VICTORY FOR TOHILL HELPS HIM TO HUNT DOWN GODFREY’S LEAD
British Rallycross Championship: Pembrey
Organiser: BARC/LHMC When: September 21-22 Where: Pembrey Circuit Starters: 43.
Derek Tohill used fast pace and good fortune to keep his hopes of winning the British Rallycross Championship alive at Pembrey. He entered the sixth round of the series five points behind Julian Godfrey and the pair traded fastest times throughout the event in South Wales.
With the weekend run to World RX format, a first for the British series, the first two qualifiers took place on Saturday afternoon, and it was in Q2 where Tohill’s first bout of luck came into play.
The pair had raced in separate encounters in Q1, but were joined for
Q2, with Godfrey leading from the front. But the engineering wizard ran wide at the hairpin as the circuit transitions from loose to Tarmac on the final lap, Tohill diving up the inside to take the position. But, with Godfrey still on the throttle, the pair made contact. Godfrey’s left front steering was damaged, putting him into the wall on the outside, while Tohill’s right rear suspension broke. Incredibly, with just a straight and two corners remaining, Tohill made it to the finish line on three wheels before spinning, and netted the fastest time.
He was again lucky in Q4, when the throttle stuck open on his Olsbergsmsebuilt Ford Fiesta with two corners to go. The car was towed back into the paddock after the race.
It was Tohill who took pole for the final, and as the lights went green, the Irishman led into Turn 1.
Behind, Steve Hill and Roger Thomas made contact, Hill hitting the rear of Godfrey’s Fiesta. While Godfrey survived the moment, Hill retired in Turn 2.
With smoke pouring off Godfrey’s leftrear wheel, he hounded Tohill on lap one, and closed further still when the leader made a mistake on the loose section on lap two. But thereafter Tohill pulled a gap, as Godfrey’s left rear deflated midrace and he was forced to work hard to fend off Thomas to the end, the three finishers taking the podium positions.
Andy Grant failed to start the final after he ran out of time to change the gearbox in his Ford Focus after Q4. With two rounds remaining at Croft, Godfrey leads the standings by two points.
Tristan Ovenden claimed his sixth win in a row in the two-wheel-drive Supernational category to wrap up his third successive crown, although he was beaten away from the start line by Guy Corner’s Lotus Exige in the final. Corner finished second, while third went the way of Polish driver Jarek Suchowiecki after fellow Super1600 campaigner Craig Lomax retired.
Several classes had a double-header weekend, with Luke Constantine and Ben Sayer claiming the honours in the Junior division. The Junior final on Saturday was cancelled after the race was twice red flagged, with the results taken from qualifying. Constantine and Patrick O’donovan are now tied on points with two rounds to go.
Will Layton and Max Weatherley took a win each in the Swift Sport series, while David Bell and Drew Bellerby took a win and a second apiece across the two rounds in the BMW Mini series. Chrissy Palmer won the RX150 final and Gary Simpson continued an impressive run in the Retro Rallycross Championship with his sixth win of the campaign.