Second is first for Procter
The fifth round of the Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship was won by former World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm, but second place, having run on the tail of the famous Finn throughout the final, was as good as a win for Kevin Procter (Northallerton), who claimed first place points in the championship as the best placed of the British drivers.
Played out in front of an estimated 8000 spectators, the traditional August Bank Holiday Monday event at Lydden Hill introduced Monster Energy as associate sponsor, featured the debut of the proposed ‘Rallycross Retro’ class for ‘classic’ racecars and brought Grönholm for his first appearance in the series as a part of the Best Buy Ford team alongside British star David Binks (Newcastle upon Tyne). Moving from the Ford Fiesta VI Supercar that he has raced since the start of last year to the new Fiesta VII run by OMSE, the Swedish team that is Ford’s official squad in Rallycross, Binks had his first competitive outing in the car that he will use for the balance of the 2011 season.
Grönholm started the A final from pole, but his path there had not been easy and a different driver took fastest time in each of the three qualifying heats.
Monster Energy driver Liam Doran (Sittingbourne) topped the first heat despite a down on power engine in the Citroën C4 he drove here, a car
from Latvian team TT Motorsport replacing his usual car on this occasion. Procter was fastest in the second heat before Grönholm led the way home in the third. It was the Finn who took pole for the A final, Procter and Binks (second in the first heat and third in the third) completing the front row of the grid. Julian Godfrey (Heathfield) claimed the British championship’s five bonus points for fastest time on his way to fourth place on the grid, sharing row two with Doran. The back row held Andy Scott (Dumfries), the only man so far with two BRC events wins to his credit this year [rounds one and four] and Steve Hill (Aylesbury), the pair joined by defending champion Pat Doran (Winkleigh) who won the B final ahead of Belgian visitor Jos Jansen.
The A final was stopped in its first lap after Godfrey half-rolled his Fiesta in the first corner, the car sliding along the track on its side before falling back on to its wheels. Having rejoined the race as the red flags were shown, Godfrey was allowed to take the restart. Grönholm had led the first start from Binks but at the second time of asking Procter split the Ford pairing and kept the pressure on Grönholm throughout the race, the pair just 0.6s apart at the chequer and Procter adding the ‘win’ here to his victory in round two. Binks completed the podium in third place, ahead of Scott, Liam 
Doran, Godfrey and Hill, the race losing Pat Doran in the last lap when a broken water pipe allowed coolant to leak under the wheels of his Focus, causing it to slide off the track.
Results
1 Marcus Grönholm (Ford Fiesta VII) 3m40.739s; 2 Kevin Procter (Ford Focus II) 3m41.353s; 3 David Binks (Ford Fiesta VII) 3m43.830s; 4 Andy Scott (Ford Focus II) 3m45.620s; 5 Liam Doran (Citroën C4) 3m47.343s; 6 Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta VI) 3m49.878s; 7 Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Lancer E10) 3m51.617s; 8 Pat Doran (Ford Focus) 4 laps
Championship 1 Godfrey 137; 2 Binks 125; 3 Scott 111; 4 Hill 106; 5 Pat Doran 100; 6 Procter 60
Superstars at Lydden
World champion and X Games gold medalist join British championship at Lydden
The Bank Holiday Monday Rallycross event at Lydden offers race fans the unique opportunity to see former World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm go head-to-head with X Games gold medalist Liam Doran and the best drivers in Britain as the two international superstars join the grid for the Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship.
The World Rally Champion in 2000 and 2002, Grönholm has taken part in selected Rallycross events over the last four years driving for the Swedish OMSE squad, Ford’s official team in Rallycross, and will race at Lydden as part of the programme of events he undertaking for sponsor Best Buy. The American electrical retailer also has an interest in the British championship where it backs Newcastle-based David Binks. Holding second in the championship after four of the eight events, Binks will make the move from his private family-run team to OMSE and the latest Ford Fiesta Supercar at Lydden.
Grönholm’s most recent Rallycross outing was at the X Games in Los Angeles last month where he started as favourite but was beaten to the gold medal by Kent-based racer Liam Doran who is now set to renew the rivalry having added the Lydden event to his schedule.
Sussex stars ahead in title race
While the limelight may shine on visiting superstars, the battle for the Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship is the main business of the day at Lydden and the points leader entering round five is Heathfield-based motor sport engineer Julian Godfrey. With half of the championship run, Godfrey holds an 11-point lead over Binks, but the pair are under pressure from third placed Andy Scott who has already won twice this year and returns to the British championship having recently claimed a pair of top-four places in European championship outings. The Dumfries-based Scotsman, together with defending champion Pat Doran (Winkleigh) who holds fifth place, has failed to score in one event so far this year but with drivers counting only their best seven scores at the end of the season, this is not a problem as long as they continue to score in the remaining rounds.
While Godfrey leads the Supercar racers, James Bird (Midhurst) is the points leader in the Supernational championship for two-wheel drive cars. Bird has won twice this year in his Renault ClioSport V6 and has holds a 21-point advantage over closest rival Ash Simpson’s (York) Lotus Exige.
A dark horse in the event will be local driver Ryan Lawford (Canterbury) who makes his first appearance of the year but will do so at the wheel of the two-litre Fiesta used by Julian Godfrey to win the 2010 championship.
Old skool, new cool – Rallycross Retro joins support programme
Joining the programme of supporting races in the British championship event for the first time, the new ‘Rallycross Retro’ will take part in a demonstration event at Lydden. Created to showcase classic or historic cars, Rallycross Retro has attracted a cross section of rally and Rallycross cars, including three of the iconic mid-1980s Group B cars: Ford RS200s for Mark Rennison and Pat Doran and a Metro 6R4 for Rob Gibson. Also set to take part is James Harrold who will drive a hybrid turbocharged VW Beetle and Russell Crampton in a lightweight Mini. Also driving will be Roy Edwards, the Paddock Wood veteran set to run his Ford REscort Mk1 rally car, 44 years after he took part in the first ever Rallycross event at Lydden in 1967.
As well as the British championship popular RX150, Swift Sport and Junior Rallycross supporting classes, the Bank Holiday bonanza also includes the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship and has a total entry of almost 100 cars.
Meet and greet in Maidstone
Ford drivers Marcus Grönholm and David Binks will take part in an autograph session at Haynes of Maidstone Ford dealership on Sunday August 28. One of the team’s 550bhp Ford Fiesta Supercars will also be on display and visitors will have the chance to win tickets to Monday’s Lydden event. Haynes Ford Maidstone, Ashford Road, Maidstone (ME14 5DQ).
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