Great Britain : Mitsubishi / PCWRC
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution drivers made a good start to Wales Rally GB and five hold top ten positions overnight among a strong field of Group N contenders. The leading Lancer Evolution is that of youngster Stuart Jones, the 20-year-old fifth overall in the category.
The first leg was the longest of three, with two loops of three stages in the forests north of the service park base in Swansea and a total of 136.74 competitive kilometers. Competitors headed into the stages today blessed with bright sunshine but after heavy rain on Thursday, conditions were expected to be muddy. Sure enough, the opening stages were very slippery but the sun soon dried the roads to a harder and faster surface.
FIA PWRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver Riccardo Errani is far from familiar with the British stages having only completed one stage before on the sole occasion he started the event four years ago. As a result he is taking the event steadily, focusing on reaching the finish, but is enjoying every step of the way.
“I`m driving very carefully today. We have had a problem with the clutch all day which isn`t working properly. I think the engine oil has leaked into it,” explained Errani. “But the stages are absolutely beautiful; they are fast, great for driving and maybe better than New Zealand, and we all know how much everybody likes driving them!”
Leading the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Group N challenge and lying fifth in Group N overall is British youngster Stuart Jones. Although he is not registered for the FIA PWRC, he is currently training under the UK`s MSA Elite programme; the 20-year-old is thoroughly enjoying the benefits but promises there is still more to come.
“We have made the wrong tire choice all day so they have been going off after only a few miles into each stage. I know that with the right tire compound we would have been more competitive today. But I really enjoyed the second run through the stages this afternoon and I know tomorrow we should go better as I have driven the roads quite a lot on club rallies,” said Jones.
Local favorite David Higgins, also driving a privately-run Lancer, made an excellent start to the rally taking the Group N lead after the opening stage, but stopping to change a puncture on stage two pulled the Isle of Man driver down the order to 28th, from which he fought his way back to 10th position after setting a string of competitive times throughout the remainder of the day.
“We dropped a few minutes on the second stage today when we had to change a front left puncture, which is a real pity as we were quickest on stage one. I think we`ll need a lot of luck for a win now but I`m happy with our pace this afternoon; the car is feeling good and we only have to make minor changes tonight,” said Higgins. “We have another repeated set of stages tomorrow; most people seem to make up time the second time through so I prefer to try and take a bit of an advantage on the first run.”
Leg two takes crews to the Crychan Forest for another set of three repeated stages, 60 km north-east of Swansea and the day is rounded off with a spectator friendly indoor stage run over 1.1 km, created specifically for Wales Rally GB at the Millennium Stadium. The leg covers 103.86 kilometers of competition.


Tags: great-britain, mitsubishi, lancer, rovanpera, galli, welsh,