Junior Durdin Delivers A Win In Wales

The MSA British Rallycross Championship made its first visit of the season to Pembrey, South Wales, where PGM Motorsport ran three cars in the Power Maxed Swift Rallycross Championship and MSA Junior Swift Rallycross Championship.

 Andy Pecover makes debut in Swift Sport Championship

Former Stock Hatch rallycross racer Andy Pecover returned to the sport at Pembrey in a PGM run Swift and impressed with his pace amongst a strong field of experienced Swift racers. With improved lap times each time he went on track, Pecover was sixth fastest in the third qualifying heat and finished third in the B final after a close encounter with Stockton-on-Tees driver, Andrew Hawkes. Jeff Hankin had another strong event in his first season of rallycross, he finished fifth in the B final and climbed to ninth of 17 competitors in the championship standings after the opening three rounds of the season.

Strong performance by Jeff Hankin, gaining confidence every time

Essex racer Bradley Durdin claimed victory in the MSA Junior Swift Rallycross Championship final to close the gap on championship leader Drew Bellerby to just one point. Durdin was fastest in the second qualifying heat and second in heat three to line up on the front row for the final, alongside pole sitter Sam Jones. Durdin made a great start to go on to win the race from newcomer Sam Jones and 2014 junior vice-champion Drew Bellerby.

Brad Durdin heading for victory

Peter Gwynne:  Great driving by Brad today.   He has proved from the start of the season he was going to be a strong contender in the juniors, he was just struggling with his starts a little at Lydden so we had some time in the car and practiced those before Pembrey and he has given a strong drive all day.  Unlucky with a puncture in heat one but delivered a win and fastest time of the day so cant complain at that.  He was clutching his plate with pride!

 

Brad Durdin taking his first British Rallycross win

Brad Durdin:  After pushing so hard all year it was great to finally pick up the win that we've been so close to getting at the past few rounds. We had some ups and downs throughout the day such as the puncture in the first heat but that was outweighed by a strong finish in the Final.

New Drivers Show Potential in Rallycross Opening Round

Suzuki Swift preparation experts PGM Motorsport ran four drivers in the Power Maxed Swift Sport and Junior Swift categories at the opening round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship, held at Croft Circuit in Yorkshire.

Adam Weaver in his Power Maxed Branded Swift

In the highly competitive Swift Rallycross Championships, BTCC Power Maxed team owner Adam Weaver had a strong run to get his season underway by qualifying directly for the A final in seventh position. Weaver climbed to an impressive fifth place in the final in his distinctive Swift by the fifth lap of the race and will be knocking on the door of the podium in events to come. 

 Jeff Hankin first time in British Rallycross Event

Fellow PGM driver Jeff Hankin started on pole position in the B final and ran in second place on lap two. Hankin pushed hard to catch leader Nathan Heathcote, but just missed out on promotion to the A final in the first event of the season. He finished third. Scottish driver Ryan McAdam had an exciting day in his Swift, improving his pace every time he got in the car. As he got to grips with the Croft Circuit, he made it into the B final and enjoyed a close race with more experienced Swift racers Alex Spencer and Dave Ellis, proving his potential for coming events.

Ryan McAdam in his Rallycross debut

In the Junior Swift category, Bradley Durdin shone on his debut. The rallycross newcomer found his feet around the Croft rallycross track in the opening heats, and by heat three was right on the pace, beating championship favourite Drew Bellerby. In the final, Durdin pushed Bellerby hard and led on lap two, before being re-passed by Bellerby. The fight continued until the end, Durdin finishing in second place, less than a second behind Bellerby.

 Impressive first appearance by Bradley Durdin in Junior Rallycross

“It’s been a cracking first round for our drivers.  Jeff was consistent all day and narrowly missed out on the A final.    Young Ryan, with his first time out on gravel improved every heat and showed real potential and Adam was right in the mix and had some really good battles for position out there.

Brad too put in a really impressive performance, first time out in the juniors.  This is Drew’s home track and she and Charlie (2014 MSA Junior Champion – Charlie Bean) were battling all season and we know she is quick, so for Brad to come and win a heat here shows he has good pace.  He was unlucky in the final having taken the lead, a common mistake in running wide on the hairpin here just cost him, otherwise it would have been a win first time out.  He and Drew drove a great race, it was close all the way, think these two are going to provide some great racing if this is anything to go by.” said Peter Gwynne

Another highlight to the weekend was PGM Rallycross Challenge Europe driver Kris Fruru made the trip across from Belgium to be on hand to assist the new drivers on the day.  Great to see him catching up with Rob Maynard and the others he did battle with back in 2013 when he came 3^rd in the Swift championship himself.

The team only have to wait 3 weeks until the next rallycross outing for Round 2 of the British Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill Race Circuit, Kent.