131th September 2015
Pedder Ends Home Event On Positive Note
· A loss of turbo pressure on the first stage costs Pedder & co-driver Dale Moscatt dearly
· An power steering glitch effects the Fiesta on the second pass over the same stage
· After a clean run they set the fourth fastest WRC2 time on the final stage
· Pedder ends his home rally 22nd outright, and 6th in WRC2
Scott Pedder’s roller coaster ride at Coates Hire Rally Australia continued today with a loss of turbo pressure on his Ford Fiesta R5 on the opening stage once again preventing him from showing his true pace in the WRC2 category.
“It hasn’t been the best weekend for us, but still we had a lot of fun. The final stage was our only clean stage today and it obviously hurt from not having been able to drive this stage at full competition pace this morning,” said Scott.
Just five hundred metres into the first stage Pedder’s M-Sport run Fiesta suddenly lost turbo pressure, forcing he and Dale Moscatt to struggle through the next two stages before they could reach the safety of service.
Then, to compound the drama, on the very same corner on the second run over the stage the electrically assisted power steering failed, forcing Pedder to pull to the side of the stage to fully reset the car’s electrical system.
Rally Australia marks Pedder’s fifth and final event in the WRC2 category, with his best result having come at Rally Finland last month where he finished fourth.
“I’d describe this weekend much like a lot of our other rallies this year – a lot of frustration mixed with glimpses of promise,” he admitted. “We had high expectations in front of a home crowd and unfortunately we weren’t able to live up to it which is very disappointing.”
“Every time I get in the car I learn something new, and we’re starting to get some reasonable pace now when we don’t have a problem or issue to deal with. Obviously it’s helped being at home too, but as we showed in Finland we have the pace to do well on events we’re not familiar with too.”
“It can be a very difficult car to drive when you just turn up and try to drive flat out against these other WRC2 guys. You’ve got to have the experience, knowing what setup works, how the car reacts to the conditions and things like that.”
“We’ll go away now and have a really hard think about next year,” continued Scott. “Ideally I’d love to be able to find the budget to continue in the WRC2, we have the experience in the car as well as on the events and it’d be a massive shame not to put that to good use.”
About The Rally
Coates Hire Rally Australia, based out of the New South Wales coastal town of Coffs Harbour, features seventeen stages and just over three hundred kilometres of gravel action.
With roads ranging from traditional forestry tracks amongst the gum trees, to fast, sweeping Shire roads winding through the hills, the rally features a diverse range of conditions for drivers and teams to adapt to.
Friday and Saturday’s stages take drivers into the Nambucca region South of Coffs Harbour, including a 7.94km night-time forest test on Saturday evening, while Sunday’s move North to the Orara East and Lower Bucca State Forests.
· An power steering glitch effects the Fiesta on the second pass over the same stage
· After a clean run they set the fourth fastest WRC2 time on the final stage
· Pedder ends his home rally 22nd outright, and 6th in WRC2
Scott Pedder’s roller coaster ride at Coates Hire Rally Australia continued today with a loss of turbo pressure on his Ford Fiesta R5 on the opening stage once again preventing him from showing his true pace in the WRC2 category.
“It hasn’t been the best weekend for us, but still we had a lot of fun. The final stage was our only clean stage today and it obviously hurt from not having been able to drive this stage at full competition pace this morning,” said Scott.
Just five hundred metres into the first stage Pedder’s M-Sport run Fiesta suddenly lost turbo pressure, forcing he and Dale Moscatt to struggle through the next two stages before they could reach the safety of service.
Then, to compound the drama, on the very same corner on the second run over the stage the electrically assisted power steering failed, forcing Pedder to pull to the side of the stage to fully reset the car’s electrical system.
Rally Australia marks Pedder’s fifth and final event in the WRC2 category, with his best result having come at Rally Finland last month where he finished fourth.
“I’d describe this weekend much like a lot of our other rallies this year – a lot of frustration mixed with glimpses of promise,” he admitted. “We had high expectations in front of a home crowd and unfortunately we weren’t able to live up to it which is very disappointing.”
“Every time I get in the car I learn something new, and we’re starting to get some reasonable pace now when we don’t have a problem or issue to deal with. Obviously it’s helped being at home too, but as we showed in Finland we have the pace to do well on events we’re not familiar with too.”
“It can be a very difficult car to drive when you just turn up and try to drive flat out against these other WRC2 guys. You’ve got to have the experience, knowing what setup works, how the car reacts to the conditions and things like that.”
“We’ll go away now and have a really hard think about next year,” continued Scott. “Ideally I’d love to be able to find the budget to continue in the WRC2, we have the experience in the car as well as on the events and it’d be a massive shame not to put that to good use.”
About The Rally
Coates Hire Rally Australia, based out of the New South Wales coastal town of Coffs Harbour, features seventeen stages and just over three hundred kilometres of gravel action.
With roads ranging from traditional forestry tracks amongst the gum trees, to fast, sweeping Shire roads winding through the hills, the rally features a diverse range of conditions for drivers and teams to adapt to.
Friday and Saturday’s stages take drivers into the Nambucca region South of Coffs Harbour, including a 7.94km night-time forest test on Saturday evening, while Sunday’s move North to the Orara East and Lower Bucca State Forests.
