LD Motorsports begin 2014 World RX season at Lydden Hill
Following their signing for the LD Motorsports World RX Team last week, Derek Tohill and Krzysztof Skorupski headed to Lydden Hill in Kent, for Round One of the MSA British Rallycross Championship in association with the Shannon Group on the 29/30 March. Focusing on a shakedown weekend, the British championship season opener was the first time both Tohill and Skorupski drove their LD Motorsport prepared Citroen DS3 Supercars outside of private testing.
Although the final result was marred by a scrappy final, which saw both drivers punted down the order, the lap times and overall consistency point towards positive steps for the season ahead, with both drivers posting competitive times and placing top three finishes in the heats.
Derek Tohill secured positive results in the heats, adjusting well to driving a four-wheel drive turbo charged Supercar class vehicle, compared to the two-liter naturally aspirated Touring Car class vehicle that took him to two European titles.
“Even when you compare Saturday and Sunday just by looking at the video footage, it is a different ballgame,” said double European champion Tohill. “The two biggest things for me where to understand the different technique of driving a turbo-charged car, and to get my head around the difference balance of a Touring car compared to a Supercar car.
“Working under high-pressure in a race environment you learn so much more than during testing. It forces you out of your comfort zone and I think that was beginning to show itself when we got second quickest time in the last heat. We were really beginning to head in the right direction, and it’s just unfortunate that we had the incident in the final.