Japan Rally : Barratt / PCWRC - Leg 2Natalie Barratt unfortunately had to retire at the Rally Japan. After a double rollover on the twelfth special stage the pretty Brit had to park her Mitsubishi Lancer for good.
The OMV driver and her co Kaj Lindström were not injured. But a restart on Sunday in the context of the SupeRally regulation is out of the question since the car was too heavily damaged.
Bump sealed their fate
For eleven special stages Natalie Barratt was doing very fine. The Brit of the OMV World Rally Team lay in ninth overall place in the Production-World Rally Championship and was close to scoring points. Only a puncture on special stage three which had to be repaired during the stage cost about three minutes. But on the twelth special stage the accident happened. A bump in a fast right bend proved ill-fated. Barratt slid off the road and rolled over twice. Barratt: “It all happened in the blink of an eye. The most important thing is that we remained unhurt. Still it`s a pity since we had found a very good rhythm just at the beginning of day two.”
Restart impossible
Since the beginning of this year retired teams have the opportunity of continuing the event on the next day due to the SupeRally regulation. For each special stage not completed a penalty of five minutes on the best time is awarded. But Natalie Barratt cannot call upon this regulation. “The car is too heavily damaged. The team is only granted 2:45 hours time to repair the car. That won`t work out. Too bad, for Natalie had really given a very good performance up to that point,” sums up Manfred Stohl who`s company Stohl Racing had prepared the Brit`s assignment for the OMV World Rally Team.
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