Ollie O’Donovan will be focussing his attention on the MSA British Rallycross Championship for 2018 with Team RX Racing.
The Irishman will be targetting his second title in the series after claiming his first one in 2007. He took some time away from the championship but has been back challenging in recent years, as well as making some appearances in the FIA European Rallycross Championship.
The Supercar category in British RX has become increasingly competitive over recent years, with the last two champions, Dan Rooke and Nathan Heathcote, moving up to the RX2 category. The first round of the season will be particularly tough, as nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb and FIA World Rallycross race winner Timmy Hansen will be joining the line-up of supercars.
For the opening rounds, O’Donovan will be challenging with his former European Championship event-winning Ford Focus Supercar until his new car is ready. It is currently undergoing preparations at Tony Bardy Motorsport’s Scotch Corner workshops.
O’Donovan said that he had to look into all the options before deciding to focus on British Rallycross for the upcoming season.
“I’ve had a brilliant time competing in both the British and European Championships in the last few years, but we had to make a decision for this year,” he said.
“We looked at all the options and decided that what I really want to do is try and win the British Championship again.
The level will be higher than ever, having names like Mark Higgins in the Championship – along with Timmy and Sebastien racing at round one – is fantastic and will make the challenge all the tougher, but I’m ready to get started.”
Alongside his commitments to British Rallycross, O’Donovan will be contesting three rounds of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Silverstone, Loheac and Cape Town – all of which he claims are “high on (his) priority list.”
