Important Points Haul as Season Draws to a Close

Lydden Hill always draws a big entry, and the 2019 edition was no different - with over 90 entries including visiting drivers from Norway, Germany, Belgium and Holland, British Championship contenders as well as the British and Irish Regulars. Key for the team though, was ensuring a significant points haul to take them into the last round of the championship still in the title hunt.

Heading out onto a damp track for practice, Todd was keen to try out some updates and set up changes made over the short summer break. It was clear from early on that the modifications had improved the car - despite a short 3 lap session with only 1 flying lap, the timing screens showed a top 3 overall lap time. 

For Heat 1 Todd started on pole, with the fast starting Volvo 242 of Kenneth Kristiansen along side. Beaten to the first corner by the Norwegeian and the Escort Cosworth of Belgian driver Ludo Hermans, Todd used an early joker lap to his advantage and taking advantage of a clear track found himself at the front at the start of the last lap. Turning into Paddock Bend the Mini suffered a puncture, resulting in a messy run to the line, dropping only 1 spot on track, but 2 spots in the overall standings, Todd finished seventh.

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Heat 2 Todd started from the back of the grid. Close fighting in the early stages gave Todd reason to once again dive for the Joker Lap early on. A driver error while coming over the jump to rejoin the main circuit resulted in driveshaft failure and a DNF. The team had a chance to fit the new uprated driveshafts to the car once the Mini returned to the paddock, having ran on standard parts up till this point in the day.

On the way to the grid for Heat 3, the team encountered a problem with the power steering and not wanting to get a 0 score in another heat, headed out anyway. The Mini is a handful with the hydraulic assist, so without it Todd struggled round, battling with the fellow Mini driver Leigh-Anne Sedgewick to 15th overall. Not a full demonstration of what the car and driver can achieve - but good enough to secure a front row start for the B final.

A close race with the Belgian driver Raf Verheyen in the B final resulted in second place and a ticket to start the A final from the back row. The back to back races and the warm south coast weather had taken its toll on the race car, with the residual heat creeping up, Todd battled up through the multinational field and brought the car home 7th overall, but importantly 3rd points scorer. 
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“Another challenging weekend for us and the team,” Remarked Todd. “But as usual, it all came good in the end, with a decent result and serious points, keeping us in championship contention. Every round is a learning curve for the team, finding teething issues with the new car - we never thought we’d even be in contention before round 1, so coming into the final round in the hunt for the title is a real delight”

The team would like to extend our thanks to the marshalls, organisers at LHMC and the BTRDA, Trev Coulson for the pictures and all our sponsors; Link ECU, ITG Air Filters, Woodford Trailers, Motul, Witham Motorsport, MJ Windscreens, Equip Rasen and Muk Junkie Cleaner.

Our next race event at the Scottish circuit of Knockhill, near Dunfermline as the last round of the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship on Sunday the 20th of October. The latest episode of our mini vlog series, Tracks With Todd,  is now live on our facebook and youtube channels, this time featuring a tour of the Lydden Hill Circuit.