Pastrana and Edstrom Gain Valuable Experience at Wales Rally, Great Britain

Day two dawned much the same, with wind and rain pelting the crews.  Pastrana’s first three stages were cleaner than the first day, albeit for another flat tire at the end of a stage and damage to the front control arm at the end of the third stage of the day, costing the team about 25 seconds and a short stop on the transit to service for a quick roadside repair of the suspension. