Kiwis continue fight on despite losing 2nd gear and suspension damage

Photo courtesy of www.neilburgess.comAs we grew a little more familiar with the notes we pushed on harder and found the car an absolute delight to drive. Whilst down on power the braking and handling were superb so we just kept on driving deeper and faster into the corners and as Mark Tapper had suggested just stood on the power and the car went where we pointed it. The way the back end would slide into and around corners just made the whole rally even more fun.

Unfortunately we lost second gear at the end of Stage 4 and it was gone for the rest of the rally. After this happened I really nursed the gearbox as it had done a lot of miles and was due for a rebuild. Both Glenn and I really wanted another finish.

We were swapping stage times with the other Fiesta and the gap was very very close right throughout the morning.

On stage 7 there was a nasty culvert onto a bridge and we hit it was a big thump, the car instantly became difficult to drive as the steering arm and tie rod had been significantly bent. We carried on this way for the next stage without loosing too much time to Steve Blunt (the current class leader)

The team made an absolutely magnificent job of fixing the problem over the next two services and by the last three stages everything was setup very close to how it should be. These guys were an absolutely awesome team and we were very lucky to be working with them.

Photo's below courtesy of www.neilburgess.com

Photo courtesy of www.neilburgess.com

Photo courtesy of www.neilburgess.com

Photo courtesy of www.neilburgess.com