The bank holiday weekend of 29 – 30 August 2021 saw the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy Presented by Cooper Tires liven up the Welsh countryside at Pembrey Circuit with some top-notch rallycross action. The Supercar class’ round three was spread over the two days, however, each of the support classes held their round three on Sunday and round four on bank holiday Monday.
The RX150 class gave us plenty of the high-speed action we all enjoy from these small buggies with Stephen Jones and Tommi Caldwell winning the qualifying races on Sunday, but it was Patrick O’Donovan who eventually overcame his technical issues to take his third straight win of the season. Caldwell pushed hard and closely followed O’Donovan over the finish line just 0.2 seconds behind him. In round four on Monday, Caldwell took the lead from O’Donovan who tried but failed to make the undercut work on his joker lap. O’Donovan, unfortunately, span his RX150 which gave Jones the lead he so desperately wanted and then Caldwell went on to take the round four win.
In the Super Retro class, the Porsche 911 piloted by Barry Stewart totally dominated the qualifying races with the Ford Escort of Allan Tapscott hot on his tail. In their final race of round three, Tapscott attempted a great move but couldn’t follow it through allowing Vince Bristow‘s BMW E36 to get past and claim second place behind Stewart. In round four though, Ray Morgan‘s Ford Escort Mk3 BDA made up for his disappointing previous day by firing ahead to take the win after Stewart lost power coming out of the hairpin, dropping to third allowing Tapscott to claim second place.
Meanwhile, in the Retro class’ final of round three Tony Lynch span his Toyota MR2 leaving Steve Cozens to take the lead and eventual win in his Citreon AX. Terry Moore‘s tiny Austin Mini was quick to the mark and claimed second ahead of Lynch. Round three on Monday was the day that Lynch was able to take his MR2 to it’s first win after making a lightning-fast start leaving Cozens and the VW Polo Coupe GT of Paul Smith chasing him down all the way to the checkered flag.
The BMW Minis produced some fast-paced, dramatic racing with Drew Bellerby rolling her car while leading a semi-final in Sunday’s round three. Thankfully the new mum was unhurt with the car suffering a fair few dents. In the final, Stephen Brown and Tom Constantine battled hard for the lead before Constantine span his freshly rebuilt car allowing Brown the space he needed to cross the line first ahead of Darren Bleasdale and Ben Sayer. Round four saw a repeat performance from Brown ahead of Turner with Sayer racking up his second podium of the weekend. In the All4 Super Mini class, the 4 wheel-drive Mini’s had plenty of strong battles over the two rounds, with current BMW Mini Champion David Bell coming out on top on both days ahead of Martin Hawkes and Adrian Turner.
In the Swift Sport Rallycross Championship, Luke Constantine made it a double celebration with victory in both Suzuki Swift rounds this weekend. On Sunday he fended of Max Weatherley and his cousin James Constantine. Then on Monday, he did it all again, winning all three qualifiers with his cousin finishing second in every race he started. Weatherley was the closest challenger to the duo, crossing the line just 0.5 seconds behind to complete the podium.
It was a battle of the Citreons in the Super 1600 Championship over the weekend with Darren Scott in his Citroen C2 battling hard to take the win ahead of Phil Chicken‘s C2 and Craig Lomax‘s Citroen C1. However, the round three final race was later declared void when all three of them were penalised for non-compliance with camera regulations. On Monday, Lomax fought hard and after a spectacular overtake on Scott who challenged him at every opportunity for the lead, Lomas took the win for round four with Scott settling for second and Chicken in third place.
In the Motorsport UK Supernational Rallycross Championship, reigning champion Paige Bellerby totally dominated both rounds in her Lotus Exige. On Sunday, after winning all three qualifiers, the Vauxhall VX220 piloted by Jason Bleasdale only managed to claim second with Slawomir Woloch‘s BMW M3 coming home in third place. Monday’s round four provided a second dominant victory for Bellerby, again, ahead of series newcomer Bleasdale, with Woloch’s long wheel-based beemer not suiting the track as much as its more agile rivals. Lee Keeler struggled with no power steering for much of the weekend, but his improved lap times shows the progress he is making with his newly built Vauxhall Astra.
Max Langmaid dominated the Motorsport UK Junior Rallycross Championship with a trio of qualifying wins and victory in both rounds across the weekend. Owen Robbins twice finished second with Caitlin May joining the duo on the podium on Sunday. In Monday’s round four Will Ovenden capitalised on May’s spin in a race that provided non-stop action by the 14-17 year-olds across the six laps.
Six-time champion Julian Godfrey displayed his prowess in round three of the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship with a dominant performance in his 600 horsepower Ford Fiesta RX Supercar. Semi-final two winner Roberts Vitols was the sensation of the day though with some superb passes including a move up the inside of Mitsubishi Evo of rallycross veteran Steve Hill, but the young Latvian couldn’t quite close the gap to the leader and eventual winner. 2007 champion Ollie O’Donovan brought his Ford Fiesta home in third ahead of the Welshman Roger Thomas‘ Fiesta to take fourth on his home event.
The Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy Presented by Cooper Tires will continue a Knockhill Race Circuit in Fife, Scotland over the weekend of 25-26 September 2021.
