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Rally of the North is a fantastic event based in Paihia and using
the fast flowing roads west and south of the city.
The
week beforehand was as usual a bit hectic. Our new gearbox was a
little late arriving from Australia, so it was finally put into
the car on Wednesday nite. At least we now had the gearbox which
will allow us to use our power, and not worry about breaking 2nd
gear all the time.
Scrutineering
went ok, no issues.
Paihia
dawned overcast, with showers threatening for the day, so it was
a good choice to run our 195 Dunlops, as the road would probably
be pretty damp.
SS1.
Reminded me a bit of Finland (without the huge jumps....). It was
very fast and flowing stage with quite thick gravel. There was of
course the jump at the crossroads in the centre of the stage, which
we did last year, but in the opposite direction.
The
car felt great and we were going great until 9km in we hit the jump
at speed and landed on one wheel very heavily (the front left) and
broke the front left half-shaft and both rear axles. It was game
over so we parked up and watched the rest of the field go past.
We
did attempt to fix the car to restart the day, with some borrowed
parts (thanks to the generosity of the fellow competitors and the
quick work of my service crew). Unfortunately on the start line
of stage 5 it broke another drive-line component, and we were out
for good.
Our
other class members didn't get off as lightly, with Alex Gilmour
having a huge off at the end of stage 3, and Steve Burley / Darryl
Jones also going bush and doing panel damage and DNF'ing.
Til
the next event...
Thx
Sara & Dylan
Turner
Motorsport
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