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Wigan racer Tony Lynch will seek to cement his position at the head of the Retro Rallycross Championship standings when the series heads to Knockhill this weekend for the latest two rounds of the season.

Tony stormed to a first victory of the year last time out at Pembrey, securing an impressive win in the second round of a double-header in his Landsail Team Geriatric-run Toyota MR2.

That allowed him to strengthen his position in the standings as the series prepares to visit Scotland, and a venue where Tony has enjoyed plenty of success in the past.

Victorious in both Suzuki Swifts and BMW MINIs at the circuit, Knockhill was also the venue where Tony wrapped up the 2020 BTRDA Supermodified title thanks to a fine podium finish.

The team has been hard at work in recent weeks trying to get to the bottom of a misfire that had developed on the car, which has now been traced to a damaged exhaust – caused by repeated on track contact from one of Tony’s rivals.

With that problem now resolved, Tony will look to once again feel the benefit of the recent raft of improvements made to the Toyota to challenge for victory around the tricky Knockhill layout, which includes the famous Duffus Dip bend and a high-speed, downhill loose surface section.

“The victory at Pembrey has given us a huge boost as it showed that we are moving in the right direction with the car,” he said.

“Since Pembrey we have been hard at work fitting a new exhaust after it became clear that repeated contact had damaged some of the pipes, which we also believe was responsible for causing some other issues we were suffering from.

“With those problems now fixed, we head for Knockhill in confident mood as it is a circuit that has been good for us in the past, and where we have enjoyed plenty of success through the years.

“You need a car that handles well for the loose part of the lap which can be particularly bumpy, so hopefully the revised AVO Suspension we debuted at Pembrey will really come into its own as we look to challenge for victory.

“With confidence on a high, we’ll be pushing hard – as always – to get the best results possible to boost our championship bid and also to reward the sponsors who continue to support us on track.”

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.”

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Wigan racer Tony Lynch will seek to maintain his advantage at the head of the Retro Rallycross Championship standings when the 2021 season continues this weekend at Pembrey.

The Welsh circuit will play host to rounds three and four of the campaign across Sunday and Monday as racing resumes for the first time since late May, with Tony and his Landsail Team Geriatric outfit hoping to build on an encouraging set of results in the opening double-header at Lydden Hill.

Having shown solid pace throughout at the wheel of his Toyota MR2, Tony came away from the opening rounds of the year with a pair of podium finishes and an impressive haul of points, which leaves him sitting pretty at the top of the Retro standings – six points clear of nearest rival Simon Hart.

Despite the pace displayed at Lydden Hill, Tony and the team have worked hard to make further tweaks to the Toyota in recent months in a bid to challenge for a first win of the campaign, with a number of potential areas of improvement having been identified.

Working alongside team partners Paul Waldron Developments and AVO Suspension, extensive work has gone into an improved three-way adjustable suspension system that will debut on the car this weekend as Tony and the team seek to extract even greater performance from the ex-rally car.

Having had chance to test the improvements at local circuit Three Sisters, Tony will now hope to reap the rewards of the work that has gone in in recent months when he makes the long trip to South Wales, with his focus firmly on challenging for the top step of the podium.

“Although the season started well at Lydden Hill, we came away from the weekend knowing that we couldn’t rest on our laurels,” Tony admits. “Although we took the early lead in the championship standings, we knew that we didn’t have the fastest car and that there were a number of things we needed to look at during the ‘summer break’.

“The team has worked really hard in recent months to improve the car and I have nothing but praise for the effort they continue to put in. I also have to say a huge thank you to both Paul Waldron and the team at AVO Suspension for their efforts to improve the handling of the car ready for this weekend, and thank our sponsors for backing us as we continue to work on making the Toyota the strongest it can be.

“Although we have only been able to have a brief run at our local circuit, I’m confident that the work carried out will help to improve our performance this weekend and give us the chance to fight for the top step of the podium.

“As ever, it won’t be easy because the level of competition on the Retro grid remains high, but I feel we are in better shape than ever before going into the weekend and hopefully that can be reflected in how we perform on track.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch enjoyed a solid start to his Retro Rallycross programme with a double podium finish from the 2021 season opener at Lydden Hill.

Running as part of the support bill for the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy, Tony and his Landsail Team Geriatric outfit headed for Kent hoping to challenge for silverware in the double-header meeting – with round one on Saturday being followed by round two on Bank Holiday Monday.

The event marked the debut for Tony’s new-look Toyota MR2, which had undergone extensive work over the winter in a bid to challenge for the Retro Rallycross crown.

Saturday’s opening meeting saw Tony pick up a hat-trick of third place finishes in the three heats and a rocket start to the final saw him take the lead ahead of the Mini of Terry Moore.

