Oct 2011 Class Win for Lund in France

Glastonbury rally driver Paul Lund has just returned from a second successive class win in the French Tout-Terrain rally championship. Paul was contesting the Dunes et Marais Rally which runs over three days in the south West of France, based at Royan on the French coast, 500 miles from Dieppe.

This event is the biggest rally of the year with 123 starters in all different classes.
Paul, again driving his unique Toyota Rav4 with regular co-driver Ross Gill (Rusper, Sussex) alongside started 10th on the road but Saturday’s stages were really fast, loose and dry and because of the power difference between the big production cars and the Rav they were struggling. By Saturday night however they were leading their class but 7th overall in the production category.

Whilst relishing the end of competition at the end of day one, the pair could hardly consider it a break as they were tending the car themselves as Paul explained: “Because this one is so far South, and also so soon after the last round, we had to look after ourselves this weekend. Thankfully I stayed away from the trees and boulders on day one so we did manage to get something of a rest.”

Sunday’s stages were just as fast, but parts of them were through more ‘technical’ places and woodland which is the kind of terrain that the Toyota and Paul, excel in. By lunchtime they were making good progress up the order in the production class and at the end of the last stage all the competitors in front were waiting nervously by the check point to see their time. It was an impressive result as the pair finished third in the T2 Unlimited Production class and winners of their own division. The spoils of victory included the ubiquitous trophy, some not so ubiquitous prize money and some wine from the region.

Paul said: “This was another good event and, as ever, the welcome was a warm one from the French who appreciate the distance we travel to rally. There were some untoward remarks about England and the Rugby World Cup which I skilfully avoided. I thought it would be best to do the talking on the stages.”

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Paul Lund is something of an accomplished all rounder in motor sports. He is an ex motorcycle champion (winning the 1989 Shell Production championship on a Suzuki GSX-R1100) and has won races in several saloon car championships. Prior to being the most successful driver in the 2007 Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup (a feeder series to the British Touring Car Championship) his most recent four wheel outings have been in the BRSCC Alfa Romeo Championship and the occasional short oval race.

By trade Paul is a specialist in providing first class corporate clothing signage for businesses as well as full livery for race teams.

Paul competes in the production class for cars up to 2 litres. He says: “The Rav has all the usual bits and pieces – it’s built to FIA rally rules but also has a UK MSA rally log book. It’s got a Blue printed engine that was built by Bob Hawkins at Hawkinsport in Horley, Surrey and has been re-mapped to around 180bhp. Other mods come from Ohlins, race suspension supplied by Aurok, race spec brakes and all the safety stuff like harnesses, extinguisher, and multipoint roll cage again built by Hawkinsport.”

Paul Lund media contact: Richard John Neil Telephone 07887 808711

E-mail rjn@ovaltrack.co.uk

More French Tout-Terrain rally championship

Glastonbury rally driver Paul Lund has just returned from another success in the French Tout-Terrain rally championship. Paul was contesting the Rally de Chasse Maree which is based at Longueville, around 24 kilometres from Dieppe. Paul is no stranger to travelling for his competition but with the proximity to a cross channel port, this one was an event that he particularly did not want to miss.

Paul was competing in his regular Toyota Rav4 which is unique to the French Championship. Consequently the team always receive a warm welcome and a great deal of attention from the French competitors and Rally fans. He was accompanied by his regular co-driver Ross Gill (Rusper, Sussex) and his engineer Mike Rivett from Rivett Autos in Cranleigh (Surrey).

The Tout-Terrain championship boasts a large number of events that have been running for many years but the Chasse Maree is a new event which was only run for the first time in 2010. This year’s running would comprise 12 stages, six each day on Saturday and Sunday.

Sign on and scrutineering took place in Dieppe on Friday evening and afterwards the cars were locked in parc ferme. The production cars are at the front of the running order with Paul starting 5th. By Sunday morning he was leading the class and would start first which had a down side as it had been raining hard all night and he would therefore be the first driver on what where essentially unknown conditions. Sadly the course was in Paul’s words “absolutely atrocious” and he had a big ‘off’ into the woods but did manage to get going again. Luckily, and proof that the conditions were so bad, that stage was cancelled and the Rav pilot was awarded an average time along with the other competitors.

The remainder of the stages were spent fighting for first place with the Jeep Cherokee of French ace Fabien Daigneau and by the last stage Paul was just six seconds behind. As he had been 14 seconds quicker on the same stage last time out he thought all he would have to do would be to take it relatively steadily to win not only the 2 litre class but also the Production division.

Things did not quite go to plan however as the Toyota suffered another crash near the end of the stage and although Paul got going again he had lost time on the Jeep and had to settle for second in the overall Production class but came home as the winner of the 2 litre section.

With some substantial wear and tear over the two days the team are working hard to repair the car for the next Rally which takes place over the second weekend in October. That event sees a little more travelling – some 500 miles from Dieppe!

