BTRDA challenge next for Lucas Oil Team Geriatric

Tony Lynch will kick-start his 2014 racing programme this weekend at Pembrey when he joins the BTRDA Rallycross Championship for the second and third rounds of the season.

Westhoughton-based Tony had been set to return to the MSA British Rallycross Championship for the current campaign following his championship winning season in the BMW MINI class last year, with his Lucas Oil Team Geriatric outfit having worked hard over the off-season to transform the car into a title-challenging Stockhatch class contender.

An eleventh-hour regulation change shortly before the season opener, which ruled the MINI ineligible, looked set to leave Tony sitting on the sidelines, before the decision was taken to carry out further work on the car to make it suitable for the BTRDA’s Supermodified class.

Tony now returns to the BTRDA series seeking to make an impression in what is set to be a development year for the revised MINI, with the team having already been forced to miss the opening round while modifications to the car were completed.

Although the use of dropped scores in the series means he effectively heads to Pembrey level with his class rivals, Tony is in a position where every result will now count towards his championship tally – leaving no margin for error in what is set to be one of the most challenging campaigns in his career.

“I can’t put into words how proud I am of the whole team for the way they responded to the devastating blow that we couldn’t run the MINI in the Stockhatch class as planned this season,” Tony said. “We’d put a lot of time and effort into developing the car before the regulations were changed and we had to re-evaluate everything we had planned.

“It was only because of the continued backing from our sponsors, and with their blessing, that we were able to make alternative plans to switch into the BTRDA series and to convert the MINI to run in the Supermodified class. We also have to thank Mintech Spares, Coastal Racing, AVO Shocks and Milltek, who have all come on board to support us, and have helped us to get into the position we are now in where we can get our season underway.

“We know there is a lot of work still to do and are being realistic about what we can achieve, but the aim is to try and get into a position where we can prove the competitiveness of the car by the end of the year. Pembrey this weekend is going to be a huge challenge but we will be giving it our all on track and hopefully we can make a solid start to our season.”


Related Motorsport Articles

84,520 articles