Wigan racer Tony Lynch endured a weekend of frustration as the MSA British Rallycross Championship in association with the Shannon Group headed to Lydden Hill for the penultimate round of the year.

Tony made the long journey south hoping to bounce back from the disappointment of a tough weekend at Pembrey during round six.

There, a gearbox problem had prevented Tony from qualifying for the final with his team - Lucas Oil Team Geriatric - working hard in the weeks that followed to resolve the problems he had faced.

With the gearbox fully repaired Tony was hoping to return to the kind of form that saw him take victory in the Super National class at Mondello Park earlier in the year.

Things started well despite challenging conditions on track with Tony taking third place in the opening heat. Unfortunately it would prove to be the high point of a tough race day, with a puncture then hitting his hopes in heat two.

Unbeknown to the team, the puncture had caused further stresses to the wheel studs which then sheared in heat three - putting Tony out on the spot.

Only able to qualify for the B final as a result Tony’s weekend then ended on a low when he was unable to qualify for the main final.

“It’s very frustrating again because the weekend promised a lot but failed to deliver,” he said. "The boys had worked hard to get the car ready for the weekend so for it to go the way it did was a huge disappointment.

"Clearly we wanted more from the weekend but there are positives that we can take away from it, most notably the performance in heat one when I wasn’t pushing too hard because of how tricky it was on track.

"That result shows the potential that there is in the MINI and I’m confident that we will start realising it on a regular basis before too long.

“Hopefully our bad luck is firmly behind us and now will look to regroup in time for the final round and aim to end the year on a high.”

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