Great Britain : Barratt / PCWRC
Natalie Barratt`s (Subaru Impreza Spec) pretty face wore a wide grin at the final service of day one. The young Brit had established herself within the leading group of the Production Car World Rally Championship after six of 17 special stages.
She and her new co-driver Kaj Lindström now lie in fifth place, even though the afternoon went anything but smooth.
All of a sudden: no third gear
Natalie Barratt had already caused attention in the morning. The driver of the OMV World Rally Team gave an excellent performance right from the start and climbed up to fifth overall place after only three special stages.
Barratt didn`t let up in the afternoon and defended her position – despite suddenly losing third gear on special stage five. On the sixth special stage she nevertheless overtook Italian Riccardo Errani who had taken up the race before her. Barratt: “I`m highly motivated. Tomorrow I`ll take up the fight with Hamed Al Wahaibi. He`ll better be prepared if he wants to keep fourth place. Our car is running smoothly, it only gets a little nervous at high speed. But we can change to a harder set-up at the service. And the exchange of the gearbox won`t be a problem, either.“


Tags: omv, barrat, group-n, subaru, impreza, wales,