subaru that I bought and ran myself, so we’ve had to learn quickly,” continued Bennett.
“We were considering this year as a learning experience, but we’ve coming on more than where we expected, so we thought we’d give the World round a go. I’ve driven at Lydden enough that now I’m hunting for time rather than getting used to the track, so now we’re in a position where we can really improve on our last performance there.”
Oliver Bennett’s Quick Motorsport-run Ford Fiesta Supercar will get a new livery for the World Championship meeting at Lydden, and the driver aims at gaining more track time by competing in this weekend’s BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship round at Pembrey, Wales.
