Further woe for Lynch at Lydden Hill

Wigan racer Tony Lynch endured another weekend to forget as the Toyo Tires MSA British Rallycross Championship headed for Lydden Hill for the second meeting of the year.

Westhoughton-based Tony made the long trip south to Kent looking to bounce back from a disastrous start to the campaign at Croft, where terminal engine failure forced him into retirement.

Following a race against time to source a new unit, engine builder Julian Godfrey was able to deliver a new engine with just days to spare, with Tony’s Lucas Oil Team Geriatric then fitting the new engine into his Ford KA in time for the Easter Monday meeting.

Sadly things wouldn’t start well for Tony when he was unable to start the opening heat due to an issue with the new engine, which was resolved in time for him to start heat two from the back of the grid.

Showing the pace in the car, Tony quickly moved to the front of the pack but astonishingly would then suffer a repeat of the problem that has caused his Croft retirement – putting him out of the event on the spot for the second meeting in the succession.

With round three of the season not taking place until late June at the Pembrey circuit in Wales, detailed investigations will now take place to try and determine the cause of the engine problems, with the double retirement from the first two rounds leaving no room for error in Tony’s bid to defend the Supernational class title.

“At Croft, we thought it might just have been ‘our turn’ to have some bad luck, and we headed to Lydden Hill confident that we could get our season underway,” he said. “Everyone had worked so hard to get the ready and I was sure we would be right in the mix for the podium positions at least.

“To have encountered the same problem that we had to Croft beggars belief, and I’m absolutely gutted that all the hard work that went into getting us to Lydden Hill was ultimately for nothing.

“Having now had a few days to reflect on the weekend, it’s important that we don’t allow our heads to drop as we face a huge battle now to remain in the mix for the championship.

“Dropped scores means that we are still in contention, but we have to maximise our results at every event remaining on the calendar.

“I’m lucky to have such a fantastic team around me and we’ll work hard to put these problems behind us – don’t write us off just yet.”