James Harrold leads the way as Retro Rallycross head to Wales

The Retro Rallycross championship will continue this Sunday ( September 23) at Pembrey  in what has so far been a very closely fought battle for top honours to find the outright winner of the John Button Memorial Trophy.

James Harrold will arrive at the penultimate round in the series having edged into the lead of the Super Retro category following the last outing in the series at Lydden Hill despite being plagued with boost issues all day.  Gary Dixon (Vauxhall Astra) and Paul Easterbrook (Toyota MR2) are currently in  joint second place trailing a shared 8 points  behind the leader  with three times title holder Ray Morgan starting in fourth place.

Meanwhile, on the Retro Rallycross category  the points are equally tight at the top; Class leader Ian Biagi (Mini) is in a more comfortable position with a 20 point  lead over his close rivals but expect  them to deliver good results as they try to close the gap in the under 16600cc class.

Former FIA European Rallycross Championship racer John Cross, who failed to appear at Lydden in his newly restored Lancia Stratos, is still hoping to be a late entry to the grid if this much awaited classic can be completed in time for the weekend.

The 4WD class will once again see Derrick Jobb (Ireland) take on local man Roger Thomas in his recently prepared MG Metro 6R4; the ex Lawrence Gibson car has undergone a series of major improvements and complete with new livery is expected to be very much the man to beat in the overall position on the day. Having made his maiden outing at the wheel of his Ford RS200 at Lydden on August Bank Holiday, experienced driver Steve Harris will sit this one out but is expected to be back for the final round at Silverstone (November 4). His Lydden performance  saw Harris get to grips with the handling and performance of his Group B Monster going on to steal the show to take the  Retro Rallycross Championship final victory.

Just four days after the Lydden race Retro Rallycross travelled to Loheac for the French round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in what was their second world stage outing of the season;  select machinery joined the Rallycross Legends display. Entertaining a packed audience of 80,000 spectators Steve Harris and Rob Gibson were popular winners in their finals in the 4WD category.

” We always enjoy Pembrey and to do so at a time where the points are so close is going to prove to be an exciting weekend for us” said Retro Rallycross Championship Coordinator Shirley Gibson, ”It’s still too close to call and may result in going  down to the wire at the final round at Silverstone, which would be a repeat of last year when the drivers left everything hanging on a thread until the very last heat in the last race of the year”.

ENTRY LIST – Pembrey – Round 6 23rd September 2018

Derrick Jobb          Ford Escort Cosworth        2000
Roger Thomas       MG Metro 6R4                    3600
Ian Biagi                 BMC Mini Clubman             1400
Simon Hart            Ford Escort                           159
Mark Finch            Ford Fiesta                           1600
Gary Dixon            Vauxhall Astra GTE             2000
Steve Cozens        Citroen AX                            1648
Ray Morgan          Ford Escort  BDA                 2000
James Harrold      Volkswagen Beetle                   2100
Pail Easterbrook     Toyota MR2 MK1            1998