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Lawrence Gibson
(Banbridge) is the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Champion for
2008. The Ulsterman won the title, his first British championship, in
the final round of the seven-event series at at Mondello Park in the
Irish Republic today (October 12).
Entering the final
round of the championship three drivers remained in the title battle.
Defending champion Ollie O'Donovan (London) was put out of the event
when his Peugeot suffered engine problems in the practice session,
leaving Gibson to duel with Steve Hill (Aylsbury) for the title.
Hill had the better
run in the qualifying heats ad started the Supercar A final from pole
position. Here, however, it was Pat Doran (Winkleigh) starting from the
middle of the front row who got the drop on Hill and Gibson and won the
race to take pole position for the Superfinal. Hill and Gibson joined
Doran on the front row of the grid for the Superfinal.
Doran led the
Superfinal from start to finish, this time chased by son Liam who
powered through from fourth place on the grid to run second. Gibson and
Hill traded places in the first corner, the former grabbing third place
and remaining there throughout the race. Hill was fourth for most of
the race, but lost the position to Derrick Jobb (Fintona) in the fifth
lap.
At the end of the
race Gibson was delighted to have put his name to the championship and
to claim the prestigious 'GB1' racing number for the 2009 season.
"Fantastic! I've been trying to win this for a long time, the only
problem is that now I'll have to come back next year and defend it! It
was good that the title was won on the track it's just a shame that
Ollie wasn't there to race with us," said Gibson.
The Doran one-two was
an historic achievement as the first time that a father and son have
taken the top two places in a Rallycross event. The day had a family
theme as sixth and seventh places in the Superfinal were taken by
brothers Michael and Willie Coyne from Naas.
Results
Superfinal (5 laps)
1Pat Doran (Ford Fiesta ST) 3m51.556s; 2 Liam Doran (Ford RS200)
3m52.092s; 3 Lawrence Gibson (MG Metro 6R4) 3m55.237s; 4 Derrick Jobb
(Ford Escort) 3m55.467s; 5 Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo)
3m57.803s; 6 Michael Coyne (Vauxhall Nova) 4m07.683s; 7 Willie Coyne
(Vauxhall Corsa) 4m09.393s; 8 James Bird (Renault ClioSport V6)
4m12.589s. Championship 1 Gibson 156; 2 Hill 147; 3 Ollie O'Donovan
(Peugeot 306) 142.
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