Tony Lynch brought the curtain down on his Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship campaign in fine style with a second victory in the Suzuki Swift Championship at Pembrey.
Tony, from Westhoughton near Wigan, went into the final round of the season in Wales having already wrapped up second in the drivers championship behind Dave Bellerby, but it was all to play for in the teams title race – with Tony’s Team Geriatric squad one of four teams fighting it out for second in the team standings.
Despite a spin in the opening heat, Tony fought back to fourth place and then went into the second heat looking to make amends for his earlier error. A storming drive not only gave Tony the heat victory, but the fastest lap and he then repeated the feat in the final heat to secure pole for the final race of the year.
Tony carried his winning form from the heats into the final as he produced a dominant drive to charge away from the chasing pack and secure victory which was enough to ensure that Team Geriatric ended the year in second place in the team standings – ahead of the likes of Steve Hill Motorsport and Doran Motorsport.
“Going into the weekend I only had one aim and that was to get a win for the boys because I knew that would mean we finished second in the teams championship,” he said. “Even though I had the spin in the first heat, I still set the fastest lap and then won the other heats to get pole so I knew we were in good shape for the final.
“There was a bit of a scare when I got a hit from behind at the start, but after that I was able to pull away from the cars behind because Dave had a bit of a gearbox problem and was holding the others up. That gave me an advantage I wasn’t going to give up and it’s a brilliant way to end the year with my second win and second in both championships.”
Tony will now go into the winter planning a return to the Suzuki Swift Championship next season, where he will aim to go one better and secure another title to add to his already impressive list of achievements.
“Considering that we only got our car the day before the first round, we’ve had a great year and I’ve really enjoyed fighting against Dave for the title,” he said. “The boys have been brilliant all season and I’m proud of the way we have performed as a team in our first year with the Suzuki. We’ll be back next year and I think we’ve shown as the year goes on that we’ll be a force to be reckoned with in 2011.”
