Tunbridge Wells based Graham Rumsey had double delight at the latest round of the British Rallycross Championship last weekend.
He was sitting in third place after two rounds of the season, and hoping that he could net a good points haul with a double header at Pembrey Circuit.
For round 3 the Welsh circuit was to be run in reverse for the first time which promised to make for quick racing. However, in a cruel twist of fate the British Bank Holiday weather was to play its part. Torrential rain started in practice and remained until the finals which made the conditions treacherous to say the least, in fact having a heat stopped by a red flag sadly became the norm.
The tenacious Kent based driver got straight down to business despite the horrendous weather conditions, however he found the going tough but still managed a solid fourth place in Qualifying 1, For the Second round of qualification changes to the setup enabled him to climb to a second place finish. The organisers had made the unusual decision to abandon Qualifying 3 because of time constraints due to the sheer number of racing incidents. Rumsey had done enough to gain a front row start for the final which enabled him to get away from the pack early on and take the checkered flag and the top spot on the podium.
Round 4 was run in the normal direction but the weather was still a factor. Rumsey picked up where he left off the previous day and recorded a first and two thirds. This was enough for him to clinched the coveted pole position in the final. After a bumper to bumper thrilling race over six laps swapping the lead with Tomasz Wielgosz on numerous occasions Rumsey narrowly missed out on a double win for the weekend by a mere half second!
At the season half way point Rumsey is now sitting in joint second place in the championship with everything to fight for with 5 points separating the top three drivers. The championship now makes a short hop over the channel to Maasmechelen in Belgium for round 5 on 16-17 July.
Speaking after the weekend, Rumsey said: “Pembrey is a great, fast circuit even in the rain and after a few errors in the heats we settled down with the car and the results improved. We learnt a few things at Lydden Hill and the Xtreme/Onwatch team worked with changes to the set-up which suited the circuit and the conditions. We came to win not spin”
“We are now joint 2nd in the British Championship with 4 rounds to go. Looking forward to the next round in Belgium”
Images courtesy of Rubber Duck does Automotive Photography