Former European and Irish rallycross champion Derek Tohill and the PFCRX team travelled to the picturesque Knockhill circuit in Scotland for the very first time and came away with a commanding victory in round five of the British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy to remain in title contention.
As one of only three drivers in the Supercar field never to have raced at Knockhill previously, Derek had to learn fast on Saturday in qualifying during round four, but secured a front row start for the semi-finals with third overall. He and the OlsbergsMSE-built, C-Sport run Ford Fiesta Supercar then survived a high-speed spin after contact with a tyre wall in the semi-finals. This put him on the back foot for the final, but thanks to a fast pace he was able to climb to finish fourth.
On Sunday Derek was fastest in Q1 and Q2 and in the very last race of the weekend, the Dublin driver led from the front, took his compulsory joker lap late in the race and stormed to a second victory of the 5 Nations BRX season.
Derek Tohill commented, “This win was achieved in the workshop and on the test track, it’s a real team result. Hopefully that will make for an awesome championship battle come the last round of the season at Spa. It’s a really tough, hard championship, the pace at the front is very fast and to win an event never mind the championship is hard fought.”
The result puts the four-time Irish Rallycross Champion 10 points off the lead of the British series lead, with events at Lydden Hill (England) and Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) remaining on the 2021 schedule. The PFCRX squad’s next event will be back home at Mondello Park (Ireland) on October 30-31st.