Former RX150 event-winner Sam Clennell will make his Supercar debut in the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy season-finale at Lydden Hill next weekend [November 8-9].

Clennell, who’s Sam Clennell Motorsport outfit operates Team RX Racing’s rallycross cars, claimed a surprise victory at Croft Croft on his maiden weekend in rallycross, racing in the RX150 category, and has been a front-runner in his subsequent appearances.

With the team’s regular driver Ollie O’Donovan forced to miss the final weekend of the 5 Nations BRX campaign, Clennell will race O’Donovan’s Proton Iriz RX at Lydden Hill, the venue at which Patrick O’Donovan claimed back-to-back wins with the same car in the season-opener at the same circuit.

Clennell will line up alongside reigning three-time British Rallycross Champion Patrick O’Donovan, who also claimed the FIA European Rallycross Championship title last year.

The Iriz RX suffered engine failure during its last outing at Loheac in France, ending Ollie O’Donovan’s hopes of a strong championship result, but significant work has been put in to the car to return it to race-ready action, and was shaken down at Teeside Autodrome on Thursday.

“I have spent a long time now working on and running Supercars, but the chance to race one doesn’t come along very often,” said Clennell. “When Ollie realised he would be unable to do the final round of the British Championship it was a great opportunity for me to drive the Proton we have put so much work into. I have done quite a lot of shakedown mileage in the car, but that’s nothing like racing it for real, and it’s a long time since I was racing in rallycross so I’m jumping in the deep end. My role doesn’t change with making sure Patrick’s car is as right as possible every time it goes on track too, so it’s going to be a busy weekend but I’m very excited and I can’t thank Ollie and Team RX Racing enough for the opportunity.”

Ollie O’Donovan meanwhile has reiterated that missing the Lydden event is a one-off situation. “Firstly I can’t pretend I’m not disappointed to be missing the final event of the season, but for so much of my life motor sport has always come first over everything else, and while I have not lost any of my drive to continue racing, being far away from having any chance of the championship means that on this occasion, other things had to come first,” said O’Donovan who won at Mondello Park earlier this month.

“With me not racing it presented an opening in the team for Sam to drive, and I couldn’t be more pleased for him. Mostly, because of the massive passion and effort he puts in both on race weekends and behind the scenes to give us the best equipment possible, but also because I think he can spring a surprise this weekend. He has always impressed me with his performances in the RX150s, and he knows better than most how a Supercar works, so I will be watching with interest.”

Tickets for the fireworks finale, which features the Saturday Supercar final under the floodlight cover of darkness before the firework display, can be found here.

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