Albatec Racing endured a challenging British RX outing in round five of the British Rallycross Championship at Maasmechelen this weekend. Briton James Grint sustained substantial damage to his Peugeot 208 RX Supercar following a hefty crash into the wall, which severely hampered his chances of a place in the Final. There was some consolation for the Dumfries team, with double RX150 champion Marc Scott returning to race action after nine months away and collecting second place in the Final.
The event started well for James with a solid performance in Saturday’s practice underlining his potential aboard the #27 Peugeot 208. In Saturday’s Q1, a coming together between James and Mark Flaherty under braking on lap one saw the Peugeot subsequently stall and drop to 13th overall. In Sunday morning’s Q2, heavy contact into a wall on the inside of turn one, resulted in damage to the Peugeot’s intercooler which caused a subsequent loss of boost pressure.
A sterling effort by the team to repair the damage in time for Q3 saw a rejuvenated Grint quickly back up to speed and finish second in the race, and sixth overall to guarantee a place in the semi-final. In that, despite the best efforts of the former rally man, he was unable to progress further.
In the RX150 class, Marc showed the form that netted the Lochmaben racer back-to-back titles, on his return to race action for the first time since Croft last year. A strong pace in practice on Saturday saw him race ahead of 2015 title rival Chrissy Palmer in the time sheets, and in the opening heat he finished fourth.
In heat two, contact at the first corner on lap one resulted in right front suspension damage, but in true Scott style he bounced back to finish second in the third and final qualifying race to set-up another Final showdown with Palmer. After a good start he slotted in behind the eventual winner, and despite a spirited drive, finished second at the flag.
The team returns to British RX competition in round six at Lydden Hill on Bank Holiday Monday 29 August.
Andy Scott, Team Principal Albatec Racing :
“It’s been a very disappointing weekend for James after the promise of a good result following his practice performance. The team worked hard to repair his badly damaged car in time for Q3, in which he drove well to put him in a semi-final position. It was great to have Marc back with us and despite not racing since Croft last year he demonstrated the form that earned him back-to-back titles so I’m happy to leave Belgium with a podium finish."
James Grint, driver Albatec Racing :
“It was certainly an eventful weekend in Belgium and it felt great to be back behind the wheel again, it’s been far too long! We had two bad heats including a hefty crash into a wall in Q2, which caused substantial damage to the front of the car. After a superb job by the team to repair it, we did well to make it into the semis after finishing sixth overall in Q3. I managed to find some decent pace in the end, but unfortunately wasn’t able to get through to the Final.”
Marc Scott, driver Albatec Racing :
“It was great to be back racing after such a long time away and I’m pretty happy with my pace right from the start and the results we achieved. In the Final Chrissy was just on it, he’s obviously been racing all year and has that much more track time under his belt, but overall I’m happy I was able to keep with him and not lose too much time at the flag.”
