Tohill Excels in the Rain taking his Second European Rallycross Victory in 7 Days!

Round 8, Germany, Estering, Buxtehude, Germany, August 13^th – August 15^th 2010

Press Release Date: Wednesday 18^th August 2010.

The 2010 FIA European Rallycross Championship is reaching its final stages.  Buxtehude in Germany was the host for round 8 of the 10 round European series.  The circuit situated near Hamburg in the North of Germany has just installed a joker lap and there was great interest in how it would perform.  The atmosphere at the circuit was vibrant as the circuit witnessed a very high volume of spectators.

The battle at the top of the Division 2 standings is between 4 drivers, Irishman Derek Tohill (Ford Fiesta MK.7 RWD) and the 3 Norwegians Knut Ove Børseth (Ford Fiesta MK.7 RWD), Ole Kristian Nøttveit (Citroen Xsara RWD) and Lars Øivind Enerberg (Ford Fiesta ST).  In timed practice only two tenths of a second separated Borseth, Tohill and Belgian Guino Kenis (BMW 1 Series).  The close times were an indication that action would be very tight between the championship front runners.

The first set of Heats on Saturday afternoon saw Derek Tohill in his Teng Tools backed Fiesta MK.7 take a race victory and at the same time he set fastest time of the day ahead of Norwegian Borseth and Czech driver Roman Castoral (Opel Astra RWD).  This was the best possible start the Irishman could have hoped for on day 1.  But, after some routine maintenance on Saturday night the Rallycross Rebels team discovered the rear axle was bent on the Fiesta.  The team set about straightening the axle as much as possible but this was limited without having a jig to hand.  But, the team also worked on set-up and hoped the competition wouldn’t improve too much on Sunday.

Sunday morning saw Tohill take a lights to flag victory in the second heat but the Rallycross Rebels team’s fears about the competition going faster were justified when Tohill’s time was only 5^th quickest.  Defending European Champion and current point’s leader Knut Ove Borseth went quickest.  This would mean the Irish man would need a fast time in the third heat.

Heat 3 saw another race victory for the Irishman which helped him claim 3^rd fastest time overall.  This was enough to ensure the Irishman qualified directly for the A final with the added bonus of being on the front row alongside pole man Borseth.

Just as the grid girls left the start line of the all important A final, the heavens at the Estering circuit opened.  Normally when this occurs a “Wet Race” is called and drivers have the option of using wet weather tyres.  But, as this happened seconds before the lights went green it was too late to make any changes.  The lights went green and Tohill made a blistering start on the wet track easily beating Borseth and the rest of the filed away from the line.  The first couple of laps were tentative for Tohill and Borseth as they tried to find some traction.  Borseth took his joker lap first which allowed Tohill to attack for the last 3 laps without fear of any lunges from the Norwegian.  Tohill then took his mandatory joker lap on the last lap and to the delight of the Irishman and his team; Borseth was not in site.  A second consecutive victory for the Irishman leaves him with 3 victories in Europe this season, the most by any driver in the Div. 2 championship.

Tohill commented afterwards “This was typically Irish weather as we are used to in Mondello Park, it was absolutely fantastic to win again and in such difficult conditions but, I still don't want to think about the championship.  We are a young team and this year is still a learning season for us, so we just want to win races."    

The European Championship now moves to Slomczyn in Poland and Sosnova in Czech Republic next month.  Curiously enough this is where Derek Tohill won his first ever ERC back in 2008 in his Grp.N Honda Civic Type R.

Michael Coyne and Gordon Lynch discussing team tactics before the A Final 

Results from Round 8 ERC Germany

Click on the following link for photos from Germany:

http://derektohill.com/2010/08/image-gallery-from-erc-rd-7-germany/

Click on the following link for a Video of the A Final from Germany:

http://www.rallycross.hu/d2finalgermany2010.html

For further information and more pictures please contact:

Rallycross Rebels Press: info@rmf.ie

or www.derektohill.com

Tohill Scores yet another Podium finish at Finland’s round of the ERC

Round 6, Finland, Kouvola, July 9^th – July 11^th 2010

Press Release Date: Monday 26^th July 2010.

