Albatec and Andy Scott target ‘Magic Weekend’ in Höljes

Dumfries, Scotland (UK) — 26 June 2018; Albatec Racing and Andy Scott are set to make a welcome return to Sweden in round three of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at the Höljes Motorstadion this weekend (1 July). The high-speed track is a firm favourite of the Albatec Team Principal, who will drive his Motis/Rock Oil/Teng Tools supported Peugeot 208RX Supercar in front of an anticipated 50,000 enthusiastic fans.

The event will mark Andy’s first appearance at the event since 2016 and is his all-time favourite, and one on which he has had previous success. Last time out Andy comfortably qualified for the semi-finals with consistent top ten performances across the qualifying races, and a scintillating pace in the fourth where he set the fourth fastest overall time. His semi-final was brought to an abrupt halt however after contact with team-mate Tommy Rustad on the opening lap pitched Andy into a roll, and instant retirement. Throughout the weekend changeable weather conditions also added to the challenge however he once again showed his class which he’s determined to convert into solid results this year.

The 1.21km track is located deep in the forests of Sweden’s Värmland region and is a popular event on the rallycross calendar. Dubbed the ‘Magic Weekend’, the event is also round six of World RX and is held amid a music festival atmosphere where the legion of fans camp out in the forests all week, adding to the party-style theme.

Track action for Supercars begins on Friday with practice at 17:00. On Saturday practice continues at 09:30 with the first qualifying races from 11:00 and the second from 14:00. Sunday sees warm-up at 08.30, followed by qualifying three at 09:45 and four from 11:20 before the semi-finals from 14:10 and Final from 15:00. All times CEST. Additional event information is available at www.holjesrx.comand championship information from www.fiaworldrallycross.com

Andy Scott, Team Principal and driver #26 Albatec Racing :

“I’m very excited to be returning to Höljes. It’s arguably the best driving experience circuit on the calendar and I’m very much looking forward to racing there again. It will be good to see how we compare against the strong level of competition in Euro RX. I’ve won races there before, and when you win it’s like you’ve won the final, the support from the locals is amazing. Add to that the incredible atmosphere with tens of thousands of fans camping out in the forest, it’s truly like running a race meeting at a rock festival.

“It’s a track where you have to work hard at every corner to be competitive, with many different elements to take into consideration. Not only is there a good combination of corners, there’s also a blind crest and some adverse camber to consider, so all in all, it’s a track that has everything.”

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Albatec delivers rapid pace as Higgins collects hat-trick at Pembrey

• Higgins takes triple qualifying race wins and finishes second overall
• Albatec driver ends the day with the fastest outright lap at Pembrey

Pembrey, Wales (UK) — 24 June 2018: Albatec Racing and Mark Higgins finished second in round five of the Toyo Tires MSA British Rallycross Championship at Pembrey today after dominating the day’s qualifying races. The Manxman never put a wheel wrong, topping the times in practice, securing victory in all three qualifying races, and twice setting the race fastest lap, in his Eddie Stobart partnering NCME Peugeot 208 RX Supercar.

In the Final, the three-time British Rally Champion just lost out to Ollie O’Donovan at the start, and over the course of the six laps was unable to find a way past, crossing the line just adrift of the winner.

Saturday’s round four got off to an equally good start, with Mark posting the second fastest time in practice and he went on to record a hat-trick of second places in the three qualifying races. A small technical issue on his Peugeot thwarted his chances in the opening race, but a rapid two final laps saw him the only driver to dip under 44s, his 43.675s time on the final lap remaining the fastest of the weekend. In the second and third races poor visibility on a track renowned for its difficulty to pass cost him a shot at victory, but the results secured a front row start for the Final.

After a good start, contact with Julian Godfrey on lap one scuppered Mark’s hopes of a second outright BRX victory, and with it the opportunity to extend his series lead. After five rounds Higgins is now six points adrift of new leader O’Donovan with four rounds remaining.

Andy Scott, Team Principal, Albatec Racing:

“It’s great to see money invested in the new rallycross circuit at Pembrey. The first event has produced some really good racing and I’m sure that there are more improvements to come. Mark drove three stunning heats today, he was clearly the fastest on the circuit with some good tactical decisions. Unfortunately, in the final he didn’t get the perfect start and slotted into second at the first corner. He drove a faultless race but just couldn’t find a way past Ollie who drove a defensive race and made no mistakes. Saturday wasn’t the easiest of days for Albatec, we had a few small issues with the car which possibly compromised our speed a little and we had contact at the start of the final which resulted in a puncture. Overall we leave Wales positive as we once again demonstrated consistent pace and race-winning potential.”

Mark Higgins, Driver #34, Albatec Racing:

“I thought I had a good start in the final, but unfortunately Ollie’s was better. Once you get behind on this circuit, it’s very difficult to overtake. We had three great heats and all was looking good. There were a couple of opportunities to make a move, but after yesterday’s disappointments it was better to settle for some solid points. It’s very tight at the top now and we could really have done with a win after the DNF yesterday. The team have worked very hard this weekend and have given me a great car which can hopefully get us back on top for the next few rounds.”

Dr Mark Busfield, Director, National Centre for Motorsport Engineering:

“It’s been a weekend of two halves really. Today has been considerably calmer and it’s produced a very strong result across the whole day. There have been a few different challenges for the students. We had a few technical issues yesterday which they had to deal with, which they’ve obviously just picked up and dealt with. But it’s like everything, every time we have something new happen, a new set of circumstances for them to deal with they just get stuck in so they’re learning all the time and of course it’s in real-time which is good experience.”