If you asked us to sum up the British Rallycross event at Knockhill today (Sunday 11th May) in one word… we would have to say – ACTION.
Granted, that definition could be used to describe both the racing on show and the lack of it; following the inevitable delays that occur courtesy of the countless collisions, expirations and barrel rolls that Rallycross racing seems to deliver time-and-time again.
That said, if you want to attend a motorsport event that offers fast and frantic racing that just keeps coming; with greater speed and ferocity as the day progresses, then Rallycross has to be high on your list. A Rallycross event can see well in excess of forty races, including heats and finals, all on the same day. That figure can rise substantially when red flags and crashes play such a prominent role in proceedings.
Former F1 Champion, Jacques Villeneuve, was recently quoted in an interview saying that Rallycross was a return to the “purest roots” of motorsport; and after today’s event, we would have to agree. Maximum Power, Maximum Speed and Maximum Attack, just about sums it up. No doubt, if this were BTCC or SMRC racing there would be a few penalties handed out for track limit and driving standard infringements; but with only 4 laps in each race, there’s hardly enough time to keep track of proceedings on track, never-mind catalogue and punish racing incidents. And, that, just adds to the appeal of Rallycross.
Back on track, 10 different racing classes competed on the part-shale, part-tarmac circuit in a large array of vehicles. The quickest of which, Supercars, are often said to be capable of out accelerating an F1 car. Quite rightly, the Supercar series tops the bill, the speed and durability of the 4-wheel drive chargers is an awesome sight. Equally impressive, is how the drivers change from racing on the tarmac circuit to the loose, bump ridden off-road track and still maintain a frantic pace.
Ultimately, the Supercar class winning honours went to Julian Godfrey, behind the wheel of his super-fast Ford Fiesta. Steve Hill took an early lead in the final, which saw the “Joker Lap” strategy come into play for all to see. Hill left his to the final lap, whilst Godfrey took his on lap two, and as Godfrey rounded the corner onto the home straight he had enough margin ahead of Hill to stroke the car home for victory in Round 3 of the 2014 MSA British Rallycross Championship. Ollie O’Donovan finished in 3rd; and surely, he will be happy with his debut in the ex-Proctor Focus; having only driven the car for the first time this weekend following its purchase last week.
Arguably, one of the most spectacular classes this weekend was the RX150 buggies. In an action-packed start to the day, which took three attempts to complete the first heat, following a number of collisions on track; Borders based Marc Scott managed to put together a masterful display in the final race of the day, crossing the finish line with time to spare ahead of Kevin Feeney and Richard Moore. Indeed, in Feeney’s case, a last lap spin almost saw him lose out to Moore following a mad dash to the chequered flag.
In the MSA Junior series, Charlie Bean would have been confident heading into his two finals following three heat wins behind the wheel of his Suzuki Swift. However, his perfect weekend came to an abrupt end when the youngster barrel rolled his vehicle on the off-road section in race one, and a mechanical failure ended any hope he had of a win in race two. That left Jake Taylor and Drew Bellerby to take the wins in the MSA Junior series.
Elsewhere, Chris Mullen took victory in the Swift Sport class, despite a hair-raising two-wheeled moment during the opening laps of today’s final. The consistent Graham Rodemark came home a good second, with Tristran Ovenden in third.
Other results included a BMW Mini Rallycross win for Hudson, a Hot Hatch win for Lomax and a Super 1600 class win for Thorne. Stuart Emery sealed victory in the Super National class behind the wheel of his trusty Peugeot 206, whilst Ray Morgan took the Retro Rallycross honours.
We also witnessed a Knockhill first today – with the entire event being Live Steamed online via AMG Television Productions.
As always, a big thanks to all the marshals, who had an extremely busy day, and of course all the officials, timekeepers and medics who help out to make these events such a success.
Hopefully, we’ll see you all next year and wish all the teams and competitors a safe journey home.
Make sure you check out the MSA British Rallycross website for further event reaction, resuslts and expert reports.
Thanks also to Archie Love for the photos!