Tony Lynch bids to strengthen unexpected title challenge

Wigan racer Tony Lynch will look to strengthen his unexpected challenge for the Retro Rallycross Championship title when the series heads for Pembrey this weekend for the latest two rounds of the campaign.

Tony and his Landsail Team Geriatric squad head for the Welsh circuit on the back of three successive wins that leave him sitting third in the points despite being forced to miss the opening two rounds of the year after undergoing surgery over the winter.

Victory at Lydden Hill last time out came at a cost however, with his Toyota MR2 sustaining heavy damage in an incident during the weekend finale.

That raised the question over whether the car could be fully repaired in time for the Pembrey double-header, but hard work over the course of the last month means Tony will be free to take his place on the grid.

Currently sitting 13 points off the championship lead, Tony will look to try and replicate the win he secured at Pembrey twelve months ago, which helped him to wrap up the Retro Rallycross Championship title with two rounds left to run.

Competition will be strong however from a grid that includes current points leader Dan Swayland and long-time rival Simon Hart, as well as Vincent Bristow – who was the innocent party in the incident that Tony was caught up in last time out.

“The incident at Lydden did a lot of damage to the car so the boys have been busy since then working to get it repaired ready for the weekend,” Tony said. “I owe them a huge amount of thanks for their efforts, and also have to give special thanks to Wigan Car Paints and Autolac in Bolton for helping to ensure that the car looks its best when we hit the track in Wales.

“Given the amount of work that we’ve had to put in, we haven’t had chance to go out and test the car so the first focus will be on making sure everything is ship shape and ready to go when we head out for practice.

“Saying that, I have no doubt that the car will be on the money from the start and I’m confident that we can fight for two strong results to keep our title hopes alive. As I’ve said along, the title wasn’t something we were considering at the start of the season having lost two rounds, but if we can maintain our current form, anything is possible.”