Second straight podium for Tony Lynch at Lydden Hill

Wigan racer Tony Lynch fought hard on track to secure a second straight podium finish in round two of the opb Motorsport Retro Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill.

Tony made the long trip to the spiritual home of rallycross in Kent looking to build on a solid third place finish in the opening round of the campaign at Silverstone, which marked his debut in the series with his Team Geriatric-run Toyota MR2.

With Lydden Hill being a circuit that favours more powerful cars, Tony was prepared for a challenging weekend on track and things didn’t start well in the opening heat when a spin whilst fighting for position resulted in a DNF.

Fifth place amongst the Retro runners in heat two and sixth in heat three allowed Tony to make it through the semi-finals, where a second place finish ensured he would make it through to the all-important final.

Running alongside the Super Retro cars, Tony stayed out of trouble and saw off the challenge of the Ford Escort of Simon Hart to secure a solid third place overall and second amongst the Retro class cars.

It leaves Tony well placed in the standings ahead of the third and fourth rounds of the year at Pembrey in South Wales in late June.

“We were ready for a struggle at Lydden Hill because it’s a power circuit, and that is one thing we lack a bit at the moment,” he said. “We could see in practice that it was going to be a tough day and then I didn’t help things in the first heat when I made a bit of a silly move around the outside on the loose part of the circuit that resulted in a spin.

“From there, we had to fight hard to make it into the semi-finals and when we then made it to the final, it was all about just trying to get as many points from it as we could.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect to come away from it with a podium finish and we’re under no illusions that we benefitted from the misfortune of others to take second place, but you’ve got to be there at the finish when it matters.

“With some time ahead of Pembrey, we’re working hard now to secure the support we need to push ahead with some of the improvements we want to carry out to the car, and hopefully we’ll be able to get that work done and come out fighting in Wales.”