Team RX Racing confirms double O’Donovan attack in Euro RX1

The younger O’Donovan – three times a champion on the national scene himself – revealed last month that he will rejoin the fray this season in a bid to add a second crown to his burgeoning CV, to complement the trophy that he first lifted two years ago. 

The young rising star and his father will take to the track behind the wheel of two of the last 208 WRX Supercars developed by Peugeot Sport, powered by latest-specification ORECA engines.

After starting out in rallying, O’Donovan Snr was a regular on the European rallycross stage from 2015 to 2017 – achieving a career-high eighth place in the standings in his maiden campaign and reaching the rostrum at Catalunya two years later. He continued to make sporadic appearances in the series before another full season in 2024 yielded three top ten finishes from four starts. 

The UK-based Irishman has similarly contested multiple rounds of the FIA World Rallycross Championship since 2014, and having claimed the British title back in 2007 in a Peugeot 306, he remains a 5 Nations front-runner even as he approaches his 60^th birthday later this year. 

While Sam Clennell Motorsport has spent time building up a second 208 WRX from a bare bodyshell, O’Donovan Snr piloted his son’s Peugeot from the back of the grid to victory at Mondello Park last October, with the points scored helping Team RX Racing to clinch a third straight Teams’ crown.

Following a year’s absence from continental competition, the Limerick native now returns to the same brand of car with which he ruled the domestic scene 19 years ago. What’s more, with World RX taking a two-year hiatus, Euro RX1 currently represents the international pinnacle of the dual-surface discipline. It is a challenge O’Donovan is relishing.

“Driving our first 208 at Mondello Park last year was a real eye-opener for me,” he admitted. “I raced a 208 that we’d rented for a couple of rounds of the 2024 season, but that car never really suited me. I didn’t get on with it, coupled with the fact I was so focused on Patrick trying to win the European Championship during those events – it wasn’t the right time for me to be trying something new.

“We had owned Patrick’s Peugeot for three years before I even sat in it, but that weekend at Mondello really showed me what a top-level car can be like. I’ve never really had that before in my career. Even though we’ve often had very good cars, there is a difference between a very good car and a great car, built by a manufacturer team.

“For that reason alone, I’m excited by this season. The entry is expected to be very big and I don’t expect to be up there with the quick young drivers all the time – I celebrate a big birthday during the Lohéac weekend which is more than twice many of their ages – but I do believe I still have very good pace and there will be days when experience will count, too.

“Having two cars in the team is also important for Patrick. Hopefully the data we collect will help his challenge, and my experiences of track conditions at different times will be important. We are putting a big effort into this because we believe this is right for rallycross as well!”

Following the opening round of the campaign at the historic Biķernieku trase in the Latvian capital of Rīga on 9-10 May, competitors will proceed to lock horns at Nyirád in Hungary (30-31 May), Höljes in Sweden (4-5 July), Mondello Park in Ireland (18-19 July), Lohéac in France (29-30 August) and finally Lousada in Portugal, where champions will be crowned on 12-13 September.