IRISHMAN Ollie O’Donovan (Iver) won the final round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship in association with ODYSSEY Battery at Croft Circuit to claim second overall in the 2016 Championship standings.

With the title already wrapped up by 19-year old Dan Rooke (Holsworthy) at the penultimate round, three drivers arrived at the final event of the year in North Yorkshire in the fight for second overall; O’Donovan battling with Julian Godfrey (Heathfeild) and Dave Bellerby (Northallerton).

O’Donovan took the lead of the restarted final at the first corner and led for the duration of the six laps, fending off pressure from Godfrey throughout despite having started the race with the power steering not working on his Ford Fiesta.

Five-time champion Godfrey had a difficult day, his Ford Fiesta suffered gearbox problems in Q1 and he missed Q2 altogether while his team repaired the problem, but recovered to finish just behind O’Donovan in the final and the overall standings.

Steve Harris (Hillbridge) ran third in the opening laps but after a close battle with Bellerby spun out of contention at the end of lap three.

Andy Grant (Barnstaple) also lost ground early in the race as Pat Doran (Dolton) forged his way through the field, making it to third when he too passed Bellerby to finish on the podium.

“That was a very hard earned win,” said O’Donovan. “I made a great start, my only option was to get around the outside at the first corner because I could hardly steer the car.

"I was just using the handbrake to turn the car. It’s a pity we didn’t have better form earlier in the season or we could have been fighting for the title, but to finish second is good and it’s really nice to win the last round.”

Bellerby finished his home event fourth, replicating his overall position in the championship, while Kevin Procter (Northallerton) set fastest time in Q1 and Q3 but suffered from mechanical problems in the final, a legacy of damage sustained in the initial running of the final before it was red flagged after just a lap.

Tony Bardy (Scotch Corner) made his return to rallycross in O’Donovan’s Ford Focus and showed well, running in the top three in the initial running of the final and finished sixth at the end of the day.

Grant was involved in a last lap battle with Bardy and Procter and finished seventh with Harris recovering to be eighth.

X Games gold medalist Liam Doran (Dolton) returned to British RX with his Citroen DS3 but was plagued by technical troubles in the semi-finals, but it was worse for his LD Motorsports team mate and newly crowned champion Dan Rooke, who was forced out of the event before Q3 with engine issues. Steve Hill (Thame) crashed out of his semi-final with a stuck throttle and James Grint (Kimpton) also ran into mechanical dramas.

Mad Mark Watson (Barnard Castle) failed to finish any of the qualifying races.

MSA British Rallycross Championship results (Supercar): 1 Ollie O’Donovan (Ford Fiesta), 2 Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta), 3 Pat Doran (Citroen C4), 4 Dave Bellerby (Ford Fiesta), 5 Kevin Procter (Ford Fiesta), 6 Tony Bardy (Ford Focus), 7 Andy Grant (Ford Focus), 8 Steve Harris (Citroen DS3) MSA British Rallycross Championship points (Supercar): 1 Dan Rooke 194, 2 Ollie O’Donovan 177, 3 Julian Godfrey 173, 4 Dave Bellerby 163, 5 Kevin Procter (Ford Fiesta) 139, 6 Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Evo) 129, 7 Steve Harris 127, 8 Andy Grant (Ford Focus) 121