For the first time a European Rallycross event took place at the Tykkimäen Moottorirata near Kouvola in the south-east of Finland on July 9^th – 11^th 2010.  This was round six of the 2010 FIA European Rallycross Championship and the opening round of the second half of the championship.  Among the Division 1 drivers for the weekend was also five times FIA European Rallycross Champion Matti Alamäki who would compete in the Honda Civic Type-R Mk2 from Pakkala Motorsport.  This Finish legend left magical memory’s in Irish fans hearts after he competed and won many European events held at Mondello Park in the 90’s driving his awesome Peugeot 205 T16 and Lancia Delta S4.

Heats began on Saturday morning with some extremely high temperatures.  35 degrees Celsius was the norm for whole weekend in Finland.  This would be a severe test for drivers, teams and equipment.  The weekend had a difficult start in store for Derek Tohill (Dublin) and the Rallycross Rebels team as they missed some valuable practice laps.  This was due to problems with new engine electrics.  But, this did not seem to bother the Irishman too much when it came to setting times, after the first qualification heat the Irishman lay second fastest behind current European Champion Knut Ove Borseth (Norway).  This was the Irishman’s strongest start to an ERC event and the team looked forward to Sunday.

Heat 2 on Sunday morning soon took the momentum out of the Irish driver and his team as fuel injection problems inflicted the Ford Fiesta MK. 7 as it was on its way to the grid.  It was probably a blessing is disguise that Tohill missed the heat as a large fire would possibly have been inevitable due to the fuel problems and high temperatures being experienced.  The team set to work on repairing the fuel injection system.  The team is getting through many gremlins this season and is hoping for a change of fortune due to extensive re-engineering throughout the car.  The high engines revs of 9700rpm seem to be causing many small problems that should not be experienced again.

The pressure was on for Tohill and the Rallycross Rebels in Heat 3.  The Irish Rallycross driver had to set a time otherwise it was time to pack up and go home with zero points.  The Irishman did not disappoint his team and he set fastest time overall which guaranteed Tohill a front row start in the all important A Final!  The Irishman would join Knut Ove Borseth on the front row followed by row two starters Ole Kristian Nottveit (Norway) and local favourite Tero Parkkinen (Finland).

Tohill immediately catapulted himself into the lead of the A Final followed by reigning champion Borseth.  The Irishman took his Joker lap on the second last lap and came out still in the lead.  The Rallycross Rebels team thought they were set for victory number 2 of the season.  That was until the last lap when Tohill and Borseth simultaneously spun off the circuit gifting the win to Ole Kristian Nottveit.  Tohill was collected by Parkkinen as he rejoined the circuit but the Irishman re-passed the Finish driver to finish in third place.  This was another strong result for the Irishman but so nearly a maximum score. 

Tohill commented afterwards “This was probably the toughest result for me personally to accept in all my time competing in Rallycross at all levels.  I just pushed too hard in the last lap when I should have controlled the pace but hindsight is wonderful.  It just wasn’t meant to be in Finland, we had many problems throughout the weekend that was tough on all of the team.  To feel this low after a podium shows how high our expectations have climbed.  This is a good sign and bodes well for the remainder of the season, to really enjoy the highs sometimes you need to experience severe lows.  We are now ready to enjoy the highs!”  The European Rallycross Championship resumes in Belgium from August 6^th – 8^th.

A Final Results

1. Ole Kristian Nøttveit (N) – Citroen Xsara RWD
2. Knut Ove Borseth (N) – Ford Fiesta MK. 7 RWD

3. Derek Tohill (IRL) – Ford Fiesta MK. 7 RWD

4. Patrick Mertens (B) – VW Polo RWD
5. Tero Parkkinen (F) – Ford Fiesta ST RWD

Tohill Scores Perfect Podium at Europe’s Biggest Rallycross in Sweden

Round 5, Sweden, Höljesbanan, Höljes, 2^nd July – July 4^th 2010

Press Release Date: Wednesday 7^th July 2010.

