MSA SuperNational driver Tony Lynch was overjoyed to take his first class win in the 2015 British Rallycross Championship at the Double-Header event held at Mondello Park.
The Lucas Oils Team Geriatric pilot had an upturn in form after a recent run of retirements in his BMW MINI Cooper S, but all of the hard work that has gone into the intensive development programme the car has been put through so far paid off as Lynch took the MSA SuperNational A Final win in round four on Saturday against a large and competitive field made up of Irish Rallycross regulars and BritishRX regulars.
After an issue with the starting lights in heat one led to the heat being declared null and void, a brace of top three finishes in heats two and three, Lynch found himself on Pole Position for the Final and with the track having been sprayed to minimise dust, he led the way, despite a hit from behind. He went on to take his first class win of the year.
Round five was a slightly less joyous affair as the team had to work overnight to fix a gearbox issue that became apparent the day before. Seventh place was the reward in the final but victory the previous day was enough for Lynch.
“We wanted to put on a good show in Ireland after our recent misfortune, but I think I’d probably be lying if I said I thought we could come home with a win,” he said. “The decision to water the track really played into our hands because the real strength of our car at the moment is the handling, and the fact that the circuit was quite slippery meant that those who have a lot more power than us weren’t able to make full use of it.
“Even though the first heat was declared void, we ran at the front in the other two to take pole position and then had a bit of a scare at the start when there was some contact behind and one of the drivers got fired square into the side of my car. Luckily the damage didn’t affect the performance and to be first British driver home was absolutely fantastic and more than we could possibly have hoped for at the moment.”
Tony reflected on Sundays activities, but he was upbeat about the information gained to help improve the car further.
“Sadly there was an issue with the gearbox which meant we had to go back to a standard unit for Sunday’s race and while it meant we finished down in seventh, it’s difficult to be too disappointed when we look at the weekend as a whole. If anything, being forced to go back to the standard gearbox showed just how much we’ve benefitted from having a real racing gearbox in the car, and it’ll be fixed and back in place for the next round at Pembrey.
“The data we were able to collect this weekend will be going to 1320 to look over and then we can make a final decision on which approach we take with our engine development, but for now we just want to savour our first win of the year.
Tony praised the team and his sponsors for all the hard work that led to this moment.
“It’s all down to the sponsors who have given us the support that we needed to race this season, and the boys in the team who work their fingers to the bone to get the car on track looking pristine every weekend. This win is for them all.”
