Mondello Park, Naas (IRL) — Albatec Racing returned to British Rallycross Championship action in a double-header meeting at Mondello Park this weekend. Fielding a Peugeot 208 RX Supercar for series leader Andy Scott, and an RX150 buggy for reigning and double British champion Marc Scott, hopes were high of a strong result for father and son to keep their title aspirations on track.
Going into rounds four and five leading the Supercars following victory at Lydden Hill and Croft, Andy got his weekend off to a great start, with victory in heat one aboard his Peugeot 208. In heat two, the Team Principal was boxed in at the start, eventually finishing fourth, but recovered in the third to take another outright heat win.
Lining up on the coveted pole spot for the Final, a good start off the line saw him in contention for a third outright Supercar win of the season. However a hit from Kevin Procter tipped the Peugeot 208 into a spin, dropping the Dumfries racer to dead last. A spirited drive saw him claw his way back to sixth at the flag but saw his championship lead handed to eventual race winner, four time British champion Julian Godfrey.
Sunday’s round five proved even more frustrating for Andy, after a last minute change to the race format. Originally scheduled to be a four-lap race, the day’s opening heat was suddenly cut to three, leaving race leader Andy who had yet to joker with a 20 second time penalty added to his race winning time. Thereafter he was on the back foot, on a track where a front row grid position is key to a good result.
Qualifying for the Final once again, Andy took another hit at turn two on the opening lap, spinning him out of contention, although he recovered to finish sixth.
After a great start to the weekend that had Marc also win two of his RX150 heats, he too lined up on pole position for Saturday’s Final, and looked set to add another win to his 2015 tally. Taking the lead from series leader Chrissy Palmer on lap two, the Lochmaben racer ran wide at SEAT corner a lap later, handing the win to Palmer.
The 29 year-old bounced back to the top step of the podium in round five however, with a masterclass in RX150 driving netting him his third win of the season to close the gap to Palmer. Two heat wins and a second place finish gave him the prime spot again for the final. Taking the lead at the start, Marc went on to record a four second advantage at the flag.
Andy Scott, Albatec Racing Team Principal and driver:
“It’s been a very disappointing weekend, you could say we’ve had the unluck of the Irish, after what started so well for us. We were unlucky to a large extent and unable to convert the pace we had into results.
“On Sunday, we had a good run in timed practice and were looking good for a strong result to get me back on track, but in the first heat they cut it short by a lap, just as I was about to take my joker. That gave me a 20 second penalty, which effectively ruled me out of contention for the rest of the day. Mondello is all about being on the front row, when you’re not, it’s very difficult to get a top result, and running in traffic meant the times were slower.
“I’m very unhappy with the whole weekend really, and particularly so as we had one of our sponsors Motis Ireland there, when I’d really hoped to give them a good result.”
Marc Scott, Albatec Racing driver:
“It was a pretty good weekend for me, it would have been nice to get the double, but I made a small mistake in Saturday’s Final, running wide and allowing Chrissy [Palmer] through. In the second it was another close run to the flag, but I had a bit of a gap early on, which helped me pull away. Overall it’s been a great battle with him once again, and I’m looking forward to renewing the challenge at Pembrey.”
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