Archives 2020

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.

Wigan racer Tony Lynch was able to enjoy a fine weekend on track as the Autosport International BTRDA Rallycross Championship presented by Cooper Tires headed for Blyton for the second round of the year.

Tony headed for the Lincolnshire circuit looking to add to the podium finish he secured in the season opener at Lydden Hill after the Paul Waldron Motorsport team – running the car alongside members of Tony’s own Team Geriatric outfit – worked hard to resolve a misfire on his Ford KA.

With further work having gone into the KA in the weeks following the season opener, Tony went into the Blyton weekend hoping to challenge for more silverware in the highly competitive Supermodified class and showed his pace from the outset in the opening heat.

There, he posted the fastest time to win his heat by more than seven seconds and then dominated his second heat – winning by more than eight seconds and once again posting the fastest time.

The double victory meant that Tony was able to sit out the final heat safe in the knowledge that his place in the points scoring final was already secure.

When the lights went out for the final, Tony was beaten off the line by the fast-starting Vauxhall VX220 of Jason Bleasdale and then set about trying to find a way back ahead of rival.

Although Tony managed got alongside more than once, Bleasdale was able to hold on after a race long battle that would prove to be one of the highlights of the day to secure the win by just three tenths of a second, despite Tony posted the fastest lap.

However, with Beasdale not registered to score points, Tony secured a maximum score in the Supermodified class to come away from the weekend leading the championship standings ahead of the season finale at Knockhill later this month.

Tony also retains a chance to securing the overall championship battle, with no fewer than half a dozen drivers firmly in the mix ahead of the Scottish race meeting.

“We were on the back foot all weekend at Lydden Hill and managed to pick up a trophy, so we were confident that we would be in the mix at Blyton with our issues all resolved,” he said. “From the moment we headed out on track, the car never missed a beat and, that is thanks to the team for the hard work that they put in.

“The first two heats went exactly to plan and it meant that we didn’t need to do heat three because our place on the front row for the final was already secure. I knew Jason would get away well off the line in the final with his car being mid-engined and rear-wheel drive, but I was confident that we’d be able to find a way back ahead to get the win.

“He didn’t make any mistakes despite the pressure I was able to put him under and it was a great battle that ended with us split by under half a second at the end. I was also conscious of the fact that he wasn’t going to be scoring any points and I didn’t want to do anything stupid with the championship to consider.

“It’s probably the most satisfying second place I’ve had in my career and to take a maximum score away from the weekend is fantastic. It puts us in a great place for the final round at Knockhill and we’ll go there looking to defend our lead.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch will hope to add to his podium tally this weekend when the Autosport International BTRDA Rallycross Championship presented by Cooper Tires heads for Blyton for the second round of the year.

Tony kick-started his BTRDA campaign with a third place finish in the Supermodified class at Lydden Hill last month on what was his first outing in the series since the 2018 season finale.

That podium finish came despite Tony being forced to battle against a misfire on his Ford KA, with the Paul Waldron Motorsport team – running the car alongside members of Tony’s own Team Geriatric outfit – working hard across the weekend to resolve the issue.

In the weeks since the season opener, further work has gone into the KA to provide Tony with the best chance possible of fighting for more silverware when he heads across the Pennines to the Lincolnshire circuit.

Blyton should provide Tony with a different challenge to Lydden Hill, with the circuit featuring a mixture of high speed straights and tight turns – including a number of hairpin bends.

Having enjoyed successful results at the circuit in the past, Tony heads into the weekend in confident mood although well aware – as with round one – that fighting for honours in the highly competitive field will be far from easy.

“We had a few problems that we had to deal with at Lydden Hill in the first round, which was to be expected considering it was the first time we had competed with the KA for a while,” he said. “Despite that, hard work from the team meant we were able to pick up some silverware, which was a great way for us to kick start the season.

“Since Lydden, the boys have been hard at work on the car to make sure that we don’t suffer a repeat of the problems we faced during round one. With that in mind, the goal for the weekend ahead has to be to try and at least replicate the results we enjoyed in round one and challenge for another trophy.

