Summary - Derek Tohill in the 2008 FIA European Rallycross Championship

Summary of Derek Tohill's inaugural year in the 2008 FIA European Rallycross Championship

Posted: November 10, 2008 2:53 PM

The 2008 FIA European Rallycross Championship (ERC) consisted of 11 rounds across 11 different countries throughout Europe. Derek Tohill (Dublin, Ireland) competed in Division 2 in a full ERC campaign driving his newly acquired Honda Civic Type R. Tohill would be going head to head with current European champion Tomas Kotek and previous European champion Roman Castoral, both drivers from the Czech Republic. The complete car, engine and gearbox were all fully re-built in readiness for a gruelling season which began at Portugal in May and ended at Germany in September.
Below is a brief synopsis of each race:

May 3-4
Eurocircuito de Lousada
Lousada
Portugal

Position 4th Overall
Round 1 in Portugal was where Tohill’s dreams were released when he started in his first round of the ERC. The Honda and Tohill improved steadily throughout their first event. The Irish driver improved in each heat to move from 5th quickest to 4th quickest to 3rd quickest. Tohill made a superb start to run in 2nd place after the first corner. Suspension problems during the A final slowed Tohill’s progress slightly. He remained in 2nd position until the last lap when local ace Luis Monteiro and Roman Castoral both passed the Irishman on the exit of the joker lap in the final lap. This was an impressive result in Tohill’s ERC debut beating off many series regulars and coming so close to a podium position. Tomas Kotek took victory.

May 10-11 Circuit de Kerlabo Cohiniac France
Position 19th Overall
Round 2 in France was the following weekend. The front dampers on the Honda were sent back to Sweden for repairs and the Rallycross Rebels team was looking to build on their result in Portugal. Heat 1 saw Tohill take a commanding race win in the rain. Heat 2 Tohill lead comfortably twice, only for the race to be red flagged both times. The 3rd start Tohill broke a driveshaft resulting in a DNF. This meant Tohill would need a result in the 3rd heat. Tohill grabbed the lead only for leading French driver Julien Debin to take the Irishman out of the race. Debin was excluded, this was of little consolation to Tohill who needed 2 heat results to qualify for a final. No final, no points. Tomas Kotek took victory.

May 31-June 1 Nyirádi Motorsport Centrum Nyirád Hungary
Position 4th Overall
Round 3 in Hungary was on a very fast circuit which would require big commitment. This seemed to suit Tohill on paper but the Honda was to let the team down from the very first qualifying session. Tohill had no power steering, the power steering ECU had failed and the team had no spare. This problem was compounded with temperatures of over 40 degrees. Tohill had to do things the hard way and battle through the B final. A stunning drive in the B final meant Tohill left the field in his wake. This meant Tohill started at the back row of the A final. By the final lap Tohill was up to 3rd position only to loose out on the joker lap in the final lap. 4th place and badly blistered hands was damage limitation for Tohill’s championship. Roman Castoral took victory. Tohill also made is debut on live TV doing a cameo with legendary Irish commentator Leo Nulty.

June 7-8 PS Racing Center Greinbach Austria
Position 5th Overall
Round 4 in Austria started well and Tohill was in the mix again thanks to a Honda dealer in Graz who supplied a new ECU for the power steering. Tohill was 2nd quickest after the first heat on day one ahead of ERC champion Tomas Kotek. Sunday the rain arrived and track conditions were extremely tricky. The Irishman qualified straight through to the A final starting from row 2. A blistering start saw Tohill settle in behind Roman Castoral. Tomas Kotek took a lunge at Tohill, attempting to spin Tohill out of the race. Tohill pulled the Honda back from some acute angles only to be tagged by Lithuanian Martynas Padgurskis who was coming through from behind. Tohill climbed back up to 5th place and earned some valuable championship points. A disappointing end to a weekend where Tohill showed he had the pace to beat the best in Europe.
Roman Castoral took victory.

