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Champion Doran ���fighting fit���
British Rallycross Champion Pat Doran will make the short trip from his Milstead (near Sittingbourne, Kent) home to Lydden Circuit on Easter Monday where he begins the defence of his title in the opening round of the Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship.
At the corresponding event last year, Doran worked hard to gain a fifth place finish with his new and untested Ford Fiesta ST Supercar. A year on the car is well developed and highly competitive but goes to Lydden looking like new and carrying the colours of new sponsor Duo (which provides the aggregate and recycling industries with a comprehensive package of processing solutions) as well as the ���GB1��� racing number allocated to the British champion.
���I can���t wait to get started,��� said Doran, ���We���ve made some changes to the car over the winter and I���ve lost some weight so I���m fighting and raring to go. The championship looks like being the best for a long time as there are new drivers and cars joining, as well as all the usual suspects. The more competition there is, the better as far as I���m concerned. And it adds interest for the fans and spectators.���
While Doran raced in the pack to place fifth the clear winner at last year���s Easter Monday event was local hero Will Gollop (Canterbury). The former British and European champion will be back at Lydden this year, but has moved from racer to team owner and his G-Tech team will field its car for teenage star Andrew Jordan (Sutton Coldfield) in this year���s Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship. Jordan (16) won the Junior Rallycross Championship in 2005 and will become the youngest driver ever top race a Supercar when he starts the Lydden event.
���I���ve been interested in the possibility of working with a young driver for sometime,��� explained Gollop, ���After racing and building my own cars it���s the next logical step for me and I think it���s good for Rallycross that some younger drivers get the chance to compete at the top level. We���ve done a couple of tests with Andrew now and I have to say he has impressed me greatly, we���re all looking forward to having a good year with him in the car.���
Jordan is keeping his feet on the ground and has modest aims at the start of the season: ���I���m not expecting to go out there and win events yet, but I���m not here just to make up numbers either and I want respectable results. Working with Will Gollop is perfect for me because he���s got all the knowledge to help me learn,��� he said.
Other local drivers racing in the Supercar category at Lydden are Terry Briggs (Pembury) who has warmed up for the British championship season with a couple of strong performances in the Irish Rallycross Championship at the wheel of his four-wheel drive Renault ClioSport.
Ashford-based Bob Gooding, meanwhile, is hoping for an upturn in fortunes after engine problems kept his Escort on the sidelines for most of the 2005 season.
Men of Kent are chasing glory in the championship���s SuperModified category too. MAS team mates Mike Sellar (Milstead) and Russell Etherington (Dover) were both inside the top ten in the 2005 championship, former speedway rider Etherington placing ninth at the end of an impressive debut season in Rallycross. The pair, who drive Renault ClioSport V6s, hope to improve on those results this year.
Also tilting for SuperModified honours is Mark Watson (Hastings) who sat out the 2005 season while his Ford Focus was updated. Now powered by a new turbocharged engine, a recent test in the car has left Watson eager to start the new year: ���It���s like a whole new car, a hundred times better than it was before and I���m really looking forward to having a good year with it,��� he said.
Competitors in the Stock Hatch category are also eligible for points in the Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship points and the class champion, Rodney Green (Bromley) returns to defend both his Stock Hatch class title and the overall BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship that he won in a very successful 2005 season.
Green, who hopes to move up to race in either SuperModified or Supercar in 2007, is sticking with his proven Citroen Saxo VTR for 2006 when his leading rival is likely to be Sussex-based Julian Godfrey.
Another driver aiming to progress in 2007, Godfrey (Heathfield) got in some useful practice ahead of the British championship season when he won the Stock Hatch class in the first round (February 5) of the Irish Rallycross Championship at the wheel of his Peugeot 205 GTi.
Quaife sponsors British championship Sevenoaks-based driveline components specialist Quaife is the new title sponsor of the MSA British Rallycross Championship.
Quaife, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, has a long relationship with Rallycross, although this is the first time it has sponsored a championship. Managing Director Michael Quaife was a front running Rallycross competitor throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, his career in the discipline culminating with the driving of a 700bhp Escort Supercar that used the company���s four-wheel drive transmission system.
���I���m very pleased that Quaife is strengthening its links with Rallycross, we have a long association with the sport, it���s a part of our heritage,��� said Financial Director Sharon Quaife.
Junior Rallycross with Bill Gwynne Rallyschool International
It���s a big year for the Junior Rallycross Championship which has new backing from the Bill Gwynne Rallyschool International.
Junior Rallycross is open to drivers aged 14 to 16-years driving 1000cc Minis. The Bill Gwynne Rallyschool International will host three Junior Rallycross training and development days at its Brackley base this year. Additionally the leading 14,15 and 16-year-old in the championship at end of the year, as well as one other driver to be selected at the organiser���s discretion, will receive one-to-one tuition and coaching to help develop their skills.
Junior Rallycross will also become an official class within the Irish Rallycross Championship starting from the October 1 event it shares with the British Rallycross Championship at Mondello Park. After driving a car in the category���s Irish launch former British rally champion Alister McRae said: ���Junior Rallycross is a great idea. When I got started you could do nothing until you were 17 and had a road licence but for the youngsters to be getting in a car at 14 is ideal, it gives them a great start.”
Runner-up in 2005, Kyle Orr (Dromore) returns to try and win the title in 2006, when his leading opponents will include Dave Weston (Aberdeen), Ben Power (Welshpool) and Ben Rennison (Darlington), the son of former British champion Mark.
Event details:
Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship, round one, Monday April 17 Lydden Circuit, on the A2 between Canterbury and Dover Practice starts at 0900, racing from 1000 Admission: Adults ��12, children up to 16 free Info: 01304 830557, www.RallycrossUK.com Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship 2006 April 17 Lydden (Canterbury, Kent) May 7 Pembrey (Llanelli, Carmarthenshire) June 18 Trac M?�n/Anglesey (Holyhead, Anglesey) July 2 Blyton (Gainsborough, Lincolnshire) July 30 Knockhill (Dunfermline, Fife) August 28 Lydden (Canterbury, Kent) October 1 Mondello Park (Naas, County Kildare) October 22 Croft (Darlington, County Durham)
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