Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Teenager extends series lead
Motorsport
Teenager Dan Rooke extended his points lead at the top of the MSA British Rallycross Championship standings after securing a lights-to-flag victory at Lydden Hill on Bank Holiday Monday. The Citroen DS3 driver, 19, overcame a frustrating front-right puncture in his first qualifying race to stretch his series lead to 24 points. He took the flag almost five seconds clear of closest challenger Dave Bellerby, with five-time champion Julian Godfrey in third. Circuit owner Pat Doran showed good speed in his Citroen C4, finishing fourth ahead of an equally impressive Steve Hill. Peugeot 208 driver James Grint took sixth ahead of Andy Grant, with 2007 champion Ollie O’donovan the final finisher after struggling with transmission problems on his Ford Focus. Rooke said post-race: “We made a few little changes and improvements to the car throughout the day. It was not perfect but I managed to cope. “It had bad understeer and I was on fulllock and having to use the handbrake. I knew Julian would be quick but after looking at my time in the semi-final, I was a bit more confident.” Rooke started the final from pole after winning his semi-final ahead of Hill and Bellerby. He added: “I knew that if I got the start in the final, I would be OK and luckily Dave got ahead of Julian. “It is still early days but it is looking good for the championship. “I need to make sure I get the points now and have managed to maintain my unbeaten record at Lydden in the British championship.” In the supporting classes, Faversham’s Stuart Emery scored a surprise podium after only getting into the final as first reserve. He started the race from the back of the grid but held off the attentions of Mike Howlin to claim thirdplace by just a fraction of a second. Emery was racing in pain after he broke a collarbone, damaged three ribs and punctured a lung in a recent cycling crash. The 44-year-old, who recovered from an off in Q1, said: “I am over the moon. We have been struggling with the car again which seems to be a common thing at Lydden but it came together in the final. “We were helped by other people having incidents but you have to be there at the end and we were.” Elsewhere in Supernational, Wiganbased Tony Lynch won the class while Sittingbourne’s Paul Maybourne took 10th overall in his Renault Clio. In the one-make Swift Sport Rallycross Championship, Pluckley’s Nathan Heathcote dominated the event. The former karter did not put a foot wrong throughout qualification and took the flag four seconds clear of Sittingbourne’s Darren Scott in the final. Heathcote now heads the standings by 22 points from Aidan Hills and Canterbury’s Simon Ovenden, who both struggled with engine woes. Despite missing out on a podium position in fourth, Deal’s Rob Maynard was pleased with his performance on only his second outing of 2016. Maynard’s fellow Deal resident Don Macleod was classified 11th overall on his second outing of the season. Canterbury-based Tristan Ovenden was the only driver to start the final in the Super 1600 class, extending his points lead to eight over Craig Lomax. Tomasz Wielgosz maintained his lead in the Hot Hatch championship after title rival Graham Rumsey’s day ended in the tyre wall. The Tunbridge Wells resident now trails the championship leader by eight points. Ashford’s Fred Ling – son of former rallycross campaigner Dave – impressed on his first visit to Lydden, finishing fourth in the final. Bradley Durdin was awarded driver of the day on his debut in the BMW Mini class, taking victory ahead of Kris Hudson and Martin Hawkes. Chrissy Palmer claimed victory in the RX150 Rallycross Championship, heading Stephen Jones and newcomer Kirk Langley home. Hastings-based Ray Morgan got the better of Barry Stewart’s Porsche in the first qualification race but had to settle for second in the Retro Rallycross
Championship final.