Patrick O’Donovan put in a dominant display throughout Sunday as he romped home to another victory, the fifth of the season. He has now won all 4 rounds at Pembrey as Godfrey was unable to challenge the young racer.
At the start it was the top two on the grid who pulled clear with Patrick O’Donovan ahead of Julian Godfrey. Third place Nathan Heathcote looked to settle in just behind the leaders. However, Steve Hill braked too late and t-boned the 2017 champion, helped in part by a small nudge by Tristan Ovenden. With his rear wheel free to move he became a moving chicane. First Ollie O’Donovan out dragged him to turn 3 before Ovenden flew past on the back straight. Heathcote managed to keep the car on the track but was weaving erratically and dropped to last.
Patrick led the first lap from Godfrey, Ollie, Ovenden, Hill and Mike Sellar. Derek Tohill brought up the rear after jokering straight away and came out right behind Sellar. He made light work of the Eastbourne driver and passed at the end of lap 2. The field began to spread out as the drivers settled into their rhythm.
As drivers ahead jokered Tohill made his way through to fifth placing, leap frogging Hill. Ovenden took his detour mid-race and was forced to soak up pressure from the reigning British and Irish champion for the remainder of the race.
Out front it was Patrick who jokered on the penultimate tour and left Godfrey to lead the field onto the final lap. Godfrey set a faster time in the joker but it wasn’t enough to prevent the younger O’Donovan from securing victory. Ollie O’Donovan joined his son on the podium by taking third place in the final.
Ovenden held back Tohill while Hill and Sellar completed the field. Heathcote was the only retirement having pulled off on lap 1.
Semi-Final
There was contact at the start of the opening semi-final. Patrick led from pole and Tohill looked to get the cutback on the teenager. Ollie starting from the inside of row two dived up the inside of Tohill and the pair came together. After the initial contact the Focus road up the front wheel of Tohill’s before crashing back down to earth. Hill scampered clear into second with Ollie the first to get moving again of the crashed pair.
Patrick pulled a clear advantage at the front to win from Hill, Ollie and Tohill. Bradley Westgarth was unable to start the final. The team fixed broken suspension from Q2 but discovered the damage was more significant. Wiring had been damaged from the loose wheel and prevented the car from running. Post-race the stewards gave Ollie a warning, his third of the season which will see 5 points docked from his score at the end of the season.
Image Credit: Overtake Motorsport
The other semi-final became a hard fought battle. Godfrey led Heathcote out of the opening corners and with Ovenden pulled clear of the field. Behind it was Sellar versus Roger Thomas for the last spot in the final. Sellar led into turn 1 before running wide and allowing Thomas the cutback down to turn 3. Sellar then jokered early and set about closing in on the local driver. On lap 3 Thomas retaliated but it was too late and he came out just behind. The pair ran together through the rest of the race and Sellar finished fourth by less than a second. Godfrey won from Heathcote and Ovenden.
Qualifying
Patrick O’Donovan topped qualifying after 2 winning times. The youngster was untouchable in each of his races to take maximum points in the morning at Pembrey. This was in spite of a broken gear lever in Q1 with the team creating a makeshift handle for the afternoon. Godfrey and Tohill were best of the rest finishing second and third in both their races respectively. In Q2 Tohill had initially got ahead on track of the 6-time champion before being overtaken using joker strategy.
Heathcote put in a pair of strong times to end up ahead of Hill. He used pole in race 2 to put in a top time to go fifth overall. Yesterday’s top qualifier Ovenden suffered from boost issues in Q2, a legacy from yesterday’s final. Ollie O’Donovan made contact with Tohill exiting the joker lap in Q1. The pair bounced off each other but it was O’Donovan who was penalised 10 seconds after the race. Sellar was just ahead of Westgarth on points after the Mitsubishi driver suffered complete frontal suspension failure in Q2.
Image Credit: Overtake Motorsport
Thomas qualified last after struggling in his repaired car. The team sourced a replacement clutch cylinder slave valve yesterday evening. At his home track he struggled for pace in Q1 before pulling off early in Q2. He looks set to return at Lydden Hill in November.
Points
Patrick extended his points lead after taking another maximum points score. He sits on 166 which becomes 157 when dropped scores are taken into account. With the adjusted points, Godfrey is on 138 with Ovenden next best on 122.
The championship will visit Dreux in France alongside the French Rallycross Championship. It will take place alongside their season finale with 30 Supercars expected between French and British machinery. The cars will race alongside each other all weekend. The level is expected to be high so only a few British cars may qualify for the semi-finals. The sole round takes place across 15-16th October.
Feature Image Credit: Overtake Motorsport
