Derek Tohill took his best ever finish in the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercars as he took fifth place in the season opening Euro RX of Spain.
The PFCRX driver started off slowly in Qualifying with an 20th place finish in Q1 before taking two top ten finishes that led to him being placed in 10th spot and earning a place in the Semi-Finals.
After finishing in third in SF2, the Irish driver moved into the final where he battled back to fifth place after taking his joker on lap three. Tohill passed Henning Solberg as he exited the Joker and stayed ahead of the VW driver.
Tohill expects to see more performance from the Fiesta after this last event.
“Everyone did the 500 little things right and it all came together in the end. There’s lot more to come, but this is a really good start to the championship. I feel if anything we under-performed, so that bodes well for the season.”
Tohill also explains why the car should have had more pace.
“From being 20th after Q1, finishing fifth is a fantastic result. The pace is there. We burst a power steering pipe in the semi-final and were nursing the car home through the final. To be on the back bumper of a podium with that issue was great.”
The former Euro RX Touring Car champion was full of praise for his team.
“I must say a huge thanks to all of our own team, with some new additions this weekend, especially from C-Sport, plus Mountune and OlsbergsMSE for their support, which was a brilliant help.”
PFCRX is assessing competing in other events before the next round of the Championship, in Norway.