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Irishman Christopher Evans took his first British championship event win in the second round of the Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship at Pembrey on Sunday.
Evans (Wicklow) only made it to the Welsh event after a mammoth effort by Tony Bardy Motorsport which had to build a new engine for the Opel Astra after overheating in round one caused extensive damage. Evans rewarded the effort with a superb performance at Pembrey where he qualified second on the Supercar A final grid, alongside multiple British and Irish champion Dermot Carnegie.
It was Carnegie (Dublin) who led the A final, but a tiny error in the slippery hairpin bend at the start of the Pembrey lap saw his Ford Focus drift wide. Evans took his chance, and relieved his compatriot of the lead. The two were evenly matched over the remaining distance, but Evans made no errors and Carnegie had no chance to regain the lead.
Andrew Jordan (Sutton Coldfield) scored his first race win during the qualifying heats and chased Evans and Carnegie home in the A final, the teenager impressing once again in his Ford Focus Supercar.
Steve Hill (Aylesbury) took fourth place with his Mitsubishi Lancer, ahead of the similar Citro?�n Xsaras of John McCluskey (Dublin) and Mark Watson (Barnard Castle) and Steve Mundy(Ludlow) who was the last finisher with his Ford Focus.
Championship leader Pat Doran (Milstead) had a miserable day as gearbox problems struck his Ford Fiesta ST. Doran was forced to retire the car from the second qualifying heat but scraped into the B final after a battling drive in the third heat. He won the B final but the problem was now so bad that he was unable to take up his position on the A final grid.
The Superfinal grid was dominated by Supercars, the only two-wheel drive car to make the cut here being the Lotus Elise of SuperModified A final winner Dave Bellerby (Northallerton).
Evans got the better start here and led the Superfinal away, Carnegie and Jordan snapping at his heels once again. Confidence boosted by the A final win, Evans remained calm and kept Carnegie at bay to score his first BRC win: “It was a perfect day,” said Evans. “It was touch and go with the car as the team didn���t arrive at the track until Sunday morning but they���d done a great job and we had no problems at all. It���s a shame that Pat [Doran] didn���t make it to the Superfinal but it gives me a bit of a break in the championship now and I���m looking forward to the next round at Anglesey.”
Carnegie claimed his second podium position in as many events but was worked hard by Jordan who took a close third place: “I hoped that I could get onto the podium in the first half of the year, so to do that in round two was great. I was on the pace with the leaders and I���m really pleased with my result,” said Jordan.
McCluskey moved up a place in the Superfinal, displacing Hill to take fourth while Mundy finished sixth ahead of Bellerby and Watson who retired with one lap still to run, but who enjoyed his best result so far with his Citroen Xsara.
Bellerby was made to work hard for his SuperModified class win, the Lotus driver beaten to pole position in the A final by Irishman Michael Coyne (Naas) who flew on his seasonal debut. Bellerby led the A final from the start and was chased throughout by third qualifier Mike Turpin (Hereford) who several times challenged for the lead but was never quite able to find aa way around the leading Lotus with his lightweight Vauxhall Nova.
Behind the lead battle, Michael Boak (Newcastle upon Tyne) had a relatively quiet run to third place with his Audi TT and was clear of the battle between Allan Tapscott (Umberleigh) and Mike Howlin (Haverfordwest) for fourth place. In the last lap Howlin managed to wrest the place from Taspcott but there was 0.19s between the pair at the finish.
Simon White (Yateley) worked hard to take sixth place, which came only after a victory in the B final and a a pass on Ireland���s Kieran Curran in the A final. Coyne���s luck ran out when problems forced him to retire after two laps but
The Yokohama Stock Hatch category was again dominated by defending champion Rodney Green (Bromley) and round one winner Julian Godfrey (Heathfield). Green held the upper hand in the qualifying heats, setting fastest time twice although in neither of these was he able to better Godfrey���s benchmark set in his run to fastest time in the first heat. Irishman Eddie Peterson (Wicklow) joined the Green and Godfrey on the front row of the grid but was unable to offer a challenge in the A final. Green led from the off but Godfrey was on his bumper all the way, the pair split by a fraction of a second from start to finish. Tony Lynch (Wigan) moved from fourth on the grid to finish third, ahead of Derek Tohill (Dublin) and B final winner Noel O���Brien (Dublin).
After mechanical problems put him out of round one, teenage racer Ash Simpson (York) bounced back with a strong sixth place finish ahead of Peterson. Simon Horton (Clitheroe) qualified sixth but was unable to start the A final after problems with his Rover Metro GTi.
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