Derek Tohill (Dublin, Ireland) entered round 1 of the 2012 FIA European Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill, Kent, England The Irishman turned up to the first round with no testing and a hopeful team that the car would be good to both driver & team.
The conditions throughout the entire weekend were extremely wet, windy, muddy and cold. But, this suited the Irish team just fine as it was exactly like a Rallycross weekend at Mondello Park in Ireland! The event began with a small oil fire in practice but the Rallycross Rebels crew quickly repaired the damage and ensured Tohill lost minimum track time in practice.
Lydden Hill in Kent hosted the opening round of the 2012 ERC. Photo Courtesy Rallycross World
Tohill didn’t disappoint in the qualifying heats and dominated his 3 qualifying races by taking victory in all heats. The Irishman driving his Ford Fiesta MK.7 posted two fastest times in the heats which guaranteed Tohill pole position for the all important main A Final. The PartsforCars supported driver would line up on the front row alongside 2006 European Champion Roman Castoral from Czech Republic (Opel Astra OPC) and young Norwegian David Nordgard (Ford Focus MK.2).
Tohill Pushing Hard in the Heats. Photo Courtesy Dave Smeets
As the lights flashed green for the A Final Tohill made a slippery get away and then got caught up in first corner contact with Norwegian driver Nordgard. Tohill slipped back through the field as he rejoined the track but then put his head down and climbed back up to a podium position in 3rd place. Tohill and the team were very disappointed not to take victory after a dominant performance all weekend.
Conditions were Challenging all weekend! Photo Courtesy Dave Smeets
Tohill commented afterwards “A 3rd place is not what we had in mind as the weekend progressed but it’s good points and a long season, I thank everyone for helping us make it to the grid for round 1, for me this was the hardest job and sometimes it’s just half the work just to be on the grid for the first round, I look forward to a dry event to see where we stack up against our opposition.”
Times were encouraging all weekend... Photo Courtesy Rallycross World
Round 2 of the 2012 FIA Rallycross Championship takes place in France at the Circuit de l’Ouest Parisien – Dreux on April 28th & 29th.
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1
|
Anton Marklund | Ford Fiesta Mk7 RWD | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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2
|
Roman Častoral | Opel Astra OPC RWD | 17 | |
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3
|
Derek Tohill | Ford Fiesta Mk7 RWD | 15 | |
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4
|
Tom Daniel Tånevik | Mazda RX-8 | 13 | |
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5
|
Koen Pauwels | Ford Fiesta Mk7 RWD | 12 | |
|
6
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David Nordgård | Ford Focus Mk2 RWD | 11 | |
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7
|
Kim Steinsholt | BMW E87 | 10 | |
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8
|
Pedro Bonnet | Volvo C30 RWD | 9 | |
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9
|
Jari Järvenpää | BMW E87 | 8 | |
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10
|
Per Magne Røyrås | Peugeot 206 RWD | 7 |
Results Courtesy of Rallycross Online


Irish championship at Mondello