WRX
25 May 2019
Credit: Tom Banks/World RX Media
Oliver Bennett was in a positive mood after ending the first day of his home World Rallycross event on the bring of a semi-final spot.
Bennett was within the top-12 after the first round of heats, and finished 13th in Q2, winning his second heat, meaning he’s just four points off an advancement spot at the halfway point in qualifying.
The Brit and his Xite Racing team has shown a marked improvement so far this season, and Bennett’s familiarity with the Silverstone track, helped by his previous British Rallycross outing there, is helping him showcase the step up in performance from the Mini.
“I think we had the step up in Spa, we had really good launches but there was a really tough turn one there, so I think we had the speed in Spa we just couldn’t make use of it,” Bennett said of his team’s improved performance. “I think this weekend has shown that. It’s a track I like, I was comfortable here in the Fiesta (in British RX), I’m just repeating what I used to do and it’s working.”
“It’s a nimble car, where there’s longer corners like in Canada, Latvia, places like that, I struggle more to keep a lateral grip at high speed,” Bennett added. “It does suit this track, it’s nice and nimble car and the engine’s great in it so I can pull away quicker.”
Despite his strong Saturday results, Bennett is keeping grounded with two rounds of qualifying still to run.
“We’ll have the same fight tomorrow that we’ve had today,” he said. We’ll probably be in the same group almost, so it’s going to be a tough fight.”
“We’ll probably be on pole which does a bit of the work for us, but it’s not easy, there’s a lot to do tomorrow,” the Bristol driver added. “We’ll make sure the car’s all prepped and ready to go and that’s about all you can do.”
