Scott Pedder has displayed an incredible level of grit and determination in arm wrestling his Ford Fiesta R5 through 130 kilometres of high-speed gravel stages after his power steering failed in Poland today.
The day had started positively for Pedder, clocking the ninth fastest time in WRC2 on the day’s opening stage, despite bouncing into a roadside ditch midway through the stage.
“About ten kilometres into the stage we were off the road for about three or four seconds, so a very positive start to the day because without that we would have been even faster,” explained Pedder. “However the day took a turn after that!”
Four kilometres into the next stage the steering on Pedder’s, and co-driver Dale Moscatt’s, Ford Fiesta suddenly went heavy. “It looks like an electrical failure stopped the power steering pump,” said Scott. “All I knew was that I had a long way to go before the end of the day and no power steering to help me get there.”
While many of his WRC2 competitors would have called it quits Pedder refused to give in and maintained a consistent pace to hold onto a top fifteen position by the midday regroup. Pedder and Moscatt worked frantically to get the power steering functional again, and appeared to have done so, before a hair-raising moment on the next stage.
“It was working at the start of the stage and we were blasting along a fast section at about 160km/h when it went dead again! I can’t quite explain how that feels, but it’s pretty scary!”
By the final stage of the day, a repeat run around the Mikolajki Arena Super Special Stage, Pedder had dropped some eleven minutes to WRC2 leader Esapekka Lappi but was battling on before a jump on the stage compounded issues.
“It’s a really small jump and as we landed the front left suspension arm snapped. Exactly the same problem we had in Sardinia, exactly the same arm. The ironic thing is we’d come prepared for how tough today was going to be and the car was packed with every single suspension spare and tool we could carry, and yet the arm broke within sight of the service park,” laughed Scott.
“Everything aside it’s been a great day,” enthused Pedder. “We’ve managed to get through every stage and finish the day, and that’s a massive positive in my books.”
“Tomorrow will be another tough day, the roads are less technical than today but also much faster farmland stages. The outright pace in WRC2 is incredible, the guys at the front are on an absolutely different planet, but I’m just concentrating on playing the long game and getting to the finish,” he added.
“If we can have a good run, and a few other drivers have problems, you never know, we might just snatch a point!”
WRC2 Rally Poland Results after Leg One
1. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Skoda Fabia R5) 1h20m06.0s
2. Pontus Tidemand / Emil Axelsson (Skoda Fabia R5) +50.1s
3. Karl Kruuda / Martin Järveoja (Citroen DS3 R5) +1m47.1s
4. Armin Kremer / Pirmin Winklhofer (Skoda Fabia R5) +3m05.4s
5. Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula (Skoda Fabia S2000) +3m05.7s
16. Scott Pedder / Dale Moscatt (Ford Fiesta R5) +14m13.6s
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