Positive Rally for Cox Motorsport

Positive Rally for Cox Motorsport

Although Sloan Cox and Malcolm Read’s Rally of the North ended prematurely in stage six it was a rally which Cox Motorsport can take many positives from.

Right from the start of stage one Cox and Read gelled well, despite having no previous seat time together. Cox was very comfortable in the Taslo Engineering Mitsubishi Evo X and his car speed was assisted by Read’s previous experience with supplied pace notes.

Stage three almost saw an early retirement when a heavy landing on an unnoted jump, which although spectacular, caused severe damage to the Evo X. Only minimal work could be carried out to the Evo X at service without upsetting the car any further. Due to the damage on the car, the team decided to try and drive the car smoother on the afternoon stages, but at the same time maintaining a comfortable lead.

Cox had won the previous four stages heading into stage six and was looking to consolidate his lead. Unfortunately stage six was to be the end of Cox’s rally when he came across a hidden off cambered left hand corner, going wide and down a bank, and taking out a tree on the way.

"I really enjoyed working with Malcolm and I hope to work again with him in the future. We were driving a comfortable rally up until the point we went off and it was a real shame to not finish or secure the podium finish that we were aiming for,” states Cox.

Cox Motorsport now turn their attention to this weekend’s Ashley Forest Rallysprint held out of Christchurch, which Cox will attack in the Evo 8 Hillclimb Special Car. The 1.7km gravel rallysprint consists of four qualifying runs over the weekend before the elimination runs begin on Sunday 20th September.

ENDS

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