Tony managed to keep the rapid Mini behind until the end of the second lap and was then forced to fight hard to keep Steve Cozens at bay before taking the flag in second spot.

Monday’s second round would see Tony qualify at the front of the grid in a depleted field and although he held the lead when the lights went out, he then lost the lead to Moore going through turn one.

From there, Tony would chase the Mini down and twice managed to get back ahead only to then see Moore reclaim the lead going up the hill to the hairpin. Moore would eventually hold on to take the win as Tony wrapped up a second runners-up finish of the weekend.

With points across the two rounds being awarded for both qualifying and the finals, Tony finds himself leading the standings after the first two rounds, with an advantage of eight points to take into round three at Pembrey.

“It’s great to come away from the opening round with two podium finishes, but we’re under no illusions about the fact that we have work to do ahead of the next round,” he said. “We have done a lot over the winter to improve the performance of the car, but it’s clear that we are still not quite where we want to be.

“Off the line, we had the edge over the other cars but we don’t have the outright pace at the moment which meant it was tough as the races went on. I had to push really hard to keep Steve at bay in round one and although the fight with Terry in round two was fantastic, he had the extra speed when it mattered and I couldn’t keep ahead.

“We’ll now regroup and will be working hard with our technical partners to improve the car, and we also need to try and get more weight out of it if possible too. I have to give massive credit to the team as we had a few little issues across the weekend that they worked hard to fix, and that allowed me to go out and put on a good show across the weekend.

“We’ve got some good points on the board, but there is plenty of hard work coming up to let us build on the results this weekend.”

Tony and Team Geriatric are supported by Landsail Tyres, Lucas Oil, Pemberton Tyres, SignTec, Rye Motors, AVO Suspension, Waldron Motorsport Developments, Wigan Car Paints and Tootsies Footwear.

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Wigan racer Tony Lynch will hope to impress at the wheel of his new-look Toyota MR2 when the new Retro Rallycross season kicks off this weekend at Lydden Hill.

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Wigan racer Tony Lynch can today confirm plans to put his full focus on an assault on the Retro Rallycross Championship during the 2021 season.

Tony, from Westhoughton, will be embarking on his third year in the Retro series, which runs as part of the support package for the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy.

As has been the case during the last two years, Tony will be at the wheel of the Toyota MR2 that his Team Geriatric team has been working to develop for rallycross competition, with the car having previously been used for stage rallying in Scotland.

Having quickly shown its potential in 2019, where the Toyota would secure a first win in the series, Tony had hoped to challenge for the title last season before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic had a major impact on the campaign.

Tony was still a front-runner across a shortened three round season, and now goes into 2021 with his focus firmly on adding the Retro Rallycross crown to his already impressive resume.

Work on further upgrades to the car are well underway ahead of the opening round of the season at Lydden Hill – the spiritual home of rallycross – in late May.

Tony’s ongoing participation in the series has been made possible thanks to the ongoing support of long-standing sponsors Lucas Oil, Pemberton Tyres, SignTec, Rye Motors and AVO Suspension, as well as Landsail Tyres – which extends its backing for the team into a third season – and new supporter Tootsies Footwear.

“Last season was a real challenge for us all for obvious reasons, but we continued to make progress with the Toyota in the limited events that we were able to take part in,” he said. “That leaves me feeling confident going into 2021 about what we can achieve on track in what will hopefully be a more ‘regular’ season than the one that has just gone.

“Having continued to work on developing the car last year, we have a number of further upgrades planned for this season that should allow us to get more from the package we have, and our aim is very much to aim to fight for regular wins and go for the title.

“More than ever this is the time to thank the supporters and sponsors who enable us to go racing, as it would have been very easy for them to decide that now was the time to walk away because of the impact of COVID-19.

“That ongoing support is hugely appreciated, and makes me more determined than ever to try and deliver some championship silverware during the year ahead.”

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.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch added to his podium tally to wrap up the Autosport International BTRDA Rallycross Championship presented by Cooper Tires Supermodified title in the season finale at Knockhill.

Tony made the trip to Scotland leading the class standings at the wheel of his Ford KA – being run by Paul Waldron Motorsport alongside members of his own Team Geriatric outfit – after podium finishes at both Lydden Hill and Blyton, and with confidence high about lifting the title.

The size of the field for the season finale saw the Supermodified field split in two for the qualifying heats, with the times from the two races being added together to determine the winner of each heat

Although he was first on the road in his opening heat, Tony would end up second once the times from the two races were combined behind the Vauxhall Astra of Sam Bovill but he then turned the tables in heat two, where he won on the road and across the heat as a whole.

