Australian rally duo Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Smyth have finished Day One of the International Rally of Whangarei in second place in the Pacific Cup and fifth outright, after a frustrating day's rallying.
After using the first stage of the day to become more familiar with his leased car, the pair then had a minor incident when the car fell off the jack during a tyre change at the end of the first stage. Despite this setback, they were forced to put the incident behind them and stay focussed on the challenge ahead.
The remainder of the morning's stages were quite wet and Reeves drove according to the road conditions, and despite admitting to being a little bit off the pace, he went into the lunch break holding down second place in the Pacific Cup, and third outright.
With the promise of the afternoon stages remaining wet, Reeves chose to use a medium compound tyre, hoping to be able to make up more time on the high-speed sections. Unfortunately this wasn't to be, and he dropped some time in the overall standings, but still maintains second place in the Pacific Cup.
"Whilst we are disappointed that we dropped so much time this afternoon, we have to remain focussed on the end result," Reeves said. "Taking maximum points in the Pacific Cup is our main focus this weekend, and if we can consistently put in good times and maintain our place on the road, anything can happen. Hayden (Paddon) is leading the Pacific Cup at the moment but he is unlikely to contest the next two rounds, so even taking second place here will put us in a great position going into the next round in Queensland," he added.
Tomorrow, crews will contest another eight stages around Whangarei in New Zealand's Northland.
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