PR: O’Donovan scores double Lydden Hill victory to secure second 5 Nations BRX crown

Reigning Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy champion Patrick O’Donovan secured double victory in Lydden Hill’s annual fireworks rallycross season-finale to claim a second-straight title.

Competing alongside a host of star-name entries in the last event of the season, O’Donovan took the top qualifier position in round 10 on Saturday, won the first semi-final then led the night-race final from start to finish to claim victory, ahead of Finnish driver Mikko Ikonen (Hyundai i20) and Swede Sebastian Eriksson (Ford Focus). Series regular Ollie O’Donovan (Proton Iriz) finished fourth, with Hungarian Janko Wieszt (Renault Megane) fifth and Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Evo) sixth. The final was concluded by the annual fireworks display, but series leader Jack Thorne (Peugeot 208) didn’t make it into the last race of the day after retiring from the semi-finals, as did returning star Liam Doran (Hyundai i20), with gearbox failure.

Patrick O’Donovan then overcame transmission failure in Q2 in the final round on Sunday to win both his semi-final and the final to secure the championship title, as Ikonen took the top-qualifier position, won semi-final one and finished second in the final. Wieszt finished third, ahead of O’Donovan, six-time champion Julian Godfrey (Citroen DS3) and Tristan Ovenden (Citroen DS3).