British Rallycross

Irish Father and Son Duo Target double British Rallycross Titles

2 Mins read
Ollie O'Donovan. Credit: Matt Bristow/mattbristow.net

Ollie and Patrick O’Donovan have both announced their plans on claiming both the Supercar and Junior titles in this shortened season of the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy Presented by Cooper Tires and to be the first father-son pairing to ever do so.

It feels like a long time since I raced a Supercar properly,” said O’Donovan Snr. “I competed in the Lydden Hill Winter Series in March for what we thought was a warm-up for the season, but it didn’t turn out like that. We also missed the test and media day recently as we were away, but we’re more than ready to go this weekend. I’m not going to make any secret of the fact that this year the target is to be fighting for the championship, for both Patrick and myself, and we’re working hard to make sure everything is in place to give us the best opportunity to go that. With just four rounds in the season this year, dropping points will be very costly, so we have to be on the ball all the time. Bring it on!

Patrick O’Donovan. Credit: Matt Bristow/mattbristow.net

Both drivers will be racing at every event this season under the banner of Team RX Racing with O’Donovan Snr. driving the Tony Bardy Motorsport prepared 600BHP Ford Fiesta Supercar and 16-year-old O’Donovan Jnr. will be racing in the single-make 1300cc Suzuki Swift series with his sights on the Junior title.

The younger O’Donovan can barely hide his excitement for the season opener. “I can’t wait to be back in the Swift on one of the best rallycross tracks in the world this weekend. I won the Junior class in the Winter rallycross event earlier this year, and I know the track well, but this is rallycross and anything can happen. I’ve seen and been in a lot of races now and we all know that even if you are the most prepared and the best driver, things can still impact your day. That’s why our focus has to be on having a consistent run through qualifying, make sure we get as close to the front of the grid as we can for the final and push to achieve the best result we can.

O’Donovan Snr. retired halfway through the 2019 season and had missed out on the championship title the previous two years. This has just added fuel to his fire and he is determined to return on full throttle this year and reclaim his crown.

O’Donovan snr racing back in 2018. Credit: Team RX Racing

The duo has already made their mark in the history books by taking the double victory in the Lydden Hill Winter Series event back in March and are hoping to continue this trend into the brand new season which starts at Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Kent this Sunday (August 30) with qualifiers one and two then completing round one on Bank Holiday Monday (August 31) with the remaining qualifiers, semifinals and finals.

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