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Steve Hill (Aylesbury) won the fourth round of the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship at Lydden (May 25).
Hill won through at the end of a dramatic Superfinal, guiding his Mitsubishi Lancer E9 to his first event win of the year and with it take a three point lead in the championship.
Despite suffering gear selection problems in the qualifying heats Hill managed place his Lancer fourth on the grid for the Supercar A final. Further gear selection problems here caused a slow, however, and Hill had to race had in the pack, eventually clawing his way back to fifth place.
At the front Liam Doran (Sittingbourne) made a great start from third place on the grid to lead the final from pole starter Ollie O’Donovan (London). Doran appeared set for the win until a puncture slowed his Fiesta ST ERC and allowed O’Donovan to sweep into the lead and take the win.
Victory gave O’Donovan pole for the Superfinal while Doran just made it into the British championship points race as seventh of the eight starters. Another fine start saw him challenge O’Donovan in the first corner and then take the lead in the second lap when O’Donovan’s car suffered a misfire.
Again Doran looked like winning only to lose out when the left front wheel broke and fell off his car. With Lawrence Gibson (Banbridge) and Pat Doran (Winkleigh) also slowed by mechanical problems, it was Hill who gained the reward for persevering to the end and moved through to win. Pat Doran placed second with James Bird (Midhurst) bagging a fine third place after earlier winning the SuperModified A final.
Superfinal (5.5 laps) 1 Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Lancer E9) 4m14.417s; 2 Pat Doran (Ford Fiesta ST ERC) +1.8s; 3 James Bird (Renault ClioSport V6); 4 Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta ST ‘S1600’); 5 Lawrence Gibson (MG Metro 6R4); 6 Liam Doran (Ford Fiesta ST ERC); 7 Ollie O’Donovan (Peugeot 306 4×4 Turbo); 8 Chris Langley (Ford Escort RS Cosworth).
Championship after 4 of 8 rounds: 1 Hill 103; 2 Pat Doran 100; 3 Gibson 92; 4 Liam Doran 79; 5 Bird 77; 6 Godfrey 73
Class Winners: Supercar Ollie O’Donovan. SuperModified James Bird. Stock Hatch Ryan Lawford. Junior Brad Bailey.
Next event: Lydden Hill August 31
2009 Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship
Sun Mar 8 Mondello Park (IRL)
Sun May 3 Pembrey
Mon May 4 Pembrey
Mon May 25 Lydden
Mon Aug 31 Lydden
Sat Sep 19 Pembrey
Sun Sep 20 Pembrey
Sun Oct 11 Croft
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