Somewhat ironically,
during the course of a stellar campaign in the FIA European Rallycross
Championship’s top-tier, Montalegre was the only event that O’Donovan did not
win, taking the chequered flag third in the final after a slow start and
contact into Turn One had forced him onto the grass and down to the rear of the
pack.
By that stage, however,
it no longer mattered, as the 20-year-old – who is aiming to become a
three-time British Rallycross Champion this weekend – had already done enough
to seal the deal in the semi-final. He duly went down in history as the first
British driver to win a European title in the dual-surface discipline since Richard
Hutton back in 1994.
“It was amazing, and
such a huge effort by the team,” reflected O’Donovan. “There’s a running joke
that Sam Clennell who manages the team has been on a non-stop holiday for the
past few months, but to be completely serious, he has been in the workshop
relentlessly. He has such incredible drive, and for us to come and do this, it
honestly means so much.
“This has been a massive
family effort throughout. I grew up watching my father (2007 British Rallycross
Champion, Ollie O’Donovan) race. He actually taught me how to drive. There’s a
funny story that after my first few races, he said I wasn’t his son! I think
I’ve since disproved that a little... Without such steadfast support from both
my dad and my mum, I would never have been able to achieve this.”
The Team RX Racing ace
admitted it had not been the most straightforward of weekends at Montalegre,
and while he had a bit of a buffer in the points table, he knew he could not
afford to take his eye off the ball too much with a rival of the calibre of Yury
Belevskiy ready to pounce on the slightest error.
“It’s quite a difficult
position to be in, to be completely honest,” O’Donovan mused. “I prefer to be the
hunter doing the chasing, rather than the hunted having to try to manage the
gap – that’s a new skill I’ve had to pick up over the past few months!
“Our race starts were
really up-and-down over the weekend, but in the semi-final, I got an insane
launch. We tried to replicate that in the final, but it turned out to be too
much of a gamble as I ended up stalling on the line!
“We were last into Turn
One, and into the braking zone, I received a touch from [Tamás] Kárai that put
me onto the grass. To recover from there to third was a cool comeback drive and
I pulled off two pretty cheeky overtakes along the way.
“I was really happy to
see Yury win the final. He has done an amazing job all year, constantly on my
rear bumper and pushing me round. For him to finish almost five seconds clear was
super-impressive. It’s brilliant to race against such tough competition – it
makes it even more rewarding when you win.”