June 28-29 Momarken Bilbane Momarken Norway
Position 6th Overall
Round 5 in Norway would be the long awaited trip to Scandinavia. The team arrived on Thursday full of confidence after realising their pace in Austria. Tohill carried this momentum forward by setting 2nd quickest time in qualifying. Tohill was really beginning to show he could match anyone when the car performed. Lack of track knowledge was turning out to be Tohill’s trump card. Nobody was expecting the Irish driver to be quick early in the weekend as every circuit was new for the Irishman. Tohill drove some spectacular heats in Norway having some heated exchanges with European champion Kotek on his way to a second row start in the A final. Tohill made a superb start in the A final and took an early lead. This was short lived as Tohill was again attacked from behind by Swede Peter Lundmark. This left the Honda with terminal damage and Tohill limped home in 6th place. A disappointing end to the weekend but Tohill had now led his first A final in ERC competition. Tomas Kotek took victory.

July 5-6 Höljesbanan Höljes Sweden
Position 10th Overall
Round 6 visited the Holy Grail of Rallycross, Holjes in Sweden! Extensive work had to be carried out on the Honda after the A final the previous weekend in Norway. The Rallycross rebels team and Tohill stayed the week in Sweden to carry out repairs. The team did a superb job and the car was ready to tackle the roller coaster circuit in Holjes. This circuit is all about the driver with no main straight. It’s full of jumps, off camber bends and high speed banking! Tohill rewarded the team’s hard work and relived his dream by taking a strong victory in heat 1 on Saturday.

Sunday morning was a different ball game, Tohill retired from the second heat with gear selection problems. This was a sign of things to come. The Irishman drove a controlled 3rd heat to finish second but this was without 2nd gear! The team could not repair this problem in time before the final. Tohill qualified on pole position for the B final. The start would be difficult as Tohill would have to go from 1st to 3rd gear. The Irishman didn’t let this slow him and he took the lead. On the second lap Tohill lost 3rd gear and the following lap 4th gear expired. Tohill limped home in 10th place. This was another disappointing end to a promising weekend. Tomas Kotek took victory after Roman Castoral was black flagged.

August 9-10 Duivelsbergcircuit Maasmechelen Belgium
Position 4th Overall
Round 7 was the first of the two Benelux meetings. The Rallycross rebels team were uncertain of their attendance at these events as the team spent all their time trying to source new gearbox parts. Parts could not be manufactured until September, which was too late. The team ordered a new gearbox from a different manufacturer who planed to supply the gearbox before round 9 in the Czech Republic. A decision was taken to run a standard gearbox for both Belgium & Holland.

The makeshift gearbox started well with a 3rd fastest time in qualifying behind Castoral & Kotek. But gearing difficulties off the start line meant Tohill felt it was better to start off in 2nd gear. Tohill made a great start in 2nd gear from the second row of the A final. Tohill was up to third by the end of the first lap. On the last lap Tohill was cruelly just piped for third position, finishing 4th overall. This was a great result with a standard gearbox but the team couldn’t help but feel robbed of their first podium. Castoral took victory.

August 16-17 Eurocircuit Valkenswaard Netherlands
Position 3rd Overall
Round 8 took place at Eindhoven in Holland. Tohill’s pace was off in the first heat on Saturday. A 10th place gave the Irishman and his team something to think about. The team set about a radical change in set up on Saturday night. The results were excellent with Tohill going 2nd quickest in the heat on Sunday morning. He would now need a solid result in the third heat. Tohill delivered with a win to put the Honda driver straight through to the A final. Again, starting from the second row alongside Ondrej Smetana, Tohill started in second gear and made a great start. He pulled away from local drivers Marcel Snoeijers & Dick Krijger to claim his first podium in European Rallycross behind former champions Kotek & Castoral. This was a notable result as Tohill had done this with a standard gearbox when the car clearly wasn’t at its best. It was made all the more special as the event was attended by many family members, friends and notably Irish Rallycross legend Dermot Carnegie.

