Four Different Winners Mix it up in Wales

After a 13 week break it was a hot and sunny weekend in South Wales that welcomed Retro Rallycross to Pembrey Circuit for Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2021 Championship.

In the Retro Rallycross category series leader Terry Moore, was joined by Tony Lynch, Steve Cozens, Rob Buckmaster, Simon Hart and Paul Smith, who was making a much-welcomed return.

Steve Cozens dominated throughout day one, to make it a clean sweep ahead of his nearest rivals, Tony Lynch and Terry Moore. Lynch stayed on the hunt, taking second position behind Cozens in the heats.

The front row of the final consisted of Steve Cozens on pole, with Tony Lynch and Rob Buckmaster alongside. It was Lynch who made the best start, taking the lead only to be caught out by the recently watered surface causing him to spin off, allowing Cozens, Moore, Buckmaster and Hart to overtake. Despite making up ground quite quickly Lynch could do nothing to stop Cozens taking the win.

Behind, a battle between Buckmaster and Hart was taking place for the fourth position when the Escort suddenly pulled off failing to finish the race that ended with Paul Smith bringing up the rear.

‘’I was racing against Rob (buckmaster) for fourth, when on the second from last lap I lost a cylinder’’ said Hart ‘’not knowing for sure what the problem was I backed off on the straight allowing Paul Smith to come past. I turned off the track and on investigation found that it wasn’t an engine mechanical issue but that of a carburettor venturi stopping fuel to a single cylinder. I was able to fix it to be ready to take part in the next day’s racing.’’

The Super Retro category started off strong with seasoned rallycross racer Alan Tapscott making his debut in a MK2 Ford Escort that he had specifically built for use in the Retro Rallycross Championship. He was immediately on the pace putting in a clear challenge to Barry Stewart, finishing close behind the Porsche on the first and third qualifiers. John Cross, Ray Morgan Vince Bristow and Nigel Davey made up the grid, with Cross having to retire in the third heats with gearbox problems.

Barry Stewart had secured pole position in his Porsche, joined on the front row by Alan Tapscott. It was Stewart who got away first but not by much with Tapscott making his best move on the second lap coming alongside to challenge the race leader, failing to make the move allowed the BMW of Vince Bristow to take the advantage and move up into second place, with Davey and Morgan applying pressure from behind. Barry Stewart was able to hold on to the lead to take the flag but with only a small margin separating the group, followed by Bristow, Tapscott, Davey and Morgan.

The following day and round 4, told a different story altogether in the Retro Rallycross category with Tony Lynch taking the win in the first qualifier, Steve Cozens dominating once again in the following two heats leading up to the final. Missing from the mix was Mini man Terry Moore who had retired at the end of the first day having sustained damage to his car bringing his race weekend to a close. Failing to score points in the second heat put Lynch on the back row in the final which he shared with Paul Smith. Cozens had done enough to secure pole with Hart and Buckmaster alongside.

As the lights changed to green it was the MR2 that made the best start in the final, Lynch literally launch off the line, powering through to take the lead by the first corner. Buckmaster held on to third place in his Fiesta, until a spin on the second lap saw him give the place away to Paul Smith in the VW Polo.

The battle at the front was one of the most exciting races we have seen in a while, but Lynch proved too much for Cozens who, despite several efforts, had to settle for second place with Paul Smith finishing third. It wasn’t all over at the rear though, Hart and Buckmaster were having a familiar scrap for the final two placings with Hart coming in fourth followed by Buckmaster who brought up the rear.

A beaming Tony Lynch couldn’t have been happier with the win. ‘’ultimately the weekend was a great success for Landsail Team Geriatric with a third place and a win, but it wasn’t without its woes.  Sunday was a big learning curve, and a lot of hard work went in to our new AVO suspension set-up, with Paul Waldron Motorsport on hand to help with set up. In the Final, I had a great start and took the lead but made a mistake on the freshly watered track and lost the lead but managed to fight back to third place. That mistake helped us to decide what set-up we had on the car for Monday. On Monday we started well. We had a bit of a setback in the next heats which left us at the back of the pack for the final.  We came back strong in the final after a race-long battle to secure our first win of the season. Thank you to all my team and sponsors for continuing to support us and I hope I have made them proud.’’

The Super Retro’s saw a change in order too with Ray Morgan putting in a stronger challenge in the heats, getting ever closer to the rear of the Porsche of Barry Stewart which put him on the front row for the final.

It was Stewart who got away first and looked like he was about to take his second win of the weekend, his lead was short lived as a determined Morgan made a superb move to get ahead following a mistake by Stewart, that also saw lost him another two places with Tapscott and Bristow demoting the Porsche to last position. Recovering his pace Stewart made an easy pass on Bristow who kept up the pressure to the end of the race. Unable to move closer to the leading pair Stewart held on to third, with Morgan taking the win ahead of Tapscott.

‘’I was delighted to be back on the top of the podium after the disappointment of being last the day before’’ said Morgan. ‘’I couldn’t see where I was going in the dust. It was difficult to overtake Barry, but he made one small mistake and luckily, I managed to capitalise on it and hold off a very determined Alan Tapscott in his immaculate MK2 Escort. I’m looking forward to getting out again for round 5 at Knockhill.’’

The next round takes place at Knockhill on 25/26 September