Patrick O’Donovan claimed a Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy victory yet again at the World Rallycross Championship weekend making it win number four this season. Shane Murphy came alive in the final to secure a podium in only his second event in his VW Polo.
At the start, Patrick O’Donovan made the best reaction to pull clear of the field. Second place on the grid, Oliver Bennett tried to go around the outside but failed to make it stick and dropped behind Ollie O’Donovan exiting Chessons. Murphy was first into the joker lap which came to fruition later in the race. He quickly caught the pack and had to dispatch a couple of cars on track. When O’Donovan Snr took the alternate route he slotted in immediately behind the Irish SEAT Supercup driver.
It meant that Patrick took a dominant victory ahead of Murphy and Patrick’s father Ollie in third. Steve Hill was best of the rest in fourth having not been due to start the final until Mandie August failed to start. Hill had jokered at the start and benefitted from drama for those ahead. Roger Thomas held off a challenge from Michael Sellar through the race to take fifth and sixth. Bennett dropped down to fourth through the race but suffered a puncture and he lost three more positions in the last laps of the race. Jake Harris completed the finalists but retired on lap two.
Speaking after the final Patrick O’Donovan said, “it’s amazing. We haven’t had a crowd like this at Lydden in a long time. You can definitely feel the support and feel how much passion and energy there is for this amazing sport.” Shane Murphy reflected on his maiden podium finish, “I got a good start but our plan was the joker and get clean air straight away. Just starting picking places and next thing we knew we were running second. Way above my expectations for this weekend.”
All other top championship hopefuls failed to make the final. After a slow start in his semi-final, Jack Thorne launched back into the lead with an aggressive move on Bennett. The pair came together a couple of times which caused suspension failure to the Peugeot a lap later and Thorne retired on the spot. Julian Godfrey suffered a plethora of issues across the event. A gearbox casing was changed overnight but ahead of the semi-final the clutch failed. As the race started he started his engine and had to play catch up. When the subframe snapped he spun and trailed home last. Local driver, Tristan Ovenden failed to finish a single race all weekend. Engine damage on Saturday continued as the car would overheat every few laps.
Patrick now sits on 80 points despite missing the two rounds in Ireland. Godfrey lies on 73 with Ovenden on 69 and Thorne a further 10 points back. O’Donovan will miss the next pair of rounds at Pembrey next month. However, should he continue to dominate the series he will be able to secure a second successive title. The championship has been extended to eleven rounds with three drop scores after this event became a double header. The schedule was revised when the RX1e category was cancelled due to safety concerns after a fire on Friday destroyed two cars.
