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Originally Posted by British Rallycross Championship Facebook Page
This years Autosport Show once again, had many visitors to the NEC to see the latest in what is new for 2015. Rallycross featured much more this year than in recent events, with news for this season from the likes of Ollie O’Donovan, Jake Taylor, Steve Hill and Craig Lomax to name but a few.
The attraction for most visitors was the presence of World RX Champion Petter Solberg, who attended the show for all four days, carried out numerous interviews on stage, and was on hand to provide action in the Live Arena to the thousands of Motorsport fans that tuned up.
This years MSA British Rallycross Championship is already shaping up to be one of the best for some time. Former British Champion Ollie O’Donovan will swap the ex-Kevin Procter Focus for a new R5 based Ford Fiesta, run by Tony Bardy Motorsport and will be seen at the opening round of this years series at Croft on March 15th.
The Irishman will team up with Yokohama for this year, and speaking at the show head of Motorsport at Yokohama HPT Ltd, Mark Evans, said; "I am delighted to be working with Ollie to support his entry into the Supercar category of the 2015 British Rallycross Championship. We have known him for some time and with his experience, this car and the Yokohama ADVAN A005 tyre, I am sure that we will enjoy a successful year. In addition to competing with Yokohama, Ollie will continue to provide Yokohama tyres to the Rallycross community through RX Racing, including the new tyre to competitors who wish to use it alongside him in the Supercar class."
For O’Donovan it is the kind of backing needed to sustain a challenge at this year’s title and he is looking forward to 2015 indeed and said “The partnership with Yokohama is very important to both myself and Team RX Racing in Rallycross. We have used the tyres on the RX150’s for many years, and have proved how good they are, so to have them on the car as well is superb.” He went on to add “Team RX Racing will contest all the rounds of the MSA British Championship this year, as well as up to six rounds of the World Rallycross Championship, so it is going to be a busy year, but one the team and I are looking forward to.”
Elsewhere Jake Taylor confirmed that he will make the move up to the Suzuki Swift Sport category in 2015. JT Motorsport announced “After a strong 2014 debut season, gaining valuable experience in the Swift Juniors, Jake will be making the leap up to the ultra competitive Suzuki Swift 1.6 Sport category.
Supported by Autopoint Specialist Engineering, Jake will compete in the 2015 British Rallycross Championship With over 20 years experience in World, European and British Rallycross , Jake will be in very capable hands with Graham and Kieran at Autopoint Specialist Engineering for his next stage of development, and it is a challenge that we are really looking forward to.”
Jake will be racing behind the wheel of the famous championship winning Suzuki Swift of Graham Rodemark and work has just started preparing the car for the 2015 season, featuring a new colour scheme and new artwork.
Speaking at the show Jake said "I know it’s a very tough category to be racing in with the adults but I'm committed to keep on developing and improving in 2015" he added "With the fantastic support of the team at Autopoint SE and the MSA Academy tutors I'm incredibly excited about the challenge ahead, I cannot wait to get behind the wheel again".
Other news from the show is that James Grint is working hard on a deal that should see him in the Championship once again, while Craig Lomax will be back in his new Citroën C2, the Xtreme Motorsport driver present in the Live Action Arena at the show.
Steve Hill confirmed that he will contest the full Championship in 2015 in the rapid Mitsubishi Evo, while Steve Harris confirmed that he too was working on a deal that would see him contest the series once again.
This years dates were released just before Christmas and are as follows
Croft – 15th March
Lydden - 6th April
Pembrey – 10th May
Mondello Park – 27/28 June
Pembrey – 19th July
Lydden – 31st August
Croft – 10/11 October
The Mondello Park round features a ferry deal for crews and teams, and more details will be announced this week.
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