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The eleventh
and final round of the 2008 FIA European Rallycross Championship was an
extremely wet but well attended event in the north of Germany near Hamburg. The crowd would be well entertained with a
maximum entry for the event. The
organisers had to turn away almost fifty entries such is the strong interest in
European Rallycross at present.
This is a
fantastic problem for the European championship at a time where many other
forms of motorsport are suffering. Derek Tohill (Dublin)
came into the event full of confidence after taking his maiden victory in Poland.
“The German
round of he ERC was all about consolidating our third place in the European
standings but we would still chase for a victory as once you take a defensive
strategy, concentration levels drop and mistakes set in”. The event started perfectly for the Irish driver
as he got to grips with the German circuit very quickly. Fastest time in qualifying put Tohill on pole
position for his opening heat. The Teng Tools backed driver won his opening heat after passing
the Norwegian Frank Valle (Opel Astra OPC) in a gutsy
manoeuvre down the fast downhill section of the circuit. This left the Rallycross rebels team with only
routine work to do on Saturday night. The
team were halfway to meeting their objectives for the weekend.
Sunday
morning began and finished with extremely slippy
driving conditions. Mud and rain was on
the menu for all drivers. Tohill began
Sunday morning as he finished Saturday’s event.
The Irish man had taken a commanding lead in his second qualifying heat
and was all set for a front row A final position. On the last lap of the race the Honda Civic Type
R slowed to a halt. The Honda had lost
all drive in the transmission. This was
a major blow to the Rallycross rebels team just as they were on the brink of a
top spot in the A final. As soon as the
car was towed back to the paddock, the team frantically began changing the
gearbox in exchange for the standard spare item. The team managed to change the gearbox in
record time and had the car ready in time for a second row start in the A
final. Roman Castoral
(Czech) would start from pole position alongside Swede Mikael Lundmark Tohill would start on the second row alongside
Czech championship rival Ondrej Smetana (Honda Civic
Type R). (Renault Clio RS).
The final
race of the 11 round championship began. The team held their breadth as the lights went
green. Tohill made a good start and was
up to third place after the first corner.
On the third lap Tohill made a move for second place on Smetena in the downhill section of the circuit only to just
run out of road. It was clear Tohill had
good pace until the following lap where the Irish driver lost third gear in the
standard gearbox. “At that moment I had
a sinking feeling but was determined to make the most of what we had. I knew all I could do was get to the finish while
holding off as many drivers from behind as possible. I also hoped that the tricky conditions might
catch drivers out in front”. Tohill managed
to finish 5th in the A final, this meant the Irish man dropped from
third to fourth in the European standings.
This was still
a remarkable achievement in the Irish drivers first year in Europe
in a self run private team. 42 different
drivers scored points from 15 different nationalities. Czech drivers dominated the top 3 positions; Tohill
was the first non Czech driver in the standings and the only non European
champion to win a round of the championship. This result is the highest position any Irish driver
has ever achieved in any class in European Rallycross history.
“This was a disappointing
end to such a strong weekend when everything was going so well, but this will
make us stronger for the future. We have
to be happy with our pace this year which I believe is the most important
aspect. We have learnt a lot and it’s
great to have competed on all the European circuits against many European
champions both past and present. Taking
victory in Poland
was obviously the highlight; this is something we can build on for the future. I had a great team of people and sponsors behind
me this year. It was a learning curve for
us all but, we had some fun and met some great people
while learning along the way.”
Christopher
Evans from Delgany (Opel
Astra) was the only other Irish driver represented in Germany. He ended his year on a high with his best
result of the season qualifying for the C final and finishing in thirteenth
position.
Tohill
returns to greener pastures in Ireland
this weekend for a round of the Irish and British Rallycross championship at Mondello
Park in Co. Kildare. “I want to support our home championship at
our biggest event of the season; it will be a good opportunity to meet all the
Irish & British Rallycross drivers again”.
Tohill will also compete in the Rallycross Superprix
in England,
Croft on October 25th & 26th. This will complete the Irish drivers European tour.
After Croft the Rallycross rebels team will
take a rest before deciding on plans for 2009.
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