All-Terrain Rally in France 9th Oct 2012 Ref 2012-02

Paul Lund (Glastonbury) has arrived home after another successful All-Terrain Rally in France where he won the class for 2 litre production vehicles after covering nearly 150 miles of gruelling off road stages over two days of competition in his Toyota Rav 4.

The team arrived at the seaside town of Royan, which is on the west coast of France last Wednesday. Conditions were not too promising as it was raining incessantly but eventually it stopped on the set up and scrutineering day and the stages started to dry out which suited the team quite nicely. The first day on the stages went well as most of the courses were dry and Paul, along with co-driver Maxence Lamy, found the right working chemistry and raw pace from the outset and led their class at the end of the day.

The rain returned after the cars were taken to parc ferme and so the Anglo-French pairing knew they were in for an interesting second day of competition. The rain continued all through the night and conditions were treacherous. At one point this resulted in Paul side swiping a 45 gallon drum filled with concrete that the organisers use as chicane markers. Some on the spot ‘repairs’ were needed and so the Rav’s wing was pulled away from the wheel and they were able to continue. Conditions were still difficult and the course was so sodden in places that they having trouble due to the lack of power from standard running gear. Paul commented; “Where the tracks went onto the roads from a field it was like driving on ice because of the mud on there, but we kept on and I thought we were dropping down the leader board but it turned out we were still leading the class and climbing up the other classes as well,”
The end result was not only the class win but 2nd in the unlimited production category humbling more powerful machinery and 6th place out of all the four wheel drive machines on the event.
Lund adds: “I was hoping to match my previous results but we’ve bettered them this time. It certainly helped having a Frenchman alongside, Maxence did the business as a co-driver and it’s the first time that translating everything has not been a problem.”

Paul’s service team was led by Mike Rivett who owns Rivett Autos, based in Cranleigh, Surrey.

Return to All-Terrain Rallying 18 September 2012
Ref 2012-01

Glastonbury racing driver Paul Lund is preparing for a next month at one of the biggest events in the European off-road calendar.

The Dunes et Marais Rally is always one of the highlights and major events of the season but but this year marks the 35th running and organisers have pulled out all the stops to ensure that the event is bigger and better than ever.

The event runs over three days in the south west of France starting at Saint Palais Sur Mer.and is based at the seaside resort of Royan on the west coast. Last year’s event saw over 120 competitors take to the stages and this year it is expected that number will be closer to 150
The event covers over 136 kilometers of gruelling off road rally stages. Last year Paul won his class and finished third in the unlimited production category. “Obviously the aim is another class win and to go get onto a higher step in the unlimited section,” he said. “This year I’ve got a new navigator, Maxence Lamy, who, as you can probably guess from his name, is a Frenchman. I’m hoping that having a local on the team will help when dealing with the officials and the general nuances of competing in another country. I’ll still be driving the Toyota Rav 4 – they remain fairly few and far between out there so we tend get quite a bit of attention. That and the fact that we are an English based crew means we get a fair bit of attention and best of all we’re always made to feel very welcome.”

Paul’s service team is led by Mike Rivett who owns Rivett Autos, based in Cranleigh, Surrey.

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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