“We said we had to finish in Tassie and we did!" a jubilant Will Orders beamed after the conclusion of Heat 2 of the Subaru Safari in Tasmania yesterday.
Heat 1 provided consistent top 6 stage times and like many teams, getting heat into the tyres was a bit of challenge and certainly a contrast to the Queensland round only four weeks ago.
“Getting your head around these big stages was a challenge,” Orders commented, "as the roads were in great condition, well looked after by the local forestry and very fast.
“In plenty of places you could use all the road, but running a standard engine out of a wreck proved to be a bit of a hindrance as commitment to fast parts with not enough top end power is hard.”
Finishing the Heat in 5th outright and the BP Ultimate Challenge round winner proved a mature approach to getting the result needed by Orders and co-driver Toni Feaver.
Overnight rain would prove that to ensure a good finish a calm head and good notes were the key to the fast roads on offer.
“When you’re in 6th gear on a standard engine you really have to be careful – if you make a big mistake then you have no power to get you out of trouble,” Orders said.
The only scare for the weekend was when the intercooler pipe blew off and the crew had to limp to the end of the stage with “Subaru RS power only” commented Will. “I thought I was back in the old RS Challenge car!!” After a quick fix the was back up to speed.
At the conclusion of Leg 2 the Motorsport Parts/Administr8 Subaru finished 5th outright, 1st in the BP Ultimate Challenge and 1st in Class P5, the team’s best result to date in the Championship.
Will Orders and Toni Feaver showed their obvious talent, driving in difficult conditions with a standard engine on BP Ultimate fuel.
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