“It isn’t going to be easy given how strong the field is, but if we can stay out of trouble and focus on the job at hand, I’m hopeful we can be right in the mix for the podium places.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch secured a hard-earned podium finish from a challenging weekend on track as the Autosport International BTRDA Rallycross Championship presented by Cooper Tires season finally got underway at Lydden Hill.

The race weekend marked Tony’s return to BTRDA competition for the first time since the 2018 season finale, with his Ford KA being run by Paul Waldron Motorsport with assistance from members of his own Team Geriatric team.

Tony made the long trip to Kent aiming to challenge for the podium places in a highly competitive field, but he was left with work to do after practice when driveshaft failure limited his time on track.

With the car repaired, Tony headed out on track for the three Supermodified qualifying heats, taking fifth place in heat one before a dramatic second heat, which had to be red-flagged after rival Kenny Hall rolled his Renault Clio.

When the heat restarted, Tony secured sixth place despite the car starting to suffer from a misfire, and he completed heat three in fourth spot to leave him sixth on the grid for the A Final.

The exclusion of Slawomir Woloch from the meeting meant Tony actually lined up in fifth spot for the final and a solid run saw him take the flag in fourth spot overall and third amongst the over 2 litre cars – a result that secured him a place in the Superfinal.

There, Tony once again crossed the line in fourth overall for a solid end to the weekend but there would be a boost for Tony after the event was concluded when it was revealed that Supermodified winner Tristan Ovenden hadn’t registered for the championship.

That meant Tony ends the opening weekend of the season sitting second in the over 2 litre class and third in the overall Supermodified standings.

“It was a really tricky weekend, but one that ended with a huge smile on my face,” Tony admitted. “I’d almost forgotten how good the KA is to drive but I hugely enjoyed myself and to come away from the event with some silverware is great.

“Things didn’t start well with the driveshaft letting go in practice but the team did a great job to fix it for the heats where unfortunately we ran into another issue with a misfire that we think was caused by the engine running a bit hot after we had to stop with the red flag.

“The boys worked to change different things to try and resolve the issue so to come away from the final with fourth place was really good, and I didn’t realise the time that Fred Ling in third was in the 2 litre class so we’d actually got a class podium. With Tristan not registered, that then became second which means a good haul of points and more than I was realistically expecting from my first weekend back in the class.

“Clearly there are some seriously quick cars in the Supermodified class this year but I’m already looking forward to being back out in the car again next time out where hopefully we won’t have a repeat of some of the gremlins we encountered at Lydden and can pick up another solid result.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch will look to impress on his return to the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship presented by Cooper Tires when the delayed 2020 season gets underway this weekend at Lydden Hill.

The Kent race weekend will mark Tony’s first outing in the series since the 2018 season finale, when he successfully wrapped up the Supermodified title and came agonisingly close to the overall crown at the wheel of a Ford KA.

Since then, Tony has competed in the Retro Rallycross Championship with a Toyota MR2, and kicked off his season at Lydden Hill last month with a podium finish in the opening meeting of the year.

Tony’s return to the Kent circuit this weekend will see him face a completely new challenge as he makes his first rallycross outing in the KA for almost two years.

With a strong grid having been assembled for the season ahead, including the likes of Tristan Ovenden and Slawomir Woloch, Tony goes into the weekend with his focus on a strong haul of points and with the ultimate goal of challenging for a place on the podium.

Whereas Tony’s own Team Geriatric outfit is continuing to run his programme in Retro Rallycross, the parallel BTRDA campaign will see the KA being run by Paul Waldron Motorsport; the same team that originally built the car before it was bought by Tony ahead of the 2016 season.

“I’m really looking forward to the new BTRDA season,” Tony said. “It was great to have a successful first outing of the year in the Toyota a few weeks ago, but the Supermodified series is going to provide a totally different challenge – and one I’m ready for!

“Given that I’ve not driven the KA in anger for a while, it might take a little bit of time to get used to being back in front-wheel drive again and the entry is looking extremely strong so we need to see how things go.

“With Paul running the car with assistance from some of my own boys, I know I have a good team behind me as always and I’m going to Lydden Hill with my focus on trying to fight towards the front. I’m not going to get too carried away but if we could pick up a podium then I think it would be a great start to the year.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch was able to celebrate a podium finish as his 2020 Retro Rallycross championship campaign burst into life at Lydden Hill.

