Mixed fortunes for Tony Lynch at Lydden

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.”