Canterbury based Rallycross driver Tristan Ovenden headed to the newly redeveloped Pembrey circuit in South Wales for rounds 4 and 5 of the MSA British Rallycross Championship.

The new track was run in reverse direction on the Saturday for round 4 and features a WRX style straight in start line, which would suit the power of Ovenden’s iconic Clio V6. A fuelling issue saw the Goody Demolition backed driver left on the start line for Q1, the team worked hard to fix the problem and got the car ready for Q2 only for the same thing to happen yet again.

Q3, however and the Kent driver was right back into the running recording the second fastest time. This was only enough to secure a back row grid spot for the final.

Ovenden battled hard on the tricky and tight circuit to get himself back into contention and was pushing hard for the lead. It was unfortunate that a small racing incident with the eventual winner saw the Clios steering arm break on lap 5 forcing Ovenden to pull up and not finish the final.

A sunny and hot Pembrey saw round 5 get underway and with it saw the Kent driver cast aside any doubt of the previous day with three straight qualifying wins, barely troubled by the rest of the field.

From pole position Ovenden took an emphatic lights to flag victory.

Despite the disappointing Saturday, Ovendens 15-point lead running into the weekend was extended to 17 overall and leaving him 19 points ahead of his nearest Supernational rival.

The championship will make its second visit to Croft in North Yorkshire on 29th July. Track action gets underway at 09:00

Tristan Ovenden, #72: “We had good pace all weekend but, Saturday was a day of small issues causing big problems! After missing q1 and q2 with a fuel pump fault we were quick in q3 and on for a good result in the final until some small contact, which looked dramatic, caused a steering breakage that ended our race.

“It was a real shame. The team did some great work throughout the evening to get the car back in good shape and on Sunday. I was determined to put the pace we showed into good use and reward the teams hard work with a win.”