Jordan wins, “Mad Mark” takes points lead in Wales

Andrew Jordan (Lichfield) won the second round of the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship at Pembrey on Monday (May 7) where “Mad Mark” (Barnard Castle) added fifth place to his third place finish in round one to take the championship lead by a single point.

Jordan led the Superfinal from start to finish, but at one point the outcome looked far less certain as he was involved in a crash at the start of the second qualifying heat that damaged the suspension on his Focus.

“We were five abreast after the start and someone moved. It started a chain reaction. I went off and it broke the suspension so I couldn’t get going again. I was fastest in the first heat and we have good pace here,” said Jordan after the incident which also left “Mad Mark” and Steve Mundy (Ludlow) with damaged cars.
All three were able to continue in the event, Jordan setting second fastest time in the third heat as Ollie O’Donovan (London) completed a strong run through the heats with fastest time.

The battle continued in the Supercar A final, O’Donovan leading from pole but losing speed in the last lap because of an intercooler problem. Jordan immediately sensed the chance of a win and pressed the Irishman hard before edging ahead to win by just 0.055s and take pole position for the Superfinal.

Dave Bellerby (Northallerton) continued his dominance of the SuperModified category, setting fastest time in all three qualifying heats and winning the A final with a time that gave him third place on the Superfinal grid. Bellerby’s fine performance came to an end when his Lotus Exige suffered a driveshaft failure at the start of the Superfinal, leaving him to watch as Jordan romped home the clear winner after pulling away from O’Donovan.

Behind the lead pair, Dermot Carnegie (Dublin) took a strong third place in only the second event for his new Fiesta and was comfortably ahead of a busy four-car battle for fourth place. “Mad Mark” led this for much of the race before being passed by John McCluskey (Dublin). McCluskey was forced to stop in the last lap after a small engine bay fire in his Citroën Xsara. Steve Hill (Aylesbury) grabbed a last gasp fourth place to round out a day in which his new Mitsubishi broke its gearbox, but in which Hill also set fastest time of the day in the second qualifying heat. Mundy was sixth with Bill Harbour (Tunbridge Wells) the highest placed of the SuperModified finishers.

SuperModified
Bellerby again led the way among the two-wheel drive cars but behind him there was a close race for second place. James Bird (Midhurst) held the position until Bill Harbour (Tunbridge Wells) moved ahead, Bird then harried all the way to the chequered flag by Ben Power (Welshpool) and Ian O’Connell (Dublin). David Brown (Wickford) took sixth place after David Binks (Newcastle upon Tyne) retired in the first lap.

Stock Hatch
A group of Irish drivers added interest to the Yokohama Stock Hatch category, but a day of good racing was marred by a troubled A final.
Polish driver Wozciech Bialowas won the B final to join the A final, which was in its last lap with Derek Tohill (Dublin) leading comfortably when the race was stopped because round one winner Julian Godfrey (Heathfield) had rolled his Peugeot 205.

The restart was full of incident, Tony Lynch (Wigan), Ryan Lawford (Canterbury) and Tohill jostling for position in the first lap before Lynch and Lawford clashed early in the second, Lynch being delayed but Lawford’s car being left stuck in the middle of the track and forcing another race stoppage, once again with Tohill leading.

With a number of cars damaged, the Clerk of the Course decided to declare the race void, final positions being decided by the qualifying order. The decision means that Ash Simpson (York) takes the win from Lynch and Tohill.

Junior Rallycross
Ben Rennison (Richmond)set the fastest time in each of the three qualifying heats and then raced clear of his opponents to take a convincing win and establish himself firmly at the top of the points chart in the Bill Gwynne Rallyschool Junior Rallycross Championship.

George Tracey Jnr. (Mullingar) finished second at the head of a four car group and with Russ Simpson (York) breathing down his neck throughout. Conor Flynn (Derby) ran fourth until the last lap when Samantha Thom (Cookstown) moved ahead.

Matthew Nesbitt (Armagh), Joe Cunningham (Northallerton) and B final winner Matt Thompson (Darlington) completed the finishers.

BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship
Ben Rennison (Richmond) took the overall points lead after completing a hat trick of wins in the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship which follows a slightly different calendar of events. Winning the Junior class put Rennison ahead of overall BTRDA points rival Dave Baines (Tarporley) who had won the Stock Hatch section in rounds one and two, but who finished second to Ash Simpson (York) at Pembrey.

The SuperModified category had a new winner as Rallycross returnee Gary Pusey (Great Missenden) led the way with his Escort.