“We had a tough start to the year…and since then we've won eight days in a row, so it's been great," said an ecstatic Richard. "You never stop losing that will to win and we always have different things to focus on at every rally. At the moment we're on a bit of a winning streak, but every time we start a new day we think, what do we have to do to win?”
And today's win was hard earned as the bright yellow BNT STi suffered a steering column problem in the opening stage that needed to be jury-rigged by Richard to get through stage 2. It was fixed by the BNT Mason Motorsport Crew at Service and then it was 'Game On' as Richard and Sara began their fightback.
By the end of stage 4 they had converted a half minute deficit into a half minute lead and ultimately finished the day over 6 minutes clear of the field.
“We really enjoyed the roads today. They were twisty, but not tight and that's how we like them - every corner was a challenge and grip levels were changeable.
"So now with the championship locked away, we can really relax tomorrow and focus on stretching our current [NZRC] winning round sequence to 4. And it would be awesome to wrap up this season with career win number 23 that would move us clear of Neil Allport for the outright record.
The Gisborne Vehicle Testing Station - Waikanae Beach Holiday Park Rally Gisborne continues tomorrow with a further five stages as far north as Te Puia Springs for another 125km of special stages before the Finish back at Reads Quay on Sunday afternoon from 4pm.
This leg will use roads that have not seen World Rally Championship competition since the 1983 Rally New Zealand and the days of the Group B Audi Quattros and Lancia Rally 037's .
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