GODFREY SETS A RECORD-BREAKING PACE FOR GLORY
British Rallycross Championship: Lydden Hill
Organiser: BARC/LHMC When: August 26 Where: Lydden Hill Starters: 59.
Julian Godfrey set his fastest lap time around Lydden Hill in Q2 at 2019’s fifth British Rallycross round on the way to fastest time, before bettering his personal best by 0.2s in Q3 and taking pole for the final from title rival Derek Tohill.
Fastest in Q1, Irishman Tohill had dropped time with damaged right-front suspension in Q3 and lined up in second spot on the grid for the final. Jack Thorne, who only entered the event to return to the top class the evening before, completed the front row.
It was Thorne who made the best launch in the final with his Olsbergs Mse-built Ford Fiesta. But, when the European Championship Super1600 racer ran wide through the first corner, Godfrey didn’t need inviting twice. The five-time champion took the advantage to move into the race lead.
Tohill, meanwhile, had dropped behind Roger Thomas in the first corner battle and ran fourth on lap one before taking his joker on the second tour. He returned to the main circuit behind Steve Hill, the Mitsubishi racer back in his own car for the Lydden Hill event.
Pressuring Hill into North Bend Hairpin, Tohill got his nose up the inside at the corner’s exit but Hill defended the position as the pair closed down on Andy Grant’s Ford Focus. The Devonian removed himself from the equation by taking the joker at the next opportunity.
Up front, Godfrey was building a gap to Thorne, the secondplaced runner working his left-front tyre hard on each lap through Paddock Bend.
Tohill finally made a move stick on Hill down Hairy Hill before Godfrey took a lap-four joker. The leader opted to take an earlier joker to try and control the remaining laps at his own pace, with a steering arm on his Fiesta having been bent in first corner contact.
Thorne moved into the lead, followed by Thomas, but when the pair took their compulsory extra routes on the fifth lap, it was Godfrey who retook a lead he would hold to the finish and increase his championship advantage. Thorne crossed the line in second position.
Thomas initially returned to the main circuit in third, but was passed by Tohill for the final podium position, and then Hill for fourth on the final lap.
Tristan Ovenden dominated the Supernational final to claim victory ahead of Irishman Peter Mcgarry, who nursed clutch problems in the six-lap race. Darren Scott, who also won Super1600, finished third.
The race of the day, however, was in the Junior category, where pole-starter Ben Sayer and Patrick O’donovan swapped positions for the lead a number of times. O’donovan eventually came out on top with Sayer second and Tom Ovenden, who challenged the leading pair until the very last corner, third. The top five cars in the single-make Suzuki Swift final were separated by just one second at the finish.
Tom Constantine and Drew Bellerby won the Swift Sport and BMW Mini finals and Gary Simpson took the Retro Rallycross spoils.
Results
British Rallycross: 1 Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta); 2 Jack Thorne (Ford Fiesta) +1.032s; 3 Derek Tohill (Ford Fiesta); 4 Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Evo); 5 Roger Thomas (Ford Fiesta); 6 Andy Grant (Ford Focus).
Supernational: 1 Tristan Ovenden (Renault Clio); 2 Peter Mcgarry (Lotus Exige) +8.303s; 3 Darren Scott (Citroen C2); 4 Paul Coney (Vauxhall Corsa); 5 Craig Lomax (Citroen C2); 6 Jarek Suchowiecki (Citroen C2).
Junior Rallycross: 1 Patrick O’donovan; 2 Ben Sayer +0.225s; 3 Tom Ovenden; 4 Luke Constantine; 5 Harry Garman; 6 Archie Thomas. Suzuki Swift: 1 Tom Constantine; 2 Will Layton +3.126s; 3 Dominic Flitney; 4 Ed Stallard; 5 Nikita Abramov; 6 Christian Hainsworth.
BMW Mini: 1 Drew Bellerby; 2 Stephen Brown +1.743s; 3 Bradley Durdin; 4 David Ward; 5 James Osbourne; no other finishers.
Retro: 1 Gary Simpson (BMW E30); 2 Phillip Collard (Renault 5) +3.922s; 3 Brian Hardman (Ford Escort); 4 Simon Hart (Ford Escort); 5 Paul Smith (Volkswagen Polo); 6 Ray Morgan (Ford Escort).