- Brendan Reeves was sitting 10th when mechanical gremlins kicked in
Heartbreak for Australia’s Brendan Reeves with mechanical issues sidelining the young Victorian at Rally Australia outside Coffs Harbour.
Reeves enjoyed an outstanding morning, including a fastest stage time in the Production Class section, but in service the Subaru would not re-start.
The issue was tracked to the fuel pump and the car finally came to life, but Reeves and co-driving sister Rhianon Smyth booked out of service five minutes late and were handed a 50-second time penalty.
Things appeared OK on the afternoon’s first stage setting the 11th fastest time overall in-between the WRC cars of Khalid Al Qassimi and Daniel Oliveira. However, the Subaru failed to take the start of the next stage with the same fuel pump problem.
“We worked on the car on the side of the road for ages,” said co-driver Rhianon Smyth.
“There was no power to the fuel pump, so it’s an electrical issue. We bypassed the relay and got it going but run out of late time! So driving back to service to try and sort issues. SupeRally is not so super!”
Reeves’ team will look at the car in service to fully rectify the probelm before they re-start tomorrow under the SupeRally rules.
