Australia : Mitsubishi / PCWRC
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution drivers continued a solid run on day two of Telstra Rally Australia, with lead FIA PCWRC driver Fumio Nutahara winning two of the day`s stages and defending his position to close the leg in fifth position in both the PCWRC and Group N classification.
The second day of the rally took competitors to the jumps and water splash-ridden stages of the Bannister complex south of the city for some stunning action under the vast blue Australian skies, before returning to Gloucester Park for a final two runs around the super special stage.

PCWRC regular Nutahara stepped up his pace to pull himself up to fourth by the middle of the day, but fellow series competitor Gabriel Pozzo eventually snatched fourth position with the Japanese retaining his previous overnight position by the end of today.

After a hard day of competition, Nutahara said: “For me today is more difficult than yesterday as the roads are very slippery, especially on the first two groups of stages this morning. This afternoon we put more cuts in the tires which was much better. I`m pushing much harder than yesterday but I know that I can go faster. Tomorrow I will push as hard as possible as I am still confident we can take a podium finish.”

PCWRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver Federico Villagra enjoyed the second day of the rally and, despite claiming to be driving for experience alone on his first outing in Australia, the Argentine is on course to score points towards the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship, having defended his seventh place throughout the day.

“I have really enjoyed driving today. We`ve had no problems and the tires are much better after making more cuts in them,” explained Villagra. “I think the stages today are a bit easier than yesterday but the most important thing for me is to finish the rally with a good set of pace notes as experience for next year, but at least I`m having fun doing that!”

Other Lancer Evolution drivers competing for points are Italians Fabio Frisiero and Riccardo Errani. Both performed better today and both successfully held on to their eighth and ninth places respectively.

“I made a wrong tire choice this morning but after raising the suspension and taking softer tires this afternoon, the car was great,” explained a buoyed Frisiero. “But I am not taking any risks as this is only my second time here; these roads are very specialized and, personally, I think you need a lot of experience to be able to take risks successfully so I`m just taking it at my own speed.”

Leg three takes crews east of Perth for the final 103.32 kilometers of competition, featuring two identical loops of three stages, before returning to the Perth podium finish at 14:45 hrs (local).


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