Having claimed his maiden outright rallycross win in round one of the series on Saturday 16th April, Bristol-based Xite Energy Racing driver Oliver Bennett returned to the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy presented by Cooper Tires for round two at Lydden Hill on Easter Monday after a social media campaign demanded he returned to Kent with his very colourful BMW Mini RX. Bennett was severely challenged in the round two final by the Ford Fiesta of reigning champion Derek Tohill, who finished second to bag more solid points for his 2022 campaign, while six-time champion Julian Godfrey completed the podium.
Ollie O’Donovan brought his awesome new Proton Iriz across the line in fourth, ahead of the Mitsubishi Evo of Steve Hill in fifth, the latter driver only making it to the final thanks to the amazing work of his team, the squad changing a valve spring in the engine between the semi-final and the final. Dom Flitney completed the finishers with his Volvo C30 in sixth place while Patrick O’Donovan and Tristan Ovenden both retired with a broken gear level and broken suspension respectively.
In the Motorsport UK Supernational Rallycross Championship, it was a repeat of round one’s 1-2-3, with Jason Bleasdale‘s Vauxhall VX220, Paige Bellerby‘s Lotus Exige and Darren Bleasdale‘s Vauxhall VX220 completing the podium, the latter pair enjoying an exciting battle on track in the early stages of the final. The result means reigning champion Bleasdale extended his points’ lead.
Owen Robbins claimed victory amid a rather turbulent day of racing for the Motorsport UK Junior Rallycross Championship to take the championship lead. The biggest clash of the day came during qualifying between title-protagonists Max Langmaid and Will Ovenden. Neither finished Q1 but both returned to complete the day, albeit with further dramas in the final including Ovenden’s engine blowing with less than a lap to go. Max Watt claimed second with Cayden Harris completing the top spots by scoring his maiden podium in his first-ever event.
The Lancia Stratos of John Cross made life difficult for the Ford Escort of Jos Sterkens in the Super Retro Rallycross final, but couldn’t unnerve the Belgian veteran who claimed a second win of the weekend, with Cross following behind in second. Richard Moroney claimed third in his Ford Escort after Vince Bristow had to retire his BMW E36 with engine failure in the latter stages of the race.
Meanwhile in the Retro Rallycross Championship, Nick Swift successfully returned to rallycross for the first time in several decades to hold off a strong challenge from Steve Cozens‘ Citroen AX in the very same Austin Mini that Terry Moore campaigned to second place in round one. Cozens continues to lead the championship with the Toyota MR2 of Tony Lynch lying second in the standings following his third-place finish in the final.
Another repeat winner of the Easter weekend was Dave Bellerby who crossed the line a mere 0.8 seconds ahead of Bradley Turner in the BMW MINI Rallycross Championship. Tom Constantine grabbed himself another trophy by finishing in third place having finished as runner-up in round one. Yorkshure-based driver, Craig Lomax wasn’t able to repeat his round one podium after clipping the gravle at the Devils Elbow corner, resulting in him rolling the car and ending up being parked on his roof leaking fuel which ended his weekend early. David Bell dominated the All4 Mini category, ahead of Adrian Turner who suffered from technical problems during the final.
Max Weatherley returned to the top step of the podium in the Swift Sport Rallycross Championship, with Saturday’s winner Luke Constantine finishing third. James Constantine claimed second, one position better than he managed in round one on Saturday.
Swedish World Rallycross driver Sebastian Eriksson claimed his second career RX150 Championship win, following victory in round one. Behind him, rally star George Lepley and Stephen Jones had a big altercation which ended in the gravel in the final stages, ending both of their hopes of finishing on the podium. Dakar Rally star Sam Sunderland and Ben Hardy completed the podium, Hardy like Sunderland making his rallycross debut at Lydden Hill.
Rounds three and four of the 5 Nations Trophy will be held at Pembrey Circuit in Wales over the weekend of 14-15 May 2022.
