Julian Godfrey made it a perfect score across the weekend by winning his semi-final and the final. Vitols charged to second to close the championship battle to within 1 point.
Julian Godfrey pulled clear off the start to take a commanding lead and jump up the points standings. Apart from a small piece of contact coming out of turn 2 the engine builder had it all his own way in Wales.
Behind there was chaos at the start. Ollie O’Donovan looked to jump from 5th to 2nd by diving up the inside of Steve Hill. However, he had to back at and Vitols pushed into the back of him. Ovenden behind made side to side contact with Donnelly and broke too late hitting into Vitols. The Latvian driver escaped with 4th place but Ovenden suffered front bumper damage. Roger Thomas from last was able to avoid the mess to go 5th with Tohill dropping into 6th before immediately jokering. Donnelly was most affected by the kerfuffle dropping to last right behind Ovenden.
“First corner I got a huge hit from behind then another on the side. It left some issues through the final.” Roberts Vitols
O’Donovan was slowed behind Hill who suffered a front right drive shaft failure. On the predominantly left-handed circuit it meant getting on the power pushed the car to the right. While trying to get past through the 6-7-8 complex of corners he ran wide allowing Vitols through. Hill then ran wide at the next corner, turn 1 gifting Vitols 2nd place after bogging down on the start.
Hill continued to struggle into lap 2 running wide on the dirt and letting the remainder of the field through. On the tight Pembrey circuit it made controlling the car even harder.
“On the first lap we think a front drive shaft popped out. It was on 3 wheel drive. I thought I had a puncture.” Steve Hill
O’Donovan was next to joker and came out alongside Ovenden. The pair ran side-by-side into the next sequence of corners. Ovenden was forced slightly offline and into the much thicker dirt and he slowed. Tohill looked to make a move coming onto the back straight but couldn’t get the best drive.
Vitols and Ovenden slotted in ahead of O’Donovan and Donnelly respectively after taking the detour on the same lap. By this point Tohill had a flat right front. The Irish driver continued at reduced pace and dropped to last.
“It was okay for maybe 3 laps so unless it was a slow puncture from the start I can’t tell [what caused the deflation]. I thought we were going to be good for 3rd place.” Derek Tohill
Godfrey was last to take his joker on lap 4 and from there the positions remained static. It gave him his first win since Croft in 2019, 22 months ago.
“When I came onto the back straight the first time and had a look in the mirrors I thought yeah this is looking good. Took it a bit easy, I was lifting off the throttle on the gear changes to save the gearbox.” Julian Godfrey
Semi-Final 1
It was a 3 car squeeze into turn 1 with Tohill trying to move across to the inside. But with OOD and Godfrey there the trip came together. They remained in the same order out of turn 2 with Tohill diving to the joker lap. He caught last place Donnelly quickly and passed on the back straight after the championship leader had reduced power.
OOD then ran wide at turn 1. He recovered but not before Tohill had closed right in. When O’Donovan took his joker lap he dropped down to 3rd well clear of last place Donnelly. Godfrey jokered late in the race but was still clear of Tohill who had to settle for 2nd place.
Semi-Final 2
In the second semi-final Vitols, Hill and Ovenden were side by side into turn 1. Hill slotted in behind while Ovenden tried to get the cutback. Instead he clipped the front of Thomas and ran slightly wide into turn 2. This gave the Welsh driver the inside for the next sequence of corners. Stuck on the outside Ovenden dived to the joker lap.
Vitols quickly pulled clear and was able to joker and stay in the lead. At the same time Thomas jokered to cover off Ovenden but ran wide in the alternate route. It meant he dropped back into last place. Hill held onto 2nd place come the end of the race.
Championship Points
Ollie O’Donovan has now jumped into the lead of the championship. O’Donovan recently had a penalty overturned from Lydden Hill where he lost 10 championship points as a penalty. Both that and Roger Thomas’s 20 points deducted have been removed after a Motorsport UK tribunal.
The Irish driver sits on 71 points with both Godfrey and Vitols a single point behind. Former championship leader Donnelly has dropped down to 4th on 64 with Tohill and Ovenden on 62 and 60. The championship moves onto Knockhill for round 4. It will be the first time racing at the Scottish circuit since 2014 when Julian Godfrey won. Tohill, Vitols and Donnelly have never driven at the circuit which many compare to a rally stage due to it’s fast undulating dirt section.
“Surprised we got to the end of this as it’s just been a nightmare of a weekend. Glad to get to the end in one piece.” Mark Donnelly
As well as all 8 cars present this weekend likely to race again, Mike Sellar will have his car fixed in time for the Scottish event. Also set to return to British Rallycross is Andrew Jordan in his newly bought Ford Fiesta. It will be his first event in British rallycross since 2008 though he has competed in World RX, Euro RX and Titans RX several times since 2014. The series could well welcome some other returning faces for the trip north but it will have to been seen how many cars are ready next month.
Feature Image Credit: Overtake Motorsport
