Landsail Team Geriatric opens win account at Pembrey
Wigan racer Tony Lynch secured his first win of the 2021 Retro Rallycross Championship season after a fine weekend on track at Pembrey.
The Welsh circuit played host to the third and fourth rounds of the campaign as part of a double-header across Sunday and Monday, with Tony hoping to reap the reward of extensive work that had gone into his Landsail Team Geriatric-run Toyota MR2 in recent months.
With Paul Waldron Motorsport providing additional assistance as the team looked to find the best set-up for the car after the introduction of a new suspension package provided by team partner AVO, the third round on Sunday would largely become a test for Tony and the team as they worked to find the ideal set-up for the car.
Using the three heats to fine tune the handling of the Toyota, Tony secured three second place finishes to leave him on the front row for the final and a storming start saw him rocket into the lead off the line.
However, an uncharacteristic error saw Tony then spin out of the lead and dropped him down the order, although he recovered back to third over the remaining laps to ensure he finished on the podium.
Having settled on a set-up for Monday’s action, Tony took victory in heat one but was then excluded from heat two for a non-competitive technical infringement relating to his onboard camera – which would leave him on the back row of the final even after a further podium in heat three.
Another rocket start when the lights went out for the final saw Tony blast into the lead on the run to turn one and from that point on, he would find himself embroiled in a cat and mouse battle for the victory with the Citroen of Steve Cozens.
Although the Citroen appeared to have the edge in terms of straight-line speed, the superior handling of the Toyota thanks to the revised suspension package would prove to be key as Tony saw off the challenge of his rival to snare a first Retro class win of the campaign – allowing him to retain his position at the head of the standings.
“It’s been a really positive weekend and we come away from Wales with two good results on the board, although it could have been better after Sunday,” he said. “We’ve put a lot of work into improving the car, and throughout the first day, Paul and my team were able to work on various changes to the car so we could get the ideal set-up on the new suspension.
“We made a lot of progress on Sunday and it left us well placed for the final but the circuit had been watered before the start and I made a small error that cost me dear. We recovered well to get on the podium, but I knew there was more to come on Monday.
“The exclusion from heat two meant we were on the back foot for the final but it only made me more determined to fight for the win and I nailed the start to get into the lead. The changes to the handling gave me more confidence that I’ve ever had before, and it meant I could attack the corners more and was able to keep Steve at bay.
“Through the twisty bits in particular, the car was fantastic so I have to give thanks to AVO, Paul and my boys for their effort as the Toyota is now becoming the car we knew it can be.
“Having kept the points lead, we’ll keep pushing hard to retain our advantage and I feel confident about the races still to come.”