Cox a Close Second At Maramarua

Cox a Close Second At Maramarua
 
A total of three seconds was all that separated Rotorua’s Sloan Cox from his first rally win over the weekend after fighting back in the Rally of Maramarua.
 
In what was the first event of the season, as well as a newly modified Mitsubishi Evo 10 and new co-driver Sarah Coatsworth, 21-year old Cox was immediately on the pace as he set the fastest time on the first of nine special stages, seven seconds clear of the chasing pack.
 
But the second stage would prove costly, as Cox explains.
 
“I over shot a junction a kilometre into the stage, which wasn’t a problem as I lined the car up to just take off, but the car had stalled and wouldn’t fire up. Sarah timed 40 seconds that we were stopped for.”
 
That dropped the pair to fourth after stage two, but Cox charged back. After recording third fastest stage time on stage three, the former New Zealand Junior Rally Champion set a string of fastest stage times. That was only interrupted on stage seven, when a clip holding the waste-gate fell off, leaving the Taslo Mitsubishi with no turbo boost. Even with the problem, Cox still recorded the second fastest time, just five seconds off the pace.
 
Cox hit back on the following stage, aptly named ‘Wild Wild West’, with a time 15 seconds faster than anyone else in just 16 kilometres, leaving only seven seconds separating Cox from rally leader Dylan Turner with just one stage remaining. Despite winning the stage, Cox could only pull back four of those seven seconds and was forced to settle for second, only three seconds behind.
 
“For Sarah and I doing our first rally together, it went very well. She did a great job, especially since it was our first decent event together.”
 
ENDS

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