Oliver Bennett won every single qualifying session to take top qualifier position ahead of the semi-finals. Track limits penalties marred most driver’s qualifying.
Bennett made a commanding return to the series in his BMW Mini that has seen development work over the winter. The Brit made the best start in his races and despite some contact, he won each session. Ollie O’Donovan was the closed challenger each time with the pair making contact on more than one occasion. However, O’Donovan wasn’t able to challenge Bennett but took pole position for semi-final 2. He finished second on the road to Bennett every session but in Q4 was handed a 5 second penalty for a second track limit violation.
“Yeah I’m happy with that. Okay we’re P2 all day to Oliver Bennett. I can’t do anything with Oliver so we’ll accept that. I’m very happy with second, even third”
Ollie O’Donovan
Roger Thomas put in more good runs after yesterday to round out third after qualifying. After ending Q1 in 4th he put in more top 5 results. He wasn’t able to pass anyone on track but with clean air set good times and closed in on O’Donovan in each heat. “It’s going quite well. Just a little bit off the pace in the last race [Q3] but not by much” Thomas said. Series rookie Mark Donnelly came home 4th after finishing second in Q4. The rally ace came back after a poor Q3 to set the second fastest run of the weekend. This is his third rallycross meeting and his first in the car and has had to overcome small issues in the car.
Image Credit: Overtake Motorsport
Steve Hill recovered after a puncture early in Q2 with the third fastest time the following session. From the second row he launched into the lead and held off strong pressure from Julian Godfrey with the pair going door-to-door into North Bend. He was on for a 4th place finish in Q4 before a track limit penalty dropped him two positions. Godfrey had been struggling all day especially off the line. The reigning champion managed to be just the second driver to set a sub 43 second lap time but in Q4 he ran wide and hit the barrier in the joker lap. He put the crash down to the car cutting out and he was able to continue after turning the master switch off and on. This came after they resolved a misfire from Q1 and Q2 but they still are looking into the car cutouts. This left him in 9th place and has an outside grid slot for semi-final 2.
Image Credit: Overtake Motorsport
Mike Sellar had a slow start to proceedings in the first 2 qualifying sessions but has found increased pace. This is his second rallycross out in the ex-Hansen Motorsport Citroen and is continuing to find pace in the car.
“The nicety about the car now is that we know it’s fast enough. It’s just me making sure I can brake later and get the starts sorted out”
Mike Sellar
Mike Manning sits 8th overall after the Ford driver finished 8th or 9th in every session. He made a late entry to the round and will not compete for the full championship. His team have managed to solve the issues that curtailed his practice and slowed him in Q1. Tristan Ovenden sits in 9th overall despite failing to start the first session. In Q2 he made a late decision to joker after being squeezed at the start but was able to pick off those in front as they jokered. He came out side by side with long time leader Chris Hoy but with the inside through Chessons took first.
Hoy suffered yet more drama in Q3 and retired on lap 1. He may not be able to start the semi-finals after failing to start Q4. Dominic Flitney rounds out the field. Flitney suffered transponder issues in practice and didn’t make it to the grid in time for Q1. Since then he’s struggled on track and has finished last in each session and will line up in 6th in semi-final 1. Mark Flaherty was ruled out of the weekend after a small fire in Q1.
Track limits has been a major issue for a lot of drivers. Only 3 drivers don’t have any warning for running wide out of the Devil’s Elbow at the bottom of the hill. Bennett still won Q3 after a 5 second penalty while Hill, O’Donovan and Flitney have already received 5 second penalties for a second abuse. Flitney then scored a third warning in Q4 to earn a 10 second penalty. O’Donovan was not happy about the situation. “I need to go and check that because I feel I’m within my track limits. I’m not accepting that penalty.”
The Semi-Finals follow from 2pm followed by the Final after 4pm.
Image Credit: Overtake Motorsport
