Archives September 2020

Wigan racer Tony Lynch secured a hard-earned podium finish from a challenging weekend on track as the Autosport International BTRDA Rallycross Championship presented by Cooper Tires season finally got underway at Lydden Hill.

The race weekend marked Tony’s return to BTRDA competition for the first time since the 2018 season finale, with his Ford KA being run by Paul Waldron Motorsport with assistance from members of his own Team Geriatric team.

Tony made the long trip to Kent aiming to challenge for the podium places in a highly competitive field, but he was left with work to do after practice when driveshaft failure limited his time on track.

With the car repaired, Tony headed out on track for the three Supermodified qualifying heats, taking fifth place in heat one before a dramatic second heat, which had to be red-flagged after rival Kenny Hall rolled his Renault Clio.

When the heat restarted, Tony secured sixth place despite the car starting to suffer from a misfire, and he completed heat three in fourth spot to leave him sixth on the grid for the A Final.

The exclusion of Slawomir Woloch from the meeting meant Tony actually lined up in fifth spot for the final and a solid run saw him take the flag in fourth spot overall and third amongst the over 2 litre cars – a result that secured him a place in the Superfinal.

There, Tony once again crossed the line in fourth overall for a solid end to the weekend but there would be a boost for Tony after the event was concluded when it was revealed that Supermodified winner Tristan Ovenden hadn’t registered for the championship.

That meant Tony ends the opening weekend of the season sitting second in the over 2 litre class and third in the overall Supermodified standings.

“It was a really tricky weekend, but one that ended with a huge smile on my face,” Tony admitted. “I’d almost forgotten how good the KA is to drive but I hugely enjoyed myself and to come away from the event with some silverware is great.

“Things didn’t start well with the driveshaft letting go in practice but the team did a great job to fix it for the heats where unfortunately we ran into another issue with a misfire that we think was caused by the engine running a bit hot after we had to stop with the red flag.

“The boys worked to change different things to try and resolve the issue so to come away from the final with fourth place was really good, and I didn’t realise the time that Fred Ling in third was in the 2 litre class so we’d actually got a class podium. With Tristan not registered, that then became second which means a good haul of points and more than I was realistically expecting from my first weekend back in the class.

“Clearly there are some seriously quick cars in the Supermodified class this year but I’m already looking forward to being back out in the car again next time out where hopefully we won’t have a repeat of some of the gremlins we encountered at Lydden and can pick up another solid result.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch will look to impress on his return to the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship presented by Cooper Tires when the delayed 2020 season gets underway this weekend at Lydden Hill.

The Kent race weekend will mark Tony’s first outing in the series since the 2018 season finale, when he successfully wrapped up the Supermodified title and came agonisingly close to the overall crown at the wheel of a Ford KA.

Since then, Tony has competed in the Retro Rallycross Championship with a Toyota MR2, and kicked off his season at Lydden Hill last month with a podium finish in the opening meeting of the year.

Tony’s return to the Kent circuit this weekend will see him face a completely new challenge as he makes his first rallycross outing in the KA for almost two years.

With a strong grid having been assembled for the season ahead, including the likes of Tristan Ovenden and Slawomir Woloch, Tony goes into the weekend with his focus on a strong haul of points and with the ultimate goal of challenging for a place on the podium.

Whereas Tony’s own Team Geriatric outfit is continuing to run his programme in Retro Rallycross, the parallel BTRDA campaign will see the KA being run by Paul Waldron Motorsport; the same team that originally built the car before it was bought by Tony ahead of the 2016 season.

“I’m really looking forward to the new BTRDA season,” Tony said. “It was great to have a successful first outing of the year in the Toyota a few weeks ago, but the Supermodified series is going to provide a totally different challenge – and one I’m ready for!

“Given that I’ve not driven the KA in anger for a while, it might take a little bit of time to get used to being back in front-wheel drive again and the entry is looking extremely strong so we need to see how things go.

“With Paul running the car with assistance from some of my own boys, I know I have a good team behind me as always and I’m going to Lydden Hill with my focus on trying to fight towards the front. I’m not going to get too carried away but if we could pick up a podium then I think it would be a great start to the year.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch was able to celebrate a podium finish as his 2020 Retro Rallycross championship campaign burst into life at Lydden Hill.

Westhoughton-based Tony made the long trip to Kent for his first outing at the wheel of his Toyota MR2 since the 2019 season finale back in October, with his Team Geriatric outfit having used the unusually long off-season to work on further modifications to the former rally car.

The season opener at the spriritual home of rallycross saw the Toyota running with a revised bodywork package for the first time, with the team having invested in a number of fibreglass panels in order to reduce weight as the latest stage of the ongoing development of the car.

After a solid start to the weekend in practice, the opening qualifying heat saw Tony finish in third spot behind Terry Moore’s Mini and the Citroen AX of Stephen Cozens, and he then repeated the feat in heat two – where he would also post his fastest lap of the weekend.

With Moore secure on pole for the final, he would then sit out the final heat, with Tony taking second behind Cozens to cement his place on the front row of the grid for the final.

Prior to the start, the team worked to resolve a brake issue that had developed in the final heat and – as had been the case in each of the three qualifiers – Tony made the most of the starting prowess of the Toyota to get away well off the line.

Contact with Cozens as his rival tried to find a way through would cause some minor damage to the Toyota but Tony was able to continue without issue to once again finish third on the road and secure a well-earned podium finish – entertaining the watching crowds at the same time with a showboating display on track.

“Having been out of a car for so long, it was great to get back on track at Lydden Hill and start racing again,” he said. “I’m happy that we’ve come away from the weekend with a podium finish and whilst a win would obviously have been nice, third is still a good way to start the new season.

“Aside from a small issue with the brakes after the third heat, the car ran without problem which is credit to the team for the work that they have done. The car felt really good and we just lost out a bit to Stephen and Terry on the uphill run to the hairpin, where they had an advantage in terms of power-to-weight compared to us.

“In the final, when I knew they had managed to break away and I had a gap behind, I was able to put on a bit of a show for the fans with some power slides and entertain them a bit.

“One thing we do know from this weekend is that running a standard gearbox is holding us back a little bit but we’re not currently in a position to make the investment in a close ratio box without missing some rounds, which we don’t want to do given it would impact on our ability to fight for the championship.

“Hopefully in the rounds to come, I’ll be able to really take the fight to Terry and Stephen and push for wins.”