Round Two of the Swift Rallycross Championships and it was all going so well... PGM Junior Roberts Vitols was fastest in Q1 and all our Swift Sports drivers had good drives in the first qualifying heat.
Junior Vitols taking victory in qualifying
A nervous Ed Stallard returned to the paddock beaming after his first experience of rallycross. Max Weatherley won his race in Q1 which put him second quickest and Nikita Abramov and Don Macleod all had good first runs.
Q2 was when it all began! On the exit of Chessons Max Weatherley caught the barrier which sent him into a roll. The car was deposited back to the paddock and there was not time to waste. The PGM Team jumped into action, kicking the screen out to get it replaced and starting to remould the sorry looking swift back into a race car.
Nikita took a race win in Q2 and Ed soon found pace seeing his first chequered flag in Q3.
Meanwhile in the Juniors, Roberts dominated the racing with smooth and consistent driving to win all three qualifying heats.
The PGM Team managed to get Max back out to make the semi finals and no sooner had they caught their breathe when there were gasps from the crowds as Nikita was seen summersaulting down the track in the first of the semi finals. 😱😱😱
Images captured by Matt Bristow
Despite three big impacts to the roof, fortunately Nikita walked away with only bumps and bruises.
The junior final and Roberts continued leading the pack and looked to be cruising to take his first Junior Rallycross win, when on the second to last lap the little Swift that had not missed a beat all day, slowed up Hairy Hill and a train of Swifts passed him as he coasted round North bend. She shortly kick back into life and Roberts immediately started to catch up however with only a lap to go could only settle for sixth! A massive disappointment to everyone. Despite it running fine for the remainder of the race, all eyes immediately went to the petrol gauge when he returned to the paddock... which was not the issue. Absolute respect has to go to the sixteen year old who took the disappointment with such maturity. Here's what he had to say. "That one up in the sky’s knows when it will be our time. He wants us to fight back even harder and to make our mindset strong and confident. Thankful to my family for amazing support, to our team and supporters at the track and home."
All the remaining PGM Swift Sport drivers qualified for the final with Max finishing a respectable fourth overall after his earlier antics. Ed finished sixth in his first ever Rallycross event and Don who despite being plagued with punctures managed eighth.
A massive thank you as ever has to go to our amazing team for all their efforts and for managing to get Max back out as well as assisting other Swift drivers.
Next stop for the Swift Rallycross Championships is a double header event at Pembrey Circuit in Wales on 22nd & 23rd June 2019.