Tristan Ovenden was on the podium despite another tricky weekend at the latest round of the 5 Nations British Rallycross Championship last weekend.

Mondello Park played host to the second round of the season on a hot weekend. Back driving the number 72 Volkswagen Polo, the weekend delivered a mix of promise, speed, frustration and a reminder of just how competitive the headline Supercar category has become.

Mondello Park is always a demanding venue, but with the new track layout. Fast, technical, narrow in places and unforgiving when the margins are tight, it is a circuit that rewards commitment but punishes even the smallest mistake or delay. Against a strong Supercar entry Ovenden had to fight for every position from the very first heat.

Saturday began with Q1, where the Goody Demolition backed driver lined up in the Supercars field in his Volkswagen Polo. The opening qualifying race was not the cleanest start to the weekend for him, but he still brought the car home and banked valuable points. He finished eighth in the Q1 classification with a race time of 3:43.647, taking 36 heat points. In a field where every heat point can make a difference later in the day, getting to the finish and staying in the fight was important.

The response in Q2 was immediate. Ovenden found more rhythm, more pace and a much stronger result. He finished third in the Q2 Supercars classification with a time of 3:29.746, collecting 42 heat points. That result was a key moment in his Saturday. It showed that the pace was there and that the Polo could run right in the mix when the run came together. 

Q3 then kept him firmly in contention. Ovenden finished fifth in the final qualifying session of the day, recording a 3:35.202 and adding another 39 heat points to his total. Across the three qualifying heats he scored 36, 42 and 39 points, giving him a total of 117. That placed him fifth in the intermediate Supercars classification after Q1, Q2 and Q3.

From there, it was on to the final, which was six laps, and once again the level at the front was extremely high. The Witham supported driver delivered when it mattered, bringing the Volkswagen Polo home in third place with a final time of 4:59.604. It was a hard-earned podium and an excellent result from a day that had started with work to do.

Saturday was the kind of day that shows the value of consistency and recovery. He did not need to dominate every session to put together a strong result. Instead, he built the day step by step, improved after Q1, delivered a strong Q2, stayed in the fight in Q3 and then produced the result when it counted in the final. A third-place finish in Supercars at Mondello Park is never given. It must be earned.

Sunday’s Round 4 brought another opportunity, but also a much more difficult storyline.

Ovenden started the day solidly in Q1, finishing fourth in the Supercars classification. His time of 3:32.759 earned him 40 heat points and put him in a good early position. 

Q2 proved more challenging. Ovenden finished seventh with a time of 3:29.940, taking 37 heat points. The times were close, and although the result was not where he would have wanted to be, he still added points to his total and kept himself in the picture. Across the first two heats he had scored 77 points, and there was still a chance to recover ground in Q3.

Unfortunately, Q3 was where the Sunday began to turn against him. After sustaining damage to the Polo’s power steering the team worked hard to fix the problem, however it was n ot enough and the problem prematurely ended Ovenden’s weekend.

It was a weekend of two very different halves. Saturday showed the strength of his race craft and the pace of the Volkswagen Polo, ending with a superb third place in the Round 3 Supercars Final. Sunday showed the cruel side of rallycross, where one missed qualifying run and a non-start in the semi-final can quickly undo a promising start to the day.

But the positives from Mondello Park are clear. Ovenden had the pace to run inside the top three, he delivered a podium in a stacked Supercar field, and he proved once again that he is a serious contender when everything comes together. 

The speed was there. The podium was earned. And Tristan Ovenden remains one to watch in the 2026 5 Nations British Rallycross Championship Supercar battle.

Speaking after the weekend, Ovenden said: “First of all, I must say thank you to our team in getting the car ready to even be there.

“We couldn’t test on Friday so it took Saturday morning to learn the track and I had a little spin in heat 1, but that was fine.

“From there it went really well, and we were please to make the podium.

“Sunday could well have been the same, but the power steering failed instantly down the gravel back straight and I was relieved I didn’t go in the wall. It’s pretty fast down there. We did change the pump in time to make the final, but it didn’t fix it, so that was us done for the day. Disappointing, but a lot of positives to take away, we’re still learning the car and the speed is improving every time we race.

“Then Will went and the won the cross car final. We were all super happy for his first win. He’s been second a lot, so it was just amazing, he drove brilliantly. 

“It was great for him to be able to reward the team that way. It makes for a happy journey on the long drive back.”

Images courtesy of http:// www.mattbristow.net