Derek Tohill was unlucky in Kouvola, Finland this weekend for the fourth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship when his weekend ended prematurely in the semi finals after getting caught up in an accident in the second corner.
“We knew we had turned a corner at the last round in Norway, towards the end of the weekend there we had found out how to get speed out of both me and the car,” said Tohill. “
We hit the ground running here in Finland, straight away I was driving the car in the manor it requires to get the best out of it, and our lap times were really good.”
Having show promising pace throughout the weekend in mixed conditions, Tohill started the semi final in high spirits, unfortunately after a good start he was collected by Topi Heikkinen in an accident which also took out LD motorsports team-mate Liam Doran as the heavens opened.
“We had four strong heats, and were in the top eight all weekend. We are really mixing it with the top guys now. To beat the likes of Petter Solberg, Timur Timerzyanov and Liam Doran in a straight fight in a heat was great.
“I got a great start in the semi final, it’s such a shame that both me and my LD Motorsports team mate Liam got put out by getting caught up in Toomas Heikkinen’s accident. He probably couldn’t see where he was he was going, the conditions were that bad.”
With round 4 out of the way the championship heads to Sweden next weekend (5/6 July). “I had given myself until after Holjes to be at a top pace, so we are there an event early. We are just going to get stronger and stronger as the year goes on,” said Tohill.
“The car was really good all weekend, the team did a great job, I couldn’t have asked for more. Hopefully we can maintain this pace next weekend. I love Holjes, I can’t wait to get there next weekend, it’s the holy grail of rallycross.”
