Tony Lynch moved a step closer to securing the BMW Mini class title after picking up his third victory of the year in the penultimate round of the Monster Energy MSA British Rallycross at Pembrey.
Westhoughton-based Tony went into the weekend on a high having moved to the top of the championship standings with victory in the previous meeting of the year at Lydden Hill.
With a slender lead over closest rival David Bell, the Lucas Oil Team Geriatric driver made the trip to South Wales looking to strengthen his position ahead of the season finale later this month.
The weekend didn’t start in the best fashion for Tony, with a troubled run through the three heats used to determine the starting order for the all-important final.
A touch of wheels with Bell in the first heat saw Tony’s car momentarily go into safe mode, which in turn prevented him from challenging for victory, while he then took second behind his title rival in heat two.
Contact from Bell in the final heat then left Tony to again finish second to his title rival, leaving him second on the grid for the final.
Following Bell throughout the final, Tony was forced to wait for his opportunity to go for the lead and when the chance arose to make a move for position only a matter of corners from the finish, Tony was able to sweep through into top spot to pick up a vital victory.
“It turned out to be a really difficult weekend in Wales and there was hardly anything between me and David on track,” Tony reflected. “The incident in the first heat, with the car going into safe mode, was frustrating as it stopped me challenging for the win but I hold my hands up in heat two; David just had the legs on me.
“I wasn’t impressed with the contract in heat three as I felt it wasn’t needed, and that only made me more determined to get the job done in the final. I had to bide my time and wait for David to make a mistake, and when he did, I took full advantage.
“I’m now three points clear when dropped scores are taken into consideration with one round to go, so there is still a lot of work to be done when we go to Croft. To have won two rounds in a row is great, and hopefully we can make it a hat-trick to make sure we wrap up the title in style.”
