We had the car fully prepped, the van loaded with fuel and spares, tyres mounted to the new wheels… it was all going to plan, and we had it almost completely under control. Good word that… “almost”! The only thing we couldn’t control was the weather and for most of the week leading up to the rally saw the forecast change almost by the hour.
As we headed south early on Friday morning it looked like we were going to be heading into some seriously strong (100kmh+) winds in the Taranaki district! On the bright side the potential for heavy rain was diminishing quickly so we were optimistic about having a dry rally.
Saturday morning dawned with a clear sky and no rain despite a few good overnight downpours. We headed into the 22km SS1 keen to get into it. A good steady run saw us come away with the sixth fastest time, a feat that was repeated in the 17km SS2. Sadly two of our Hamilton Car Club crews failed to make it out of the stage, Charlie Evans (RX7) sliding off road into a ditch and Carlin Leong (Subaru Impreza) having a mechanical issue.
SS3 we kept the momentum going with seventh in stage, and we headed into SS4 at 24km long taking us along the slippery roads around the base of Mount Taranaki. We charged and brought the Lancer home third overall which we were stoked with! As we headed to the lunchtime service park, we were sitting in sixth overall and first in Class D just 0.6sec ahead of Phil Broadbent.
The afternoon saw the battle between us intensify, both crews consistently running well inside the top ten on all of the remaining five stages. Phil and Sam Broadbent ultimately picking us off for overall Class honors, something we are keen to seek revenge for at the next round! Net result, seventh overall and second in Class which we are super happy with.
To be honest, the rally wasn’t exactly all smooth sailing for the EX Lancer Motorsport team! We managed to pick up 2m30sec in time penalties for exceeding the maximum speed in a couple of the RSZ (Restricted Speed Zones). Guilty as charged, our main issue of contention was that the pace notes had the RSZ finishing before Rallysafe did. Jayson made the call to Tony to go based on the RSZ end position as per the notes, something that is evidently a no-no! Lesson learnt.
Massive thanks to our families, crew, followers and supporters. We are having an amazing time out there doing skids and are absolutely loving the mighty EX Lancer and keeping crowds entertained. Next up we get back on the gravel and take on the Rally Taumarunui of August 08.
Photo credit Thomson Creative
