Success at Rally Wairarapa for Geof Argyle
After a long and hard fought rally, driver Geof Argyle and co-driver Phillip Deakin clinched 3rd overall in the Team TOTAL Mitsubishi EVO at the Trusthouse Racetech Rally Wairarapa last weekend.
“It’s great to have such a good finish, we knew we could do well if everything came together and even though the car had a central diff issue we still managed to reach our goal of a top 3 finish”
Stage 1 started well for Argyle setting the 2nd fastest time behind Glen Inkster by 0.1 of a second and in Stage 2 set the 3rd fastest time. But by the end of Stage 3 the central diff problems started to show which caused the car to be unpredictable in the loose gravel and reduced cornering speed.
“We couldn’t brake as late as we would normally and lost some drive out of the corners. It made it pretty exciting at times because the back end wanted to step out all the time”
For the remaining 5 stages of the day Argyle moved between 3rd and 4th position, finally settling into 4th behind Sloan Cox by 17sec and 49sec behind rally leader Chris West.
The fast swept roads on day 2 suited the Team TOTAL Evo and Geof knew the central diff issue wouldn’t be a major problem if he kept to the swept race line. Driving to maintain 4th position and trying to gain on 3rd, Argyle pushed hard through the first 5 stages of the day but found himself slipping further to be 26sec behind 3rd place. With the advantage of 2 repeat stages and swept roads Argyle attacked Stages 6 & 7 setting the fastest time through Cliff Road and 2nd fastest through Central Mangoane.
With 2 stages to go, Argyle was now within 11 seconds of 3rd position and went on to set 3rd fastest time in Stage 8. Moving into 3rd overall, Argyle just had to have a smooth consistent run through the last stage and came out with 3rd fastest time.
The final standings were: 1st – Richard Mason, 2nd – Dean Sumner, 3rd – Geof Argyle
The team now prepare for Rally Whangarei on July 16th and 17th.
- TV Coverage of Day 1 - Rally Wairarapa will be screened on Sunday June 5th on TV1 at 4pm.
- Watch the in-car footage from Cliff Road: in-car footage
- Special thanks to our sponsors: TOTAL Lubricants, Geartech, Hunting and Fishing, RETKO Logistics, Automotive Direct, Advanced Engineering, MRF Tyres, Studio Madfish & Andys Screenprint & Signs
- Find out more about the G4 EvoLink
- Previous News articles on Geof Argyle: Whariti Hill Climb 2011; Whariti Hill Climb 2010
