Archives April 2022

Wigan racer Tony Lynch was able to salvage a podium finish from what proved to be a challenging opening meeting of the Retro Rallycross Championship season at Lydden Hill.

The Landsail Team Geriatric driver headed for the Kent circuit hoping to make the most of a raft of upgrades carried out on his Toyota MR2 over the winter, although a lack of pre-season testing meant the first two rounds would be something of a step into the unknown.

The opening two heats for round one saw Tony grab a pair of third place finishes but an issue with the gearbox on the car then forced him to retire from the final qualifying heat.

Despite that, Tony qualified in third spot on the grid but the issues with the gearbox resulted in him being forced to pull off the circuit seconds after the lights went out – leaving him classified back in fifth place.

With round two taking place on Bank Holiday Monday, the team used the day off on Easter Sunday to replace the gearbox in the car – instead fitting a standard spare ‘box to the car to ensure that Tony could do battle on track.

Third in all three qualifying heats, Tony was this time able to contest the points-scoring finale where he brought the Toyota home to the flag in third to grab some hard-earned silverware.

Despite the challenging nature of the action on-track – which leaves Tony second in the early-season standings – there was reason to cheer as Landsail Team Geriatric was awarded the Martin Schanche Trophy for the best presented team in the Retro Rallycross paddock last season.

It marks the third time that Team Geriatric has secured such an award for presentation, reflecting the effort put in to ensure that the sponsors and partners are represented in the most professional manner over the course of a season.

“There are real mixed emotions after Lydden Hill,” Tony reflected. “On track, we were hoping for better results across the two rounds but the issue with the gearbox on Saturday was one of those things that we couldn’t control.

“The team did a great job to replace the ‘box for Monday and we were able to put up a good fight on track but ultimately, there was only so much we could do with the standard unit fitted.

“However, to be given the Martin Schanche Trophy was an unexpected surprise but one we are very proud of as a team. We put a huge amount of time and effort into our presentation because we know how important it is when it comes to representing the various sponsors who allow us to go racing. This award is for them as much as the team.”

Wigan racer Tony Lynch will look to kick off his Retro Rallycross Championship challenge in style this weekend when the 2022 season bursts into life at Lydden Hill.

Tony and his Landsail Team Geriatric squad make the long trip to the spiritual home of rallycross in Kent hoping to challenge for silverware in the opening two rounds of the campaign, with Round 1 scheduled to take place on Saturday, and Round 2 then being run on Easter Monday.

The opening round will mark the first outing for Tony’s upgraded Toyota MR2, which has undergone a number of improvements during a major winter rebuild that was carried out following a heavy accident in the latter part of 2021.

A planned test outing in the BTRDA Rallycross season opener at Blyton last month had to be cancelled as a result of an electrical issue that was discovered during a pre-event run on a rolling road, with the team working to resolve the problem ahead of opening Retro round.

After successfully running the car on the dyno this week without a reoccurrence of the issue, Tony goes into round one in confident mood, with the goal being to try and challenge towards the sharp end and put a solid haul of points on the board.

“It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to run our planned test at Blyton so there is an element of us going into the unknown this weekend,” he said.

“The boys have put a huge amount of work into the car over the winter alongside Paul Waldron Motorsport, and I’m confident that the improvements that have been made will help us on track as we look to challenge for the title.

“We don’t want to get too carried away but we head for Lydden Hill with one goal in mind and that is to fight for victory. We want to be in the fight for championship honours this season, so a win would be a great way to start.”