Second place overall behind Bovill in the final heat ensured that Tony secured a front row start for the final, where he would line up in the middle of the front row.

There was drama before the lights went out however, as the power steering on the KA failed as Tony headed for the grid – adding an extra challenge to his quest to wrap up the championship title.

Despite that, Tony got away well to challenge Bovill into the opening corner but slight contact between the pair saw his KA then get sideways as he went down Duffus Dip to head onto the loose part of the lap.

Struggling to control the car through the loose part of the lap behind Alan Crockett and Todd Crooks, Tony knew he needed to get back ahead of Crooks in order to lift the Supermodified crown and battled hard to overhaul the BMW MINI to move up into third spot.

Second in his class as a result, Tony duly wrapped up the Supermodified title but will have little time to celebrate before he switches focus back to his Retro Rallycross Championship title bid next month at Lydden Hill.

“Heading to Knockhill, we felt confident that we could wrap up the title, but also knew that it wouldn’t be easy,” Tony said. “I didn’t get to race wheel-to-wheel with Sam in the three heats and I was ready for a battle with him in the final, but as we went out to the grid, the power steering suddenly failed on me.

“Off the line, the sensible thing to do would have been to let him go but the racer in me took over and I tried to get the lead into turn one and we had a bit of contact and I got sideways going onto the loose stuff.

“As soon as I hit the bumps, it was really difficult to control the car and I dropped places, but I managed to get into a groove and fought ahead of Todd to get the points we needed to take the title.

“When I came back to the paddock, the team looked at the steering and it took about 20 seconds to solve the problem, which was one of those caused by a 50 pence part – so I’m glad that it didn’t end up costing us.

“Overall, it’s been a shorter return to the BTRDA scene than we expected because of the situation with COVID but I’m delighted that we’ve been able to pick up the Supermodified title. I have to thank the team for the hard work that they’ve put in on the car, and also thank all of our sponsors for sticking by us in these difficult times.

“With one title secured, our focus now turns to the Retro scene and hopefully we can add some more success before the season is over.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch will hope to end his shortened campaign in the Autosport International BTRDA Rallycross Championship presented by Cooper Tires on a high this weekend when the season draws to a close at Knockhill.

Tony makes the trip to Scotland leading the Supermodified class standings at the wheel of his Ford KA – being run by Paul Waldron Motorsport alongside members of his own Team Geriatric outfit – and is one of half a dozen drivers who could also secure the overall championship title.

Last time out at Blyton, Tony proved to be the class of the field at the wheel of the KA and secured a strong maximum points score to add to an impressive podium in the season opener at Lydden Hill – achieved despite the fat that he was battling against a misfire on the car.

Those results leave Tony in an unexpectedly strong position ahead of the season finale, with the multiple champion having gone into the 2020 campaign unsure of what to expect – given that he hadn’t competed in the KA since 2018, and given the highly competitive nature of the Supermodified field.

Tony hasn’t competed at Knockhill for a number of years, but has enjoyed success at the Fife circuit in the past, including a victory in 2012 whilst competing in the Swift Sport Rallycross Championship, and a similar result the following year in the BMW MINI class.

The picturesque circuit overlooking the Firth of Forth will provide a unique challenge, with the rallycross layout incorporating the challenging right-hander at Duffus Dip to start the lap before drivers head onto the loose section of the circuit, before joining the Knockhill tri-oval to complete the lap.

In a huge boost for the season finale, and for the first time in series history, the key action on Sunday will feature live coverage online, with the third qualifying heats and the finals being shown on the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship facebook page and YouTube channel, as well as on Motorsport.TV platform – opening up the racing action to a worldwide audience.

The live stream is due to begin at around 13:30 on Sunday.

“We haven’t had to do much to the car since Blyton and this looks set to be our final outing in Supermodified as we focus on the Retro scene in the future with our Toyota,” Tony said. “We’ve won everything there is to win in Supermodified, and it would be great if we could add to that this weekend when we head for Scotland.

“Knockhill is a circuit that I love and one where I have gone well previously, so I’m feeling confident despite the fact that the grid is going to be very competitive once again. Hopefully we can replicate the kind of results we have had in the past to fight for the championship, which isn’t something that I necessarily expected when we signed up for the BTRDA series at the start of the year.

“The fact that our sponsors and fans will be able to watch us in action this weekend through the live stream is fantastic, particularly in these challenging times when they haven’t been able to come to the racing in person. Hopefully we’ll be there in the final so they can cheer us on, and it would be great if this kind of stream is something that can adopted more in future, even when the currently situation passes.”

Following the Knockhill meeting, the KA – already a multiple title winner – will be available for sale, Please contact Tony for more details.