2017 FIA European Rallycross Championship

Latvian semi-final rewarded with seventh overall in Euro RX for Tohill

Posted: November 21, 2017 9:16 AM

Irish rallycross team PFCRX and double FIA European Rallycross TouringCar Champion Derek Tohill qualified for the semi-finals in the ultra-competitive Euro RX Supercar category for the fifth consecutive time in 2017, at the season finale in Latvia (September 17).

The result, combined with a season of solid pace and consistently strong finishes, netted the reigning Irish Rallycross Champions seventh overall in the series, the best result ever for the team in the Euro RX Supercar Championship.

Having made the final (top six drivers) in two of the previous four rounds, in Spain and France, the team produced its strongest performance of the year at the circuit on the outskirts of Latvia’s capital city, Riga. Despite constantly changing wet and dry conditions, the Tohill ended the first day seventh overall, and finished a best-ever fourth in Q3 on Sunday morning, in challenging conditions for the 28-car field.

Making it into semi-final two, Tohill ran second in the opening stages and looked set for a second-row start in the final, until a suspension component broke on landing over the circuit’s biggest jump. Losing control of the OlsbergsMSE-built 600 horsepower Ford Fiesta Supercar, Tohill hit an Armco barrier, causing significant damage to the car and forcing retirement.

Racing in front of a sell-out crowd, the team benefited from a number of recent developments to the Fiesta's suspension and brakes, along with knowledge gained from an in-season test at the venue.

PFCRX plans to continue development into the winter period, including competing in the final two rounds of the Irish Rallycross Championship, in a bid to continue its progression up the order with the Fiesta Supercar in the European Championship in 2018.

Derek Tohill | Driver | Ford Fiesta #111

“This season been mission complete really. We wanted to be in the semi-finals last year and the finals this season, and made the semi-finals every time and the final in two rounds. We had the pace to be in the final in the other three rounds too, but like in Latvia this weekend, we just didn’t have that bit of luck in the semi-finals. We’ve been comfortably inside the top ten, and consistently in the top six, so the focus is for sure on getting podiums next year.

The target in Latvia was to qualify on the front row of the semis, that would have been the ultimate weekend, so to be on the second row was a good start, and we were quickly up to second in the race. Those are the sort of places we are expecting to be in now. It’s very, very positive for the future, and we have lots to do over the winter to keep moving forwards. We have some new parts on the car that we are not fully up to speed with yet.

The retirement from the semi-final was a shame, a bad landing over the jump broke the hub. There’s quite a lot of damage to the car, so we’ll assess it and see whether we’re going to race the Supercar or TouringCar at the next event at Mondello.

I must say a huge thank you to the whole team, the lads all work so hard for this, and a special thanks to CSport, Mountune, OlsbergsMSE, all of our sponsors, supporters and fans.”

Tohill equals best-ever International Supercar result in France

Posted: September 7, 2017 9:53 AM

Multiple European and Irish Rallycross Champion Derek Tohill and the PFCRX team equalled their best-ever finish in the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercar at Loheac in France, finishing fifth overall in a 35-strong field, in front of 75,000 spectators (September 3).

The team’s event got off to a difficult start that resulted in limited Free Practice running, but Tohill won his opening two races of the weekend at the wheel of the Olsbergs MSE-built Ford Fiesta Supercar. Thanks to consistently strong times on the opening day of competition on Saturday, held in hot dry conditions, Tohill lay fifth overall after Q3.

Day two brought a heavy downfall, but with substantial experience of competing in wet conditions, the PFCRX squad qualified seventh in the Intermediate Classification to maintain a 100% semi-final qualifying record in Euro RX this season.

Starting from the middle of the grid for semi-final one, Tohill made a good start and finished the race in third, despite struggling with understeer in the 600 horsepower four-wheel drive car, to make it into the final for the second occasion in 2017.

The wet conditions and resulting standing water didn’t improve by the time the six-lap final began, and despite challenging championship leader Anton Marklund during the race, the squad settled for bringing the car home in a strong fifth position, equalling the previous best result scored in Barcelona, back in April.

The points haul moves Tohill up to seventh in the standings, with the final round of the series set to take place in Latvia in two weeks’ time. The PFCRX team has already been testing at the Riga circuit this season and for the Latvian event the Fiesta Supercar is expected to have upgrades to the braking system and suspension ahead of a winter of continued development and preparation for 2018.

Derek Tohill | Driver | Ford Fiesta #111

“I think we definitely had the least amount of practice laps of any competitor this weekend. We started off on the back foot but we got back on track and pace was really good in the dry, and it was great to win our first two qualifying races. In Q3 we finished second but then (Jerome) Grosset-Janin was disqualified so we effectively won our first three races.

We knew the rain was coming and we looked forward to that. The track conditions got worse through the day and I don’t think we moved quick enough with the conditions, but it was great to finish third in the semi-finals and be on the coat tails of (Anton) Marklund in the final. We were pushing hard, things were getting a bit lairy, so we decided to just bring it home for a good result.

The places you really want to have good results are here or in Holjes (Sweden), so to make the final in front of the massive crowds, to have won so many races and to get a lot of compliments is good for team morale. It’s an epic event. That’s what this is all about – coming to big events and carving out good results.