With 26,850 spectators, the organizing club Finnskoga MK, set another Swedish record regarding the number of spectators for its European Rallycross round at Höljesbanan in North Finnskoga, Sweden.  The Swedish round of the 2010 FIA European Rallycross Championship completed the first half of the season.  A total of 84 drivers were allowed to take part in the event after they passed administrative checking and technical scrutineering.  The circuit in Holjes is the Holy Grail for Rallycross fans; it has high speed banking Velodrome, some big jumps, high speed down hill sections etc.  The circuit does not even have a main straight so the driver has no opportunity for a moments rest!  

Division 2 at Höljes was a Scandinavian invasion in the Championship with nine drivers alone from Norway. The event started strongly for Irishman Derek Tohill with a 4^th fastest qualification time in Heat 1.  The Rallycross Rebels team were content with 4^th place on Saturday night but would have preferred to have featured in the top 3 leading positions.  The team consulted Swedish engineer Ingvar Gunnarsson that night about changing the set up of the car.  He persuaded the team to leave the Duratec powered Fiesta unchanged.  He guaranteed the team that Sunday would be a brighter day as we got to grips with this “Special” circuit

The opening heat on Sunday morning immediately proved to be brighter in terms of results.  But, not in the manner the team expected.  Saturday night and Sunday morning saw some heavy rain showers.  This meant the first heat on Sunday morning was very wet.  This would be the Irishman’s first experience of racing a RWD car in the rain!  Tohill did not disappoint and posted 2^nd fastest time overall.  This was an important result as it would ensure Tohill directly qualified to the main A Final.

The 3^rd and final qualification heat on Sunday afternoon saw Tohill go head to head with local ace Ole Håbjørg (Norway) driving a BMW.  Tohill got a great start and led Håbjørg for the entire race.  On the final lap the Irishman took his mandatory pass of the Joker lap.  As the Irishman exited the Joker lap he arrived side by side with Håbjørg.  The drivers clashed and both went off the circuit and lost time.  Tohill lost more time off circuit than Håbjørg and ended up finishing the heat in 2^nd place and 6^th fastest overall.

The qualifying heats left the Irishman on the second row of the grid in position 4.  The Irishman got a little bit too much wheel spin off the line but still managed to move up to second place again behind Håbjørg.  Young Norwegian driver Lars Øivind Enerberg took his mandatory pass through the joker section on lap 1.  Tohill ran in second place until the last lap when Enerberg just passed both himself and Håbjørg on the exit of the Joker lap to take the win.  This left Enerberg with victory with Håbjørg and Tohill completing the podium.  The top 3 positions were covered by only 1.5 seconds, the rest of the field struggling to match the pace of the top 3 drivers.

Tohill commented “This is a good result for our championship; it was very difficult for me as a driver this weekend.  The car ran well but it was a very difficult competing in the back yard of so many drivers.  It’s a circuit which rewards experience but we got there come Sunday afternoon and the gap was so small in the end.  We are happy with a podium place in this very special place.  It is every Rallycross drivers dream to score a podium position in Holjes, Sweden.  It felt very nice to see the Irish flag being raised at this special venue. The fans are so passionate, the event is extremely well organised and all of the drivers want to compete here.  Our team stayed focused all weekend and we got the job dome in the end, it was a great effort from everybody.  Finland this weekend should present a nice opportunity for us as it’s a circuit new to the calendar and new to all drivers. This will leave things at a level playing field.  The car has been re-prepared in Sweden by the guys in Gunnarsson so we are well prepared.  Let’s wait and see…   

A Final Results

1. Lars Øivind Enerberg (N)
2. Ole Håbjørg (N)

3. Derek Tohill (IRL)

4. Per Magne Røyrås (N)
5. Olav Fredriksen (N)
6. Ole Kristian Nøttveit (N)