12 Supercars entered for delayed opening round. Over 70 cars set to be at round 1 with a strong mix of new and returning drivers.
The Supercar Field has an incredibly strong 12 car entry, the largest single round entry since 2018. 5 different brands are represented with Ford being the car of choice for most of the competitors. 4 rounds are set to be contested with Mondello and Knockhill returning after 3 and 6 years respectively.
Heading the entry list in the GB1 car is reigning champion Julian Godfrey in his Ford Fiesta. The 6 time British Rallycross Champion will be looking to add another title to eclipse Dermot Carnegie’s record championship count. Looking to challenge the Brit will be 2007 champion Ollie O’Donovan who returns after pulling out halfway through last season. Steve Hill, Mike Manning and Roger Thomas return for another season in their Mitsubishi and Fords respectively. Making the step up to Supercars will be reigning Supernational champion, Tristan Ovenden with Suzuki Swift championship challenger Dominic Flitney joining him in the top class.
Returning to the series will be Mike Sellar in an ex-Hansen Citroen and Irish duo Mark Donnelly and Mark Flaherty. However, the leading returning driver is Oliver Bennett. The Brit narrowly lost out in 2017 and since then raced in the world championship using a BMW mini. While success has been hard to come by with only a handful of semi final appearances the car has been developed a lot in 2 years and is one of the quickest on the grid this weekend.
Image Credit: Overtake Motorsport
The final driver entered is Olympic cyclist and six-time gold medalist, Chris Hoy. Since retiring from cycling he has raced in a number of different series including winning a European Le Mans Series title in LMP3. Last year he made his Rallycross debut alongside Bennett in Barcelona and in preparation for the event has had 2 days of testing in the car, a Citroen C4. He will only be attending round 1 with 23-time Isle of Man TT winner, John McGuinness taking over the car for the Scottish round next time out. The 2 wheel racer will be in action this weekend though in the RX150 class.
Several drivers are missing from the entry who had initially expressed interest in racing this season. Jack Thorne was set to return to the championship in a new Ford as well as 2015 vice-champion Andy Scott. Both Andy Grant and last year’s runner-up Derek Tohill both appeared on the initial entry list but all 4 will not attend this weekend.
The support categories have taken a hit in numbers due to COVID-19 but still boast good grid sizes to give a strong 73 car entry for the opening round. This is despite no European based drivers able to enter and only a handful of Irish entries. The Mini class has actually grown to its largest ever grid with 12 cars set to battle at the Kent circuit. After the new Group B & 4WD class was created the Retro Rallycross Championship has its biggest overall entry ever. 5 Supercars of yesteryear have been entered creating an 18 car Retro entry.
Format
A brand new format has been introduced to the championship that is very similar to the World Championship. Each round, 4 qualifying sessions will be held with points awarded based on overall time just like in WRX, though a DNS scores 0 points. The semi-finals follow with 8 cars in each race and the top 4 then progress to the final. Championship points are awarded during the Semi-Finals and the Final. This makes 14 the maximum score for a weekend and allows only 10 drivers to score points each round.
Position | Semi-Final points | Final points |
1st | 6 | 8 |
2nd | 5 | 7 |
3rd | 4 | 6 |
4th | 3 | 5 |
5th | 2 | 4 |
6th | 3 | |
7th | 2 | |
8th | 1 |
The calendar has 4 rounds each in a different country. Scotland host the second round at Knockhill in September, followed by Pembrey in Wales in October and Mondello in Ireland finishes out the season the following month. More Supercar entries are expected in the final round as the Irish Rallycross Championship supports the final round.
The supporting categories have double header meetings at Knockhill and Pembrey giving them 6 rounds to race in with the Retro Rallycross championship skipping Ireland altogether. Racing starts on Sunday morning before qualifying ends on Bank Holiday Monday followed by the semi-finals and finals.
Featured Image Credit: British Rallycross Championship