Heat Two Toyota Rally SA

After a promising first heat result of second place in the Subaru Rally Challenge the team of Paul Batten and John Anderson entered the second day with renewed confidence. Consistent results over the morning stages saw the team placed in 2nd place behind Eli Evans, and holding of the hard charging Gavin Mosher, by just two seconds.

“Everything is running smoothly today, I am happy with the car, and our notes have been quite good. As each stage goes by I am able to learn a little more, and I think the more experience we get we can continue to improve” said Paul.

An unfortunate incident put the team out of action with only 3 stages to run. “I think we were a bit unlucky. I have come into a tightening corner, and the outside rear tyre has fallen into a hole, which turned the car off the road. It was a really minor off, and I thought everything was fine, so I backed onto the road and continued down the stage, but unfortunately we got two flat tyres, and with one spare and the wheel rubbing I realised we couldn’t continue with three stages still to run.” recalled Paul. “It was a bit disappointing but I think we can take plenty of positives away from this event. We both improved and learnt a lot as the event progressed, and we were really happy with the stage times we were able to set. Even Chris Atkinson makes mistakes, and the important thing I can take from it is the lessons I have learnt.”

After a promising rally, the team is gearing up for the NGK Rally of Melbourne. “We have really enjoyed ourselves at SA, and we know the area’s we can fine tune. We have learnt some important lessons, that will help us become a more well rounded team” said co-driver John Anderson.