Peter Kahler and Claire Buccini packed up the truck and headed south to the Armidale rallysprint, after NSW competitors and friends, Nathan Quinn and Peter Roberts, kept encouraging them to visit this legendary event.
The Lancer Evo 6 was in pristine condition with fuel pump and anti-lag problems now resolved once and for all.
Peter commissioned Paul Williamson to install a high volume fuel pump, and repaired the turbo, which seemed to rectify the previous problems.
The long haul down to Armidale to run the rallysprint provided the ideal testing opportunity. Arriving on Friday to set up and get organised, the team was primed for competition start on Saturday.
The rallysprint stage was very similar to the recent Border Ranges – a smooth shire road with some tight twisty stuff, a couple of bridges/causeways, some very high speed parts and only two pot holes in the whole stage! The Buccini Transport Lancer saw 182km/h.
The field enjoyed three dry runs and then the heavens opened, with the next two runs hair-raising to say the least.
Peter and Claire finished 6th outright with a couple of 4th and 5th outright stage times in the process. The team tried a lot of different things with the car, trying to learn how to drive it better - this event being the last proper competitive run before the first QRC in March next year.
Peter admits to a plan to do more events in NSW next year as the quality of competition is very high. He felt that the pace he was able to match on Saturday may have been good enough got second or third outright in Queensland, with the car now sorted.
With a summer break around the corner, the team will plan and prepare for the 2017 season.
- Tom Smith
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