Paul Lund media contact: Richard John Neil Telephone 07887 808711 E-mail ovaltrack@btitnernet.com

May 2011 Lund Rav'd Up for Rally Return

Sussex racing driver Paul Lund has an all new Toyota Rav 4 ready for his return to the French All-Terrain Rallying Championship next weekend (20/21/22 May). Lund says: “Basically it's the new shape Rav 4. I had to build it after barrel rolling the last one three and a half times in France last December. The old one took us to some success but it was well and truly finished off.” The all new new machine is built to compete in the T2 production class and has seen a lot of work from many different people whom Paul is keen to acknowledge. “I've had a lot of help from Jules Phillips at Aurok who has supplied the Ohlins suspension and has been very patient with me. The point is that nobody has competed with a Rav before so there aren't any ‘on the shelf' parts. Chris Weedon from Barwell Motorsport helped with the Roll Cage. Chris Eva from evalution-designs who specialises in Classic & Motorsport fabrications has made loads of parts for and me, Benn Huntingford from BWH Performance has also fabricated parts and Nick from Blaze Ink has done the wicked printed vehicle wrap. Bardahl race oils will keep us running smoothly across the weekend too.” The Rally is the 36 th Jean De La Fontaine event which is the fourth round (of ten) of the French Off Road Rally championship at Soissons , just east of Paris . The competition is held over 13 stages, seven on Saturday with the remaining six on Sunday covering 127km of special stages and 124km of liaison. Paul is hoping to emulate the success he had on last year's event when he won his class. The stages are mostly on very fast, open farmland but as ever the French organisers like to make sure that ‘All Terrain' is exactly that so there will be plenty of challenging ground to cover that will catch out the less fortunate pilots. Helping Paul through the metaphoric minefield is his regular Navigator Ross Gill who also comes from Rusper in Sussex . Event maintenance and engineering will be looked after by Bob Hawkins from Hawkinsport Race & Rally ( Surrey ). _________________________________________________________

Paul Lund is something of an accomplished all rounder in motor sports. He is an ex motorcycle champion (winning the 1989 Shell Production championship on a Suzuki GSX-R1100) and has won races in several saloon car championships. Prior to being the most successful driver in the 2007 Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup (a feeder series to the British Touring Car Championship) his most recent four wheel outings have been in the BRSCC Alfa Romeo Championship and the occasional short oval race.

By trade Paul is a specialist in providing first class corporate clothing signage for businesses as well as full livery for race teams.

Another Class Win for Lund and the Roadnet Team

For immediate release: Monday 31 st May 2010

Ref 2010-01

Sussex racing driver Paul Lund (Rusper) has opened his 2010 season with a class win in the French Rallye Tout-Terrain Championship at Soissons , just east of Paris this weekend. 

The Rally was the 35 th Jean De La Fontaine event which was the fourth round of the French Off Road Rally championship.  Lund had intended to make an earlier start to this year's campaign but has been concentrating on his business as well as building a new race car for this year's selection of events.  “I was hoping to have a new car ready for this season but things like work get in the way,” joked Paul.  “In the end it turned out a quicker option to repair last year's car – the one I barrel rolled last December!”

The event was held over 13 stages, seven of which were on Saturday with the remaining six on Sunday covering 127km of special stages and 124km of liaison.

“I thought I'd try something different this year,” explained Paul.  “We tried to run the Rav on full Rally tyres instead of off road tyres but we buggered all five of them in just two stages so I decided to go back to the knobblies.”  The move paid off as the team took and maintained the class lead whilst also taking fifth place in the unlimited production class which pitched them against the generally more fancied Jeeps, Landcrusiers and Nissan Patrols. 

“I've never really been one for convention.” Says Paul.  “They seem to regard the Rav as a bit of an oddity and we get a lot of attention out there because it does the job time and time again.  This is another good result for the old girl.” 

Paul and co driver Ross Gill compete in a Toyota Rav 4 that runs in the production class for cars up to 2 litre.  He says: “The Rav has all the usual bits and pieces – it's built to FIA rally rules but also has a UK MSA rally log book.  It's got a Blue printed engine that was built by Bob Hawkins at Hawkinsport in Horley, Surrey and has been re-mapped to around 180bhp.  Other mods come from Ohlins,  race suspension supplied by Aurok, race spec brakes and all the safety stuff like harnesses, extinguisher, and multipoint roll cage again built by Hawkinsport.  Off-road rally tyres are sourced from AJS 4X4 Tyres at Kingswood in Surrey . I'm also backed by Roadnetuk.com and my own company, AUTOGRAFIX.” 

Paul is also being supported by Total Off Road which is Britain 's only dedicated off-road magazine. The monthly publication has its roots in off-road motorsport and every month includes in-depth profiles on the best modified vehicles from the UK and around the world. Paul's RAV4 is profiled in the July issue of Total Off Road, which goes on sale on 17 June. _________________________________________________________

Paul Lund is something of an accomplished all rounder in motor sports.  He is an ex motorcycle champion (winning the 1989 Shell Production championship on a Suzuki GSX-R1100) and has won races in several saloon car championships.  Prior to being the most successful driver in the 2007 Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup (a feeder series to the British Touring Car Championship) his most recent four wheel outings have been in the BRSCC Alfa Romeo Championship and the occasional short oval race. 

By trade Paul is a specialist in providing first class corporate clothing signage for businesses as well as full livery for race teams.

Paul Lund media contact: Richard John Neil Telephone 07887 808711 or 0208 656 5036

E-mail rjn@ovaltrack.co.uk

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