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Pirtek Rally Team has marked itself
as a team to watch in the NEC Australian
Rally Championship at the Quit Forest
Rally in Western Australia.
The strength and reliability of
the Pirtek Rally Team Super 2000
Ford Fiesta has earned fourth and
fifth overall outside Busselton.
Michael Guest / Mark Stacey were
fourth in both heats, while Darren
Windus / Jon Mortimer finished sixth
on leg #1 and fifth on leg #2.
Both cars showed exceptional reliability
and improved pace after their world-wide
Super 2000 debut last month in Queensland.
Both drivers set times in the top
three on both legs in Western Australia.
The overall performance on both
legs has the cars on average less
than one second per kilometre off
the pace of the turbo-charged Corolla
of winner Simon and Sue Evans.
It was far from an easy event with
the opening leg being run in sunny
weather, while the treacherous ball-bearing
gravel roads were made even tougher
with rain throughout the second
day.
It was during the second leg that
Michael Guest showed the real potential
of the Fiesta climbing to second
overall. This came despite a bonnet
fire after a fuel line worked loose;
then a broken brake line later in
the leg. Unfortunately he couldn't
hold onto second after he stalled
and minor power steering problems.
"We had everything thrown at us
and the Pirtek Rally Team Ford Fiesta
stood up to all the challenges,"
said Guest. "It's a bit disappointed
to not finish second, but we certainly
showed that this car has the potential.
I know that our rivals now know
that we mean business.
"The wet weather was a good test
for us and we showed that the car
is good in contrasting conditions.
"We did this all by following our-prevent
plan to focus on reliability. There
are areas we can now improve and
we feel very confident of challenging
in the coming events."
Darren Windus was delighted with
the performance of the Fiesta and
that of the Pirtek Rally Team.
"Really I didn't have that many
issues with the car over the weekend,'
said Windus. "We had a couple
of moments, especially in the wet
stuff, but it's a very good sign
that this car is strong in all types
of conditions.
"The team was outstanding this weekend.
It must be remembered that this
was just the second event for this
group. Like me, it shows that they
are coming to grips with the car
and that's showed in the preparation
and performance of both cars."
Chief Engineer Glenn Rees was pleased
with getting both cars through a
full event.
"Finishing fourth and fifth is great,
but I'm more pleased with the fact
that we now have a very strong and
reliable package," said Rees.
"The goal this weekend was not about
the outright result, it was about
getting the full complement of competitive
kilometres on both cars. The fact
that we showed great pace is a bonus.
"There are a lot of things still
to come on these cars. It was important
that we made sure that we had a
strong base first and foremost.
That's what we now have.
"There are a lot of things still
to come, but going into the next
event in Canberra we will focus
on such things as sway bars, the
hand brake and getting more out
of the Michelin Tyres."
The Rally of Canberra will be run
on 2-3 June.
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