Rally - National update

From the WRGB National Rally Service Park. Overnight, Wayne Sissons and the rest of the lads changed the turbo on Barry Groundwater's Mitsubishi but they couldn't test it because they had no fuel left and the on-site temporary station had closed for the night. They managed to borrow some fuel and gave it a run, but this morning they noticed a slight oil leak. They drove out to the first stage but it was still seeping so Barry called it a day. Wise move. Yesterday  the Mitsubishi of Nicolas Pavlides caught fire and the car was ruined. One thing you don't want when hot turbos are involved is an oi leak!

Mike Faulkner was quite philosophical this morning but he'll need to wait till he gets the car home to see just how sore it is. Both he and Peter were OK, and the two trees they hit are OK too, so it was the car which took the hit. They were quite happy with their pace and were up on Luke Francis when they went off, but the corner tightened more than they were expecting and because of the fog they were on it before they saw it. One observer (who shall remain nameless to protect his safety) observed that Mike could get a job with Calum Duffy after this escapade - Calum's a lumberjack!

Also beavering away overnight was the McCombie team with the help and advice of Giles Phillips Motorsport who built the car originally. Bruce's Mitsubishi runs a basically standard engine with a Drenth sequential gearbox and since the two main stages yesterday were pretty long, the thinking was that perhaps they contributed to the overheating problems, so the boost has been turned down ready for a new day. Fingers crossed.