Tristan Ovenden brought the curtain down on his 2026 British Rallycross Championship by securing third place overall in the Supercar Championship following two competitive performances in his Volkswagen Polo at Lydden Hill last weekend.

The final two rounds of the 5 Nations British Rallycross Championship took place against the spectacular backdrop of Lydden Hill’s annual Fireworks Rallycross meeting. With Saturday’s racing continuing into darkness beneath the floodlights, the event delivered a fantastic atmosphere, thrilling competition and a fitting celebration of British rallycross.

For Ovenden Motorsport, it was a particularly satisfying weekend. The Goody Demolition backed driver secured fifth and fourth-place finishes in the Supercar finals, while Will Ovenden added a memorable Saturday night Cross Car victory and another podium on Sunday, completing his campaign as championship runner-up.

For Tristan, the objective heading into the season finale was clear: complete the weekend with the Volkswagen Polo running reliably while continuing to demonstrate the improvements in performance achieved throughout the year.

Saturday began extremely well. The Witham supported driver immediately established himself among the leading Supercar contenders, recording second place in Q1 before following that with third in Q2. Those results placed him third in the intermediate classification, underlining the pace of the Polo around the demanding Lydden Hill circuit.

A third-place finish in the semi-final secured his place in the Supercar final, which took place under the floodlights as darkness descended over the Kent circuit.

With the cars racing beneath the lights and the crowd enjoying the unique atmosphere of the fireworks meeting, the final provided a spectacular conclusion to Saturday’s action.

Ovenden battled hard against a competitive Supercar field, eventually bringing the Volkswagen Polo home in fifth place. Sunday’s final championship round provided another opportunity to build on that performance.

Tristan opened with sixth place in Q1 before improving to fourth in Q2 and fifth in Q3. Those results secured fifth place in the intermediate classification and a place in the final race of the season.

In the final, Ovenden delivered another competitive drive, bringing the Polo home in fourth place, narrowly missing out on a podium finish.

Although the starts had occasionally cost valuable positions across the weekend, the underlying pace was encouraging. More importantly, the Volkswagen Polo completed both days without the mechanical difficulties that had frustrated the team at previous rounds.

The weekend’s results were enough to secure third place overall in the 2026 British Rallycross Supercar Championship, a significant achievement in what has been a season of development and learning with the Volkswagen Polo.

Despite the challenges of adapting to the car and occasional mechanical frustrations during the year, Tristan and the team continued to make progress. Finishing the season with strong pace, improved reliability and a championship podium provided a fitting reward for their determination.

Speaking after the weekend, Ovenden said: “We’re very pleased with our weekend. The highlight has to be Will winning the Cross Car final on Saturday night, just before the fireworks. Absolutely brilliant for him! He’d promised that if he won he’d celebrate by standing on the roof of the car, and that’s exactly what he did!

From my side in Supercar, our plan was to get through the weekend with the Polo running with perfect reliability, and we achieved that. Our pace was good all weekend. The starts let us down a few times, but that will come with more experience of the car. Overall, I’m really pleased.

We’ve never run that many cars before, and all the team were amazing. We didn’t have too many issues, and certainly nothing we couldn’t overcome. Very well done to every one of them.

It’s been a long season with a lot of rounds, and the support we’ve had from the team and our sponsors has been invaluable. We’re already looking forward to 2027.”

Images courtesy of Matt Bristow