At the end of a very long Day 2 of the Esso Rally of Jamaica, the MRT rally team is well positioned in third place having led the event until well after midday.
At the 6am restart in Kingston the teams first stage time
from Friday had been corrected placing them fourth, only 9 seconds behind local
favourite Jeffery Pantone in is Toyota Celica and 1 second behind two local
Mitsubishi drivers. Swedish driver Jorjen Jonasson and Japanese driver Toshiaki
Endo in his Subaru not far behind. Heavy overnight rain had turned to light
drizzle, however the local crews were already talking of how slippery the roads
through the cane roads would be.
Quickly the event became a three way battle between the local Toyota team, the Swedes in their Mitsubishi and the Australians in their Subaru. The Australians were quick to take advantage of their wet weather Falken tyres, winning three of the four morning stages, however the battle was fierce with all three crews tying for first place on one of the stages. "These are the most slippery stages I have ever driven on, we have crushed plenty of sugar cane as we run off the road" commented Brett. At the one hour lunch stop the Australians led the Swedes by 8 seconds with the local Toyota a further 9 seconds in arrears.
Brett's aggressive driving style was certainly generating a lot of Jamaican supporters, as the team seemed to generate the largest crowds at any service point or control where the car stopped. "At least they seem to be able to forgive us for the cricket" he commented. Whilst the say was mostly fine, the overnight rain resulted in almost continuous rerouting of the rally and delays as the crews waited for course cars to clear the route. At one point crews were transported through a rerouted stage at slow speed so as not to disappoint spectators and to show the new direction before the stage was run at speed. Of course all the top crews took the opportunity to make pace notes, however in the end the top three were still only separated by three seconds.
As the roads dried in the afternoon the Swedish team went on maximum attack taking a staggering 18 seconds off all competitors in one 10km stage, leaving them all wondering is the Jamaican timing system that initially gave the Aussies a lead on Friday had appeared again, however it was not to be. At the end of the days 12 stages the Swedish pair had a lead of 20 seconds from the Jamaican Toyota, with the Australian MRT team a further 21 seconds in arrears, and nearly a full minute clear of the fourth placed local crew in a Mitsubushi Lancer VI.
" This is probably the best position for us, there is no way we wanted to be car one on the road tomorrow morning" stated Andrew Benefield. "Tomorrow's stages are on longer and on rock solid, well drained roads through the bauxite mines to the north, these will suit the Citibank WRX . After a long day in the humid Caribbean rain crews headed home for an even earlier 5.00am start tomorrow.
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