Archives December 2020

Wigan racer Tony Lynch endured a weekend of mixed fortunes at Lydden Hill as his Retro Rallycross campaign resumed with the second and third rounds of the season.

Westhoughton-based Tony and his Team Geriatric outfit made the long trip down to the Kent circuit looking to add to the podium finish he had secured in round one of the season back in August, which came before the action had to be halted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The double header meeting would see Tony in action across two days at the spiritual home of rallycross, including competing under lights on Saturday evening.

On a damp but drying circuit for round two, Tony would go wheel-to-wheel with the Citroen AX of Stephen Cozens through the three qualifying heats, finishing second in the opening two heats before taking victory in heat three – securing his place on the front row of the grid for the final.

Slotting into second behind Cozens at the start, Tony would push hard to try and find a way ahead as the final played out, with his Toyota MR2 swarming all over the rear of the Citroen before he crossed the line in second spot for a second podium in as many rounds.

The opening heat for round three would take place under lights on Saturday evening, with Tony heading the Retro field on a combined grid alongside the Super Retro cars.

A brace of second place finishes in the remaining two heats on Sunday meant Tony once again qualified on the front row amongst the Retro runners but his hopes of further silverware would end in disappointing fashion when driveshaft failure left him stranded on the grid when the lights went out.

Despite that, Tony heads away from the weekend sitting second to Cozens in the standings, with the pair split by just seven points.

The season will resume after Christmas, with the final two rounds currently scheduled to take place in January.

“On the whole we had a decent weekend back at Lydden Hill and it’s just unfortunate that it ended in the way it did,” Tony admitted. “We showed strong pace throughout Saturday and had some good battles on track with Stephen, and to come away with second place in round two was a good start.

“Heading into Sunday with a heat win already under our belts, I felt confident that we could fight for the win so to not even get away at the start of the final was hugely disappointing. However, it is one of those things that can happen in motorsport and we just have to put it behind us and focus on the final two rounds.

“With Stephen also having some issues in the final on Sunday, it’s still all to play for in the title race so we’ll go away and enjoy the Christmas break, and look to come out fighting in January to see what we can do in terms of the championship.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch will hope to fight for a first win of the Retro Rallycross season when the series returns to Lydden Hill this weekend for the second and third rounds of the campaign.

Westhoughton-based Tony secured a third place finish at the Kent circuit during the opening round of the year back in August before COVID-19 restrictions led to planned events at both Knockhill and Pembrey being cancelled.

Further revisions to the calendar were required after the second national lockdown, with the season to be completed across three further rounds – starting off with a double header this weekend back at rallycross’ spiritual home in Kent.

Round two will take place on Saturday and will see Tony do battle under lights in his Team Geriatric-run Toyota MR2, with round three then being run on Sunday.

Although unable to compete in the Toyota for the last three months, Tony has been able to stay race ready through his parallel programme in the BTRDA Supermodified class, where he secured the championship title.

On his return to the Retro scene, Tony will be keen to build on the promising performance he put in during the opening round but makes the long trip to Lydden aware of the challenge that lies ahead in what looks set to be a small, but highly competitive field for the latest two rounds.

With fans unable to attend the race weekend as a result of coronavirus restrictions, the Retro Rallycross final for both rounds will feature on the 5 Nations British Rallycross Championship social media and YouTube channels with ‘as live’ coverage.

“It’s a weird feeling to be preparing for a race weekend in December, particularly when it is only the second time this season that we’ll have been out on track in the Toyota,” Tony said. “Given how cold the weather has become, this weekend is likely to provide us with some new challenges, particularly on Saturday when we are racing under lights in the evening.

“Despite that, I’m going into round two with plenty of confidence given my success in the BTRDA series, and the fact we scored a podium with the Toyota at Lydden back in August. We saw then how competitive the Retro series is so I’m expecting plenty of competition, but I’ll be pushing hard to secure at least one piece of silverware from the weekend.”