Monday's (May 7) second round of the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship at Pembrey is a critical event for several of the pre-season favourites after a dramatic opening round at Lydden four weeks ago.

The winner at Lydden, and the championship leader entering round two, is Dave Bellerby (Northallerton) who drives in the SuperModified category with his Lotus Exige. By steering clear of the crash that changed the face of the event, and producing an outstanding drive, Bellerby became the first to win a British championship event outright in a two-wheel drive car since 1985 when the four-wheel drive Supercars' came to dominate Rallycross.

Bellerby knows that he has almost no chance to repeat the success, but is aiming the qualify for the Superfinal at Pembrey.

"My aim is to keep hold of the championship lead, I think I can probably get to fourth or fifth place in the Superfinal and if I can do that with George Tracey and "Mad Mark" behind me than I can keep the championship lead," said Bellerby.

The driver who lost out most at Lydden was Andrew Jordan (Sutton Coldfield) who had dominated the event, setting fastest time in each of the three qualifying heats and then winning the Supercar A final. Jordan's day came an abrupt end in the first corner of the Superfinal where a gearbox problem caused his Ford Focus to lose drive, after which it was hit by following cars.

"I'm aiming to win at Pembrey. We've got a test lined up before the weekend to make sure we've sorted the gearbox problems and also to work on start line performance," said Jordan. "I was fastest at Lydden and I think we've got the Focus working really well on the Kumho tyres, reliability is the key for me now. The only good thing about Lydden was that I wasn't the only one to have problems."

Highest placed of those who started the year tipped as likely champions was Pat Doran (Milstead) who managed to take fifth place with his Ford Fiesta ST despite losing the use of fourth gear after the third qualifying heat. John McCluskey (Dublin) was Jordan's closest challenger for most of the event but was forced out of the Superfinal as a result of damaged sustained in the crash. Dermot Carnegie (Dublin) had a very good run in his brand new Fiesta, but was also a retirement in the Superfinal.

"Mad Mark" (Barnard Castle) led the Superfinal but ultimately lost out to Bellerby. "I got caught in the crash at the start of the Superfinal and that damaged the intercooler. As the race went on the engine was getting too hot and beginning to lose power, I thought i might have won but there was nothing I could do to stop Bellerby," said "Mad Mark" who eventually finished third behind George Tracey.

Driving his new Peugeot 307CC WRC in its first BRC event, Tracey struggled in the heats but made it through the B and A finals to run in the Superfinal where a dogged performance brought second place. The Mullingar-based Irishman faces a hectic time just to get to Pembrey on Monday where he will race his Ford RS200.

"I've entered the Peugeot in the first round of the European Rallycross Championship in Portugal. That is on Saturday and Sunday and then I'm flying back overnight to drive the RS200 at Pembrey. I want to try and do a full season in the European championship if the car is okay but I had a good start in the British championship so I need to continue that too," Tracey said.