Champion O'Donovan leads strong entry for Easter Lydden
The 2008 Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship gets under way at Lydden's traditional Easter showcase event where champion Ollie O'Donovan will begin the defence of his title amid a strong entry of 16 Supercars that includes two European competitors.
Looking forward to the forthcoming year, O'Donovan is also working on plans for the longer term future. "I'm going out there to defend the title, the competition will tougher than ever but I enjoy that. I'm going to start the year with the Peugeot 306 I used last year," said O'Donovan who allowed that he is in negotiation to replace his title winning car. "I'm talking to a new sponsor, which is involved in Moto GP at the moment, and if the deal comes it will be a new name in Rallycross and will mean a new car, something different from everyone else, for me."
O'Donovan's strongest challengers in the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship are likely to be former champions Pat Doran (Devon) and Dermot Carnegie (Dublin), while Steve Hill (Aylesbury) who won his BRC event in Ireland last October will be a strong challenger with his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.
Extra interest is added to the event by the presence of Belgian racer Koen Pauwels who will compete at Lydden to test his Ford Focus ST in preparation for the European Rallycross Championship season. Pauwels will be joined by Dutchman Ron Snoeck who will bring his VW Golf Supercar for its first event in Britain.
Rallycross does Ashes to Ashes
A feature of the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship that will whet the appetite of motor sport fans is the head-to-head battle between two of the most spectacular generations of car. Rallying reached an outrageous peak in the mid-1980s with the extraordinary Group B cars that were eventually banned international rallies after several serious incidents.
Two decades later rallying is preparing to curtail another breed of extreme cars as plans are laid to replace the current World Rally Cars (WRC). Both types of car are eligible within the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship, and the good news for fans is not only that, in Rallycross trim both are lighter, more powerful and faster than they ever were as rally cars, but that this is the unique environment in which you can see them racing side-by-side. Bringing the generations together is the ultimate Supercar mashup, or you may prefer to think of it as a motor sport Ashes to Ashes.
Southern racers bid to make their mark
A number of drivers will start their British championship season on 'home' turf at Lydden. In the Supercar class Chris Langley (Hastings) will drive his Ford Escort WRC while in the SuperModified category Terry Moore (Ashford) is the local hero. After a strong 2007 season, Ryan Lawford (Canterbury) will return in the Stock Hatch class with his Peugeot 205 GTi.
There is a full supporting programme alongside the British championship with the Bill Gwynne Rally School Junior Rallycross Championship and the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship also on the schedule, the former showcasing the stars of the future as the best 14-16-year-old racers lay the foundations for racing and rallying careers.
Lydden's biggest event of the year, the Easter Rallycross has been expanded to run over two days this year with racing starting on Sunday afternoon and the main part of the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship event taking place between 9am and 4pm on Easter Monday (March 24).
Motors TV will feature the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship in a regular Friday night broadcast slot in 2008. The standalone shows will air at 10pm on second Friday after each round and will be repeated in the Motors TV schedule after the first airing.
2008 Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship
Sun-Mon Mar 23-24 Lydden
Sat May 3 Pembrey
Sun May 4 Pembrey
Sun Jul 6 Croft
Mon Aug 25 Lydden
Sun Sep 28 Pembrey
Sun Oct 14 Mondello Park (IRL)
2008 Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship on Motors TV
Round one 10pm Friday April 4
Rounds two/three 10pm Friday May 16
Round four 10pm Friday July 18
Round five 10pm Friday September 5
Round six 10pm Friday October 10
Round seven 10pm Friday October 24
Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship www.RallycrossUK.com
- Tim Whittington- also photos
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