September 6-7 Autodrom Èeská Lípa Sosnová Czech Republic
Position 4th Overall
Round 9 was held in Ceska Lipa in Czech Republic. The new dogbox arrived at the circuit on Friday evening. The Rallycross rebels team set about fitting the new gearbox to the Honda; this was completed just before scrutiny finished at 7.00pm on Friday evening. Saturday morning was going to be tough as all of Tohill’s main championship compatriots would be competing on their home track. Tohill didn’t need much time to learn his way around here and shocked his opponents with his new gearbox in timed qualifying. The Irishman shadowing European champion Tomas Kotek by only 0.07s. The new gearbox would allow Tohill fight at the front again. That’s exactly how the heats went with Tohill putting in great drives sitting on the rear bumper of Roman Castoral. The Czech drivers frustrations were clear after each heat as Tohill had him under enormous pressure. Tohill made another customary strong start from the second row and fought Kotek for the lead around the outside into the first corner. Tohill eventually settling for second only to be pushed wide by Castoral at the next corner. This dropped Tohill back to 4th place. The Irishman caught back up to Smetana but just ran out of laps to make a pass. It was clear Tohill’s pace was now really beginning to rattle his more experienced rivals. Kotek took victory at home.

September 13-14 Tor S³omczyn S³omczyn Poland
Position 1st Overall
Round 10 was held in Slomzyn in Poland, a record crowd was predicted with the appearance of former World Rally Champion driver Marcus Gronholm. Local Polish driver Lukasz Tyszkiewicz surprised the ERC regulars with fastest time in the first heat. This proved the technical nature of this venue. Tohill got to grips slowly with this low grip circuit. A few hints in the hotel on Saturday night from Marcus Gronholm would steer Tohill in the right direction for Sunday. Tohill overcame local hero Tyszkiewicz in the first heat on Sunday morning to take a strong heat win. As the lights went out at the start of the A final Tohill made a blistering start from row 2 and braved things around the outside of the first corner. Castoral had to win to keep his European championship alive but Tohill was in determined mood and fought back hard. Once the Irishman took the lead he never looked back. This entered the Irishman into the history books as he became the first Irish driver to win a round of the FIA European Rallycross championship in any class. One wonders what Gronholm told him on Saturday night!

Link to Derek’s Victory:
http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/6003/european-rallycross-2008-poland-tohill-wins-division-2
Link to Derek’s Post Race Celebrations:
http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/6084/derek-tohill-wins-at-erc-poland

October 4-5 Estering Buxtehude Germany
Position 5th Overall
The final round in Germany was all about consolidating Tohill’s 3rd position in the championship. The Irishman had strong support in Germany and his supporters were rewarded with a fastest time in qualifying on Saturday. This left little to do for the team on Saturday night except for the usual checks. Sunday morning was wet but this didn’t affect Tohill in his opening heat on Sunday morning. The Honda driver had a big lead going into his last lap only for the car to suddenly slow. The gearbox had let the Irishman down again. A guaranteed A final front row start had just disappeared. All drive was lost through the transmission and the Honda was towed back to the paddock. The Rallycross Rebels team worked furiously to replace the gearbox with the standard spare before the final. Tohill started the A final from 4th place in second gear, he climbed to 3rd place on lap 2. Lap 2 also saw Tohill get alongside Ondrej Smetana for 2nd place, but then the Honda slowed suddenly. Tohill had lost 3rd gear in the standard gearbox. Tohill dropped back to 5th as he limped home short of gears. Sunday was to be a cruel end to the Irishman’s first ERC campaign. Castoral took victory.

October 25-25 Croft Circuit North Yorkshire England
Position 1st Overall & 1st Overall!
Tohill’s final event in the Honda was an end of year event in the UK known as the Superprix. The Rallycross rebels team worked throughout the night to fit new parts to the damaged gearbox from Germany. It was worth the effort as Tohill won Division 2 in both Saturdays Open Championship & Sundays Superprix.

Tohill commented “It has been such a difficult season I am proud to have just completed a full ERC campaign. The effort that goes into completing a full European season with a self run team is just mind blowing. To take a victory while learning the ropes is what dreams are made off! Nobody can take away from us our win in Poland. We all know there could have been many more podiums and perhaps victories but for me pace was always the most important element. We can build on everything we have learnt this year. The whole team is completely shattered! This will make us stronger for the future, we are a young team with lots of potential. Some day I hope we will be European Champions. I would like to thank all of the Rallycross team and all of our sponsors and supporters. We look forward to a new project for 2009 when we will build a brand new rear wheel drive car. More news will follow soon.”