Derek Tohill enjoyed a successful outing in the 2017 Euro RX of France as he equalled his best ever finish in the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercars at Loheac in France.
The Irish Rallycross Champion started out well on the first day where he won both his Q1 and Q2 races in dry conditions to lie in fifth place overall after Q3. Despite finishing Q4 in sixteenth place overall due to the wet conditions, Tohill finished in tenth place overall after Qualifying and secured a place in Semi Final One.
Derek Tohill excelled in the wet conditions at Loheac in France. Credit: PFCRX
The Former FIA European Rallycross TouringCar champion finished in third place in Semi-Final One and this put him on the back row for the Supercar Final. Again held in difficult conditions, Tohill guided the PFCRX Ford Fiesta to fifth place after passing Tommy Rustad who suffered a left from puncture.
Tohill explained how the over the weekend, despite the poor conditions, a good result was on the cards.
“We knew the rain was coming and we looked forward to that. The track conditions got worse through the day and I don’t think we moved quick enough with the conditions, but it was great to finish third in the semi-finals and be on the coat tails of (Anton) Marklund in the final,” expained Tohill.
“We were pushing hard, things were getting a bit lairy, so we decided to just bring it home for a good result.”
Derek Tohill in the Semi-Finals at Loheac in France. Credit: PFCRX
However he is looking forward to the final round of the year at Riga in Latvia where the team has tested earlier in the year and can put that setup knowledge to good use.
We’re moving in the right direction, we’re putting pressure on the top three or four in Euro RX now and the lap times are getting closer and closer,” said Tohill.
“That’s great, we just need to work hard over the winter and try to end the season with a good result in Latvia. We’ve got new parts for the car coming for Riga, where we already have good information from the test we did there earlier in the year.”
Thanks to this fifth place finish, Tohill now lies in seventh place overall in the Drivers Championship.
