Retford driver strengthens position in Swift Rallycross Championship with Lydden Hill performance

Retford’s Jake Taylor consolidated his place int he Swift Rallycross Championship, after a mature performance at round seven at Lydden Hill.
Jake taylorJake taylor
Jake taylor

The youngster was up against a bumper entry of drivers, with 17 others taking to the grid.

His day started with Lydden Hill, the home of rallycross, shrouded in a blanket of thick fog making visibility extremely limited.

This was soon dispersed and replaced with heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning.

To say that the conditions were tough would have been an understatement.

During practice Taylor set about learning the extremely wet and hazardess Lydden Hill course.

The fog then started to lift for the first heat, only to be replaced by a thunderstorm.

Taylor made a great start but because of the appalling conditions he found himself in three contacts in the first corner, but recovered well.

In the second heat Taylor was showing more pace and progression but an error whilst taking his joker lap cost him valuable time.

In heat three Taylor made his best start of the day, reaching the first corner in the lead but falling foul of the conditions and losing control which caused extensive damage to the front of the car.

All this placed him on the front row for the C-Final.

Taylor drove a near faultless race with a lights-to-flag win, notching up his fastest time of the day to qualify for the B-Final.

The Bassetlaw driver had to literally drive back through the pits and straight back onto the back of the B-Final grid.

He drove a remarkable and mature race climbing up to fourth place and 11th overall for the round – a hard fought and well deserved result that strengthens his sixth place in the championship.

The championship now moves north to Croft Circuit for the finale, which will also include the Grand Prix on 10th and 11th October.

Describing his day Taylor said: “Not the morning we had hoped for.

“The team at Autopoint did a fantastic job of fixing the car and making sure I had a fighting chance of getting back out there in the finals.

“The knowledge and feedback they provided was incredible help.

“It was an amazing day, always special racing at Lydden, a very tough day that led me on to earn championship points and learn valuable lessons to help me continue to improve.”