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Pirtek Rally
Team's Michael Guest and David Green have shown the true potential of
the Super 2000 Ford Fiesta with second place in heat #2 at the NGK
Rally of Melbourne.
Guest finished the event in fourth
overall after placing fifth in heat #1.
The Pirtek Rally Team is the only
racing organisation in the world campaigning the all-wheel-drive Super
2000 Ford Fiesta.
The team won five special stages
over the two days of competition.
Guest won three of the day's
stages, taking the fight to Simon and Sue Evans in the NEC Australian
Rally Championship winning Toyota Corolla, finishing just 11 seconds
behind.
Guest's confidence in the Fiesta
was evident throughout the entire leg, as he charged through stages he
had not driven in five years.
"This is a great team
result," said Guest.
"The Pirtek Rally Team gave me
by far the best car we have had all year. That gave me the confidence
to attack and that approach was fully endorsed by the team.
"It was great to truly battle
Simon and Sue. We took it to them this morning and the Fiesta stood up
to the challenge.
"It's been a long time since I
felt that confident in a rally car.
"We have every right to feel
confident going into the 2008 season."
Not only was the speed of the
Fiesta proven this weekend, but also the strength. Guest hit an exposed
rock on just the second stage of the event, causing major wheel and
suspension damage. He had to battle through another stage as well, with
another puncture the result of the damage.
Upon entering the service area, it
was also discovered that it had cracked the engine sump. The Pirtek
Rally Team repaired the damage and had him back in the event, albeit in
15th place.
Guest and Green attacked over the
afternoon stages to claim fifth for the heat.
The speed of the Fiesta was evident
from the start when teammates Darren Windus and Jon Mortimer won the
opening stage. They were placed second overall before an engine failure
midway through the opening heat.
"Obviously disappointed not to
finish, but the car was just terrific over those opening stages,"
said Windus.
"I really felt as one with the
car and that has me looking forward to 2008.
"The car and importantly the
team will be a force next year and the competition will be just
awesome."
Pirtek Rally Team Chief Engineer
Marcus Clarke was delighted with Guest's result in the second heat.
"Outstanding on all
accounts," said Clarke.
"Michael and David did an
excellent job in the car, and all our crew was just awesome.
"We choose to attack this
event and you can only do that with a strong car.
"Toyota is a strong outfit and
they don't give away anything. You have to earn it and that's what we
did this weekend.
"The engine failure in
Darren's car was clearly disappointing. I was delighted to see his pace
and both he and Jon deserved a result this weekend. We will fully
evaluate what happened back at the workshop, but it's a different issue
to what we have seen before.
"The season might be over, but
our work never stops. We have the FIA inspecting our cars next week for
the international homologation process and that's clearly an important
process.
"After that we have some
corporate commitments and we can then truly start our planning for
2008.
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