BRITISH DRIVERS JOIN FIELD FOR EURO FIGHT Trio of UK’S best Super1600 racers will go head-to-head in Portugal

Three British drivers have signed up for the first round of the European Rallycross Super1600 Championship, which runs as part of the opening round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Montalegre in Portugal next week.

Craig Lomax, Michael Boak and Phil Chicken will all drive Citroen C2s in the front-wheel-drive category, which features a record entry in Portugal of 33 cars.

Driving for the MB Motorsport team, Boak and Chicken have both raced in a round of the Euro RX championship previously; Chicken at Lydden Hill in 2014 and Boak at Mettet in Belgium last season.

Lomax will be making his European Championship debut racing an Xtreme Rallycross-prepared car.

“If the car goes as well as it did at Lydden [the most recent British Championship round], we should be all good and mixing it with some of the big names,” said Lomax, who won the British Super1600 championship last season.

“It would be absolutely perfect if we can score some points from the round and not be last in the table. Of course I’m a little nervous because it’s a totally new ball game for us. We’re moving up a level.”

All three drivers are planning on competing in as many European Championship events as possible this season, alongside campaigns in the British RX series.

“With a large entry we will have a tough time against the best Europe has to offer, but I believe we’re in a position to be competitive,” said Boak. “We showed good pace in Belgium last season and have worked hard since to improve and develop the car.”

Chicken leads the category in the British points, with Lomax second, the latter retiring from the second round of the series at Lydden last month with engine woe.

Euro RX Super1600 uses the same format as the World Championship. The top 16 at the intermediate stage score points and the top 12 qualify for the semi-finals.