The Rally of Canberra, held in the forests around the nation’s capital, came to an early end for Glen and Matt Raymond of the Raymond Partners Rally Team due to a mechanical failure in their Toyota Corolla Group N (P) rally car.

An early morning start into the first group of stages, the team picked the wrong compound tyres and suffered from a lack of grip. "I’m still constantly learning the car and what it does," driver Glen Raymond said. "Small errors such as the tyre decision help us gain the experience to make the right ones in the future."

The morning also bought a spin, an overshoot and to top it off a kangaroo jumped into the side of the car, a problem numerous rally crews encountered in the drought stricken forest.

Heading into service, a slightly concerned service chief Stephen Raymond found the car had been getting warm and had lost water from its cooling system. The damage from the kangaroo was quickly eliminated as being the cause due to it hitting the side of the car, and the team was anxiously sent out into the afternoon stages.

Hoping to claw back some time in the afternoon, the team’s hopes were dashed when the car started to dramatically overheat. Despite the crew’s best attempt, the car was forced to slowly cruise through the stages, resulting in vast amounts of lost time.

Once the car was back into the final heat one service the Toyota Racing Development mechanics came over and had a look and confirmed the team’s diagnosis, a blown head gasket. Due to the damage already caused, and not wanting to cause any more, the team was forced to withdraw from Heat 2.

Surprisingly, the team still achieved enough to finish 6th Outright in heat one in the Australian Rally Championship, an impressive feat proving that pushing through your problems can still bring a result at the finish.

"Obviously we are frustrated; we were taking it really easy on day one and ramping up for a big crack on day two," stated navigator Matt Raymond. "But as they say, that’s rallying."

The team would like to thank their sponsors Raymond Partners Accountants, JNJ Electrical Contractors, Bendigo Bank, Global Energy Solutions, Mammi Motors, Quality Site Welding, Blackwell Bodyworks, VicParts, Legible Signs, Michelin Tyres, Springsure Automotive Supplies and Jen’s Dinkum Discounts.

Pic: Hubble Photographix.

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