Westhoughton-based Tony made the long trip to Kent for his first outing at the wheel of his Toyota MR2 since the 2019 season finale back in October, with his Team Geriatric outfit having used the unusually long off-season to work on further modifications to the former rally car.

The season opener at the spriritual home of rallycross saw the Toyota running with a revised bodywork package for the first time, with the team having invested in a number of fibreglass panels in order to reduce weight as the latest stage of the ongoing development of the car.

After a solid start to the weekend in practice, the opening qualifying heat saw Tony finish in third spot behind Terry Moore’s Mini and the Citroen AX of Stephen Cozens, and he then repeated the feat in heat two – where he would also post his fastest lap of the weekend.

With Moore secure on pole for the final, he would then sit out the final heat, with Tony taking second behind Cozens to cement his place on the front row of the grid for the final.

Prior to the start, the team worked to resolve a brake issue that had developed in the final heat and – as had been the case in each of the three qualifiers – Tony made the most of the starting prowess of the Toyota to get away well off the line.

Contact with Cozens as his rival tried to find a way through would cause some minor damage to the Toyota but Tony was able to continue without issue to once again finish third on the road and secure a well-earned podium finish – entertaining the watching crowds at the same time with a showboating display on track.

“Having been out of a car for so long, it was great to get back on track at Lydden Hill and start racing again,” he said. “I’m happy that we’ve come away from the weekend with a podium finish and whilst a win would obviously have been nice, third is still a good way to start the new season.

“Aside from a small issue with the brakes after the third heat, the car ran without problem which is credit to the team for the work that they have done. The car felt really good and we just lost out a bit to Stephen and Terry on the uphill run to the hairpin, where they had an advantage in terms of power-to-weight compared to us.

“In the final, when I knew they had managed to break away and I had a gap behind, I was able to put on a bit of a show for the fans with some power slides and entertain them a bit.

“One thing we do know from this weekend is that running a standard gearbox is holding us back a little bit but we’re not currently in a position to make the investment in a close ratio box without missing some rounds, which we don’t want to do given it would impact on our ability to fight for the championship.

“Hopefully in the rounds to come, I’ll be able to really take the fight to Terry and Stephen and push for wins.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch will kick-start a busy 2020 season this weekend when the new Retro Rallycross campaign gets underway at Lydden Hill.

Westhoughton-based Tony will make the long trip to the spiritual home of Rallycross for the Bank Holiday meeting, which will see the multiple title winner and his Team Geriatric outfit competing alongside the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy Presented by Cooper Tires.

Tony’s Retro Rallycross programme – which will run alongside a programme in the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship – will see him at the wheel of the Toyota MR2 that he debuted on track last season.

Originally built for stage rallying, Tony and the team worked hard last season to turn the Toyota into a front-running rallycross machine and were rewarded with Retro class wins at both Pembrey and Croft towards the end of the year.

Having used 2019 as a development season, the focus for the season ahead is to now challenge for championship honours, with Tony ready and raring to go ahead of what promises to be a frenetic season of competition.

“Normally when we get to the end of August, we’re getting down to the business end of the season rather than getting read for the start,” he said. “It’s been a very bizarre year for everyone because of the COVID-19 pandemic and for a while, it looked like we wouldn’t be racing because of it. With that in mind, I can’t to get to Lydden Hill and actually get out on track again, as it seems like an age since the 2019 season came to an end.

“We knew that last year was all about developing the Toyota and I think we ended 2019 in a stronger position than we expected to. Even though we haven’t been racing this year, we have worked hard to make more improvements to the car, although the work we had planned has been impacted by coronavirus and the restrictions that has put on us all in recent months.

“Despite that, we head into round one of the Retro Rallycross season in confident mood and I have my eyes firmly on trying to challenge at the front. It won’t be easy by any means as the field looks very competitive but I know we have a good package and that it will only get stronger as the season goes on.

“Ahead of round one, I’d like to thank all of the loyal sponsors who have stood by us in difficult times as well as our supporters, family and friends. Hopefully we can push for some silverware to reward everyone during the weekend ahead.”