Patrick O’Donovan put in another masterful drive across the day to win round two of the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy. He was more pressured for victory after rain hit Lydden Hill in the morning and closed the field together.
At the start of the final, there was plenty of contact. Poleman Ollie O’Donovan made the best start and jumped into an early lead. Coming into Chessons O’Donovan Jnr and Viktor Vrankx were side by side and pushed the race leader. The Proton Iriz was forced wide and O’Donovan dropped back to fifth that soon became fourth after squeezing by on Roberts Vitols. Out front it was no Vrankx and Jack Thorne running second ahead of Patrick O’Donovan. The reigning champion didn’t hold back and got into second at the Devil’s Elbow. Coming up the hill he went for the lead and took it.
Thorne took advantage of the overtake and went into second though damaged Vrankx’s power steering and his own boost pipe. With each driver not at ultimate pace Patrick pulled clear to an easy victory. His father, Ollie was able to claim third after a spin for the struggling Vrankx. The Iriz driver tried to close in on second but had to settle for the bottom step of the podium.
Credit: Callum House
Vitols failed to make the jump of lap one due to the contact and lack of visibility. After going around the mound he hunted down Tristan Ovenden over the remainder of the race. The Latvian wasn’t able to claim the position even after Ovenden had a trip through the gravel. They both got past the only electric vehicle in the race. Roger Thomas retired on the opening lap after the differential broke on the start line. Mike Sellar stopped on track when his power steering pipe burst and caught fire on the hot turbo. No damaged occurred.
| Position | No. | Driver | Nat. | Team | Time |
| 1 | GB1 | Patrick O’Donovan | GBR | Team RX Racing | 4:54.715 |
| 2 | 6 | Jack Thorne | GBR | + 9.807 | |
| 3 | 2 | Ollie O’Donovan | IRL | Team RX Racing | + 11.466 |
| 4 | 72 | Tristan Ovenden | GBR | + 19.511 | |
| 5 | 126 | Roberts Vitols | LVA | Team Duo | + 19.739 |
| 6 | 113 | Viktor Vrankx | BEL | + 34.722 | |
| 7 | 95 | Roger Thomas | GBR | + 6 Laps | |
| 8 | 69 | Mike Sellar | GBR | + 6 Laps |
Steve Hill had a day to forget and failed to make the final after steering issues and running on two cylinders in Q2. He is unsure if he will return later in the year after destroying the car’s main engine on Saturday. Dom Flitney enjoyed racing in the wet but struggled for visibility. In his semi-final he ended up two seconds off making the cut. Jake Harris drove the electric Mini but struggled with setup issues all day. He beat Colin Anson who made the most of his aging Ford KA. Six time champion Julian Godfrey failed to start his semi-final when a throttle issue couldn’t be resolved in time. With time before the next round he hopes to resolve the reliability issues. Oliver Bennett crashed in both his qualifying races after showing impressive pace, the second wreck ending his weekend. Michael Boak suffered more clutch issues and failed to finish a race, knocking him out before the semi-finals. He’ll test the car before a hopeful return in Ireland.
The British Rallycross Championship will race at Mondello Park in support of the Irish Rallycross Championship in June. An equally strong field is expected with at least half a dozen Irish Supercars joining the British contingent. Patrick and Ollie O’Donovan will miss the event due to the clashing European Rallycross round two. This leaves the door wide open for the rest of the paddock to challenge for the win and the title.