North Yorkshire sisters looking forward to return to Croft

NORTHALLERTON sisters Paige and Drew Bellerby head to their local Croft Circuit on October 21-22 for the final round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship, with both in with a great shout of landing their respective titles.

After leading the SuperNational series all year in her Fuchs Titan Race-backed Lotus Exige, 21-year-old Paige surrendered the advantage to Kent rival Tristan Ovenden (Renault Clio) following a traumatic last round at Pembrey in South Wales, and now faces a battle at Croft, where she won the opening round back in March.

Having switched to the BMW Mini class for 2017, younger sibling Drew is also holding second position in her Fuchs Titan Race-sponsored car. The 18-year-old has been a thorn in the side of the more experienced drivers throughout the year, including series leader Marty Hawkes from Stockton.

The complex scoring system means that both girls need a little bit of luck if they are to clinch either or both titles, as even if they win their respective finals, their chief rivals need to finish fifth or lower.

But in the rough and tumble world of rallycross, where close racing and the inevitable contact is part of the spectacle, anything can – and probably will – happen.

As well as a bumper home crowd cheering them on, both drivers will have the additional backing of Plumbase for the weekend, and keeping it in the family is ‘uncle’ Kevin Procter from Leeming, who will be gunning his 600bhp Procter’s Luxury Coaches-backed Ford Fiesta around the 700m half-gravel, half-asphalt track.

Procter has had a disappointing season by his standards and only occupies fifth in the Supercar standings, so a victory in next Saturday’s British Championship, followed by a win in the MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix on Sunday, would be a good end of season tonic for the local ace.

For ticket details for the weekend, visit www.croftcircuit.co.uk or www.rallycrossbrx.com.