Westhoughton-based driver Tony Lynch is aiming to get his MSA British Rallycross Championship season underway from this weekend’s second round at Lydden Hill.
The series’ opening round, last month at Croft, has been nothing short of a disaster for Lynch: engine failure on his Lucas Oil Team Geriatric Ford KA severely hampered his efforts in the early stages of the title race.
Immediately after the weekend, both Lynch and engine builder Julian Godfrey Engineering started a race against time to find what caused the failure, while repairing the engine required Julian and his team to source the engine block as far as in Holland.
Having collected the engine from JGE’s base in East Sussex, Tony and his team are now working hard to get the car ready for next Monday’s round in Kent, clearly targeting to make up the ground he lost through his Croft misfortune.
“There’s no doubting it’s been a stressful few weeks since Croft, but we’re delighted to confirm that the car will be fully repaired and ready for Lydden Hill,” he said. “For a small team like ours, losing an engine could have ended our season before it even started, so we have to give huge thanks to all those people who have helped us to get things sorted to continue with the defence of our Supernational title.
“Julian Godfrey and his guys have been absolutely brilliant and have worked hard to get the engine ready for us. They’ve gone above and beyond to help, and there is no doubt at all that without their hard work, we wouldn’t have made it to Lydden.
“As ever, my boys have done a great job to prepare the car so that we can now just focus on getting the engine fitted and heading to Lydden Hill to kickstart our season.
“After the disappointment of Croft, I’m so proud of the way in which everyone involved with the team has pulled together and I’m really fired up about the weekend ahead. I’m really hoping we can challenge for a strong result to reward everyone for their work over the last few weeks and we want to make up the ground we have lost in the title race.”
After next Monday’s meeting at Lydden, the MSA British Rallycross Championship will then visit Pembrey, Wales, on 25 June, before crossing the Irish Sea with a double-header weekend at Mondello Park on 22-23 July. Back to Lydden Hill on 28 August, another double-header at Pembrey on 23-24 September, then round 9 at Croft on 21 October. The following day, the Yorkshire track will also host the MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix.