Derek getting to grips with Norwegian soil
As the lights turned green for the A Final, Tohill made yet another blistering start and passed nearly the whole field down to the first corner. The Irishman took the joker lap first ensuring he stayed out of trouble and got in some quick opening laps. Tohill was a close second to Norways local favourite Lars Enerberg when he took his joker lap. Tohill followed Enerberg closely keeping a full grid of Norwegains behind him including Norwegian Championship leader Ole Habjorg in his BMW 1 series.
Tohill dug deep and finished 2nd overall ensuring the tricolour was raised in Norway
Round 5, Sweden, Höljesbanan, Höljes, Sweden July 1st – 3rd 2011
The weekend in Sweden began with a torrential downpour of rain
But as a very wet Heat 1 began, it may as well have ended at the same moment. The wipers on the Irishmans Ford Fiesta failed after turn one, this was a symptom caused by queuing in the rain for scrutiny for 3 hours the previous day. Tohill just managed to get the car home in one piece but was only 19th out of the 24 cars.
This put the Irishman in the very first heat on Sunday morning, this was far from ideal as the Tohill would have to clean the wet and regraded gravel sections. But, suprisingly he still managed to post a 4th quickest time which was a step in the right direction. The third heat Tohill got held up in traffic while trying to make progress on a damp track, this meant the Irishman only managed to post 8th fastest time which led to a qualification again on pole position for the B Final.
Tohill pressing hard over the jumps at Holjes, Sweden
The Irishman was confident of winning the B Final and qualifying onto the back of the A Final. The Fiesta had been producing too much wheel spin all weekend on a damp track but the dry B Final led to the Fiesta bogging down at the start and Tohill lost some positions off the line. While the Irishman was trying to make up some lost ground he sustained 2 punctures which eventually ended the Tohill’s weekend with a retrement and 11th overall.
This is how it looked on board the Fiesta in the rain with no wipers working, the team nover really recovered from this 1st heat drama
A disappointed Tohill commented afterwards “We had a roller coaster up here in Scandinavia, a lot of traveling and a lot of hard work gave us some very mixed results. A bit of bad luck in Sweden didn’t help. We must continue to improve both myself, the team and the car. The hard work will eventaully bear fruit. But, for the moment we must be patient and not loose faith. I am happy to look towards part two of the championship and hope that we can improve in the areas where we are weak. I look forward to Belgium & Holland which are closer to home and two circuits I have driven on before.”
A Final Results Norway:
1. Lars Øivind Enerberg – Norway – Ford Fiesta ST RWD
2. Derek Tohill – Ireland – Ford Fiesta MK.7 RWD
3. Ole Håbjørg – Norway – BMW 1 Series E87 RWD
4. Vegar Åslund – Norway – Ford Fiesta MK.7 RWD
5. Henning Nyberg - Norway - Ford Fiesta ST RWD
6. Per Magnes Royras – Norway – Peugeot 206 RWD
A Final Results Sweden:
1. Lars Øivind Enerberg – Norway – Ford Fiesta ST RWD
2. Ole Håbjørg – Norway – BMW 1 Series E87 RWD
3. Anton Marklund – Sweden - Ford Fiesta MK.7 RWD
4. John “Pirkka” Karlsson – Norway - Mazda RX8 RWD
5. Roman Častoral - Czech - Opel Asta OPC RWD
6. Per Magnes Røyrås – Norway – Peugeot 206 RWD
11. Derek Tohill – Ireland – Ford Fiesta MK.7 RWD
Championship Standings after 5 of 10 Rounds:
1. Lars Enerberg – Norway – Ford Fiesta ST RWD – 80 Points
2. Koen Pauwels – Belgium – Ford Fiesta MK.7 RWD – 57 Points
3. Derek Tohill – Ireland – Ford Fiesta MK.7 RWD - 56 Points
4. Roman Castoral – Czech Republic – Opel Astra OPC RWD - 54 Points
5. Per Magne Røyrås - Norway - Peugeot 206 RWD - 50 Points
6. David Nordgard – Norway – Ford Focus MK.2 RWD - 41 Points
For further information and more pictures please contact:
Rallycross Rebels Press: info@rmf.ie
Pictures attached (Copyright Free, courtesy of www.rallycrossworld.com & Johnny Loix)
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