Oliver Bennett arrived ready and prepared for Nitro Rallycross, well all besides his car. This was the start of his issues for the weekend but the driver remained in good spirits.
Stating in a press release, the Brit was ecstatic at the prospect of this championship, “To be here in this championship now is fantastic. The tracks really are crazy, the action is off-the-charts and the whole thing is chaos.”
With a history of riding motocross, Bennett knows his way around a dirt track. He took to the track with familiarity as he reminisced on his motocross days where tracks were similar to NRX layouts.
“The tracks here in America are much more like the tracks I started my career on motocross on. They have a much heavier bias towards the loose surface, the gravel, and the dirt. And they have such insane jumps.”
After he familiarized himself with the track the driver got stuck into the racing. After winning his first heat race against Kevin Eriksson, he was pitted against Fraser McConnell and that is where it all start to go downhill for the Brit. Bennett sustained damage and had to retire, ending his first day at NRX.
“It’s tough,” he said. “We had some issues with the car, but I’m still really pleased with the pace we’ve shown.
Day 2 resumed with Bennett entering the LCQ race looking to capitalize on a mistake by Kevin Eriksson but the red flag was called and the race had to be stopped. When the race resumed Oli was unable to get out of traffic and into the transfer spot like he’d hoped for.
“The pace was there with XITE Mini. I think we would have won our LCQ race before it was red-flagged. Like I said, I couldn’t see a thing. I tried to wash the screen to clear the dirt, but it filled with mud and I couldn’t see where I was going.”
As the dust settles for round 1 of Nitro Rallycross, Xite Energy Racing needs to repair damage to the car and prepare for round 2 as they head to Minneapolis, Minnesota to compete at ERX Motorsports Park.
“Next weekend’s about finishing the job we started here in Utah.”