We’re moving in the right direction, we’re putting pressure on the top three or four in Euro RX now and the lap times are getting closer and closer. That’s great, we just need to work hard over the winter and try to end the season with a good result in Latvia. We’ve got new parts for the car coming for Riga, where we already have good information from the test we did there earlier in the year.”

Tohill sets top-three times en route to semi-finals in Sweden

Posted: July 4, 2017 8:18 AM

Irish Rallycross Champion Derek Tohill and the PFCRX team continued its run of strong 2017 performances in the highlight event of the international season at Holjes in Sweden, by setting top-three times and qualifying for the semi-finals (July 2).

Racing the squad’s 600bhp Ford Fiesta Supercar, double FIA European Champion Tohill finished the first day of action at ‘The Magic Weekend’ seventh overall, thanks a pair of consistent times in Q1 and Q2.

Chances of a good result took a hit after contact with fellow Irish driver Ollie O’Donovan in Q3 that resulted in a spin, but the team struck back in Q4 with third fastest time against some of the best drivers and teams in the sport to qualify for the semi-finals.

At the event considered to be the Holy Grail of rallycross, where Tohill has previously claimed victory in the FIA European TouringCar Championship, rain fell on the 41,000 spectators just before the semi-finals.

Starting on the third row of the gird, the challenging conditions made it difficult to move up the order and Tohill finished sixth on track and 11th overall in the event, maintaining his run of 2017 top-12 finishes.

With the pace of the Fiesta improving with every event, the PFCRX team leaves Sweden confident of strong pace in its next appearances – the British and Irish joint event later this month (July 22 – 23) at Mondello Park and the next round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Loheac in France (September 2 – 3).

Derek Tohill | Driver | Ford Fiesta #111

“Bravery and consistency are really rewarded at Holjes. We were very consistent until Q3, we were on target for a good time and then had coming together with Ollie. We both lost out, we spun and ended up with an awful time.

Pressure was on in the Q4 to get a good time, to get us back into the semis and we went third quickest, only just shy of being fastest by a second or so. It was very close. We made it into the semi-finals but still on the back row, and that’s our problem.

Now we’re in the semi-finals consistently, we need to be starting on the middle row to give ourselves the best chance. Being on the back row leaves you too much to do. The car didn’t seem to work quite as well in the rain; it was really slippery and I was struggling in the slow corners.

The team did an amazing job this weekend and the car didn’t let me down once. We are really moving forward in almost every area and we’ve a couple of things in the pipeline that we’re looking forward to testing at Mondello Park in a few weeks.

A lot of the locals had tested at Holjes, but Mondello is similar to Loheac so we hope to hit the ground running there for the next Euro RX round. I’m really looking forward to the next events.”

Tohill escapes Hell with solid points haul

Posted: June 15, 2017 1:59 PM

Double FIA European Rallycross Champion Derek Tohill finished tenth in the second round of the Euro RX Supercar Championship at Hell in Norway to further strengthen his position in the Championship standings (June 11).

The Dublin-based Irishman entered the event on the back of his best ever international Supercar finish at the opening round of the Championship in Barcelona, but knew the 32-car field would provide tough opposition in Hell, a circuit that hasn’t previously suited the PFCRX team.

Consistently mixing it with the fastest car and driver combinations in the Championship throughout the event, Tohill set a best time of sixth in Q2, when the track was at its trickiest stage in a transitional period between wet and drying surfaces.

Despite feeling the optimum setup wasn’t utilised for the drying conditions of Q3 on Sunday morning, the result after Q4 was tenth overall and a place in the semi-finals, in part due to further lessons learnt on which direction to take the 600 horsepower Ford Fiesta Supercar at a recent test in Latvia.

Having made it into the semi-finals but knowing he needed a top-three finish to qualify for the final, Tohill attempted an early overtake on another car but the door was closed and the Fiesta Supercar hit a kerb, puncturing the front-left tyre and putting the Irishman out of the race.

Regardless, the squad were classified tenth overall and equal seventh in the championship standings.

The team remains in Scandinavia for its next event, round three of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Holjes in Sweden (June 30 – July 2).

Derek Tohill | Driver | Ford Fiesta #111

“To get a top 10 finish at what I’d call our bogey track is great. It was always going to be damage limitation here, there are a lot of Norwegian drivers in Euro RX that are on home turf, and this is always a tough event for me. That’s great, because next up is Sweden, France and Latvia and we love all three. We’ve gained in the Championship too, so there are lots of positives to take from the weekend.

If we found a couple of tenths per lap, I think we’d be consistently in the top six, so we just need to find a couple of tenths and its game on. With such a big and strong entry, the first objective is to make the semi-finals, and in 10th we did that. We tried a brave move in the semi-final to make a few positions and try to get to the final, but it didn’t work - that’s rallycross.

The lads have worked really hard before the event and all weekend, they’ve done an amazing job. We’re all still learning, it’s only our second year running the Supercar with our own team so there’s a lot more to come. We need to work on making some better starts, which kind of let us down today, and put us on the back foot when normally that is a strong point of ours, so we’ll work on that over the next couple of weeks and look forward to Sweden, which for us is the holy grail of rallycross.”

Best ever Supercar result for Tohill in Spain

Posted: April 5, 2017 9:48 AM

Ireland's most successful rallycross driver ever, Derek Tohill, achieved a career best international Supercar result at the opening round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Barcelona in Spain (April 2).

Tohill's PFCRX team entered the new Euro RX season on the back of significant work in the winter months, which paid dividends through the Catalan weekend.

In the 32-car strong field, Tohill qualified tenth in the Intermediate Classification to earn himself a place in the semi-finals, driving the ex-OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta Supercar, despite two qualifying races where the double European Rallycross TouringCar Champion was forced to take an additional joker lap for jumping the start.

Starting from the third row of the grid in semi-final one, Tohill made a brilliant manoeuvre on Norwegian Alexander Hvaal on lap one to move up to second, and pushed hard to finish third and earn his first ever Euro RX Supercar final start.

The reigning Irish Rallycross Champion made a great start in the final to move around the outside of the pack and climb to fourth, and pushed hard through the race to end up fifth overall, after the joker laps had played out in a condensed fight for the final podium spot.

The result stands the team in solid stead for a strong season, and is assessing competing in other events before the next round of the Championship, in Norway.

Derek Tohill | Driver | Ford Fiesta #111

"We had really strong pace all weekend, even with doing more joker laps than anyone else. If we had started on the front or middle row of the semi-final – who knows where we would have been.

From being 20th after Q1, finishing fifth is a fantastic result. The pace is there. We burst a power steering pipe in the semi-final and were nursing the car home through the final. To be on the back bumper of a podium with that issue was great.

Everyone did the 500 little things right and it all came together in the end. There's lot more to come, but this is a really good start to the championship. I feel if anything we under-performed, so that bodes well for the season.

I've looked up to European Championship Supercar all my life so to be knocking on the door for a podium is just great. To have two Irish drivers in the main final was amazing. When Ollie O'Donovan and I were running first and second in the semi-final I almost had to almost pinch myself in the car.

It's so much more enjoyable to race with such good drivers in the final. That's where we want to be, racing hard and fair at the front with good professional drivers. We're in a much improved place this year. I'm looking forward to the next events at some brilliant tracks.

I must say a huge thanks to all of our own team, with some new additions this weekend, especially from C-Sport, plus Mountune and OlsbergsMSE for their support, which was a brilliant help."

Barcelona Final Result:

1 Anton Marklund (SWE)
2 Tamas Pal Kiss (HUN)
3 Ollie O'Donovan (IRL)
4 Rene Munnich (GER)
5 Derek Tohill (IRL)
6 Alexander Hvaal (NOR)

Double Champion Tohill embarks on seventh Euro RX season in Spain

Posted: April 1, 2017 6:32 AM

Two-time Euro RX Champion Derek Tohill will embark on his seventh FIA European Rallycross Championship campaign this weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain (April 1 - 2).

The PFCRX driver joins a 32-strong field for his second full season at the top level in European Rallycross, Supercar, racing the squad's OlsbergsMSE-built 600 horsepower, four-wheel drive Ford Fiesta.

Having contested a full year in 2016, which included claiming the Irish Rallycross Championship title, the Dublin-based PFCRX squad has built on lessons learnt in its inaugural campaign and began the defence of its Irish crown with a pair of victories earlier this year.

Those outings also helped the team to fine-tune the Fiesta Supercar, working on new developments implemented over the winter months, meaning it enters the opening round of the European season in a stronger position than twelve months ago.

Thanks to the support of new and existing partners, Tohill and the team start the campaign ready to take on the five-round series, where each of the events in Spain, Norway, Sweden, France and Latvia are held on circuits that the squad has prior experience of, either in the current Fiesta Supercar or double-title winning rear-wheel drive Fiesta TouringCar.

Keep up to date with the event this weekend via the live timing facility on the FIA World Rallycross Championship

www.fiaworldrallycross.com

Derek Tohill | Driver | Ford Fiesta #111

"We're on the front foot rather than being on the back foot this year because we've been to this circuit before and have some on-board footage we could use prior to the event.

I feel ahead of the game before we've even started this year in that respect. All other things being equal, we're in a better place, even if we'd done nothing to the car. We've been working hard on the car though as well, but the pace that the cars are being worked on in this championship is very high. We've done our best and we will see what the weekends brings.

We have some new guys in the team and additional support, so we're trying to be more structured and more organised to get the 500 little things right that make for an enjoyable and successful weekend for everyone.

It's extra difficult to make the semi-finals (top 12 after qualifying) with this entry but we'll just concentrate on ourselves and do our best. The team has done a good job and I'll just focus on the driving side myself. We have to be as picture perfect as possible to fight with the big list of European and National Champions competing this season.

There's a lot of people working behind the scenes in different ways to make this happen; partners, sponsorship, technical support and of course my family. Many of these are long term relationships and we will continue to work hard to give everyone the best possible value from this championship, which is reaching dizzy levels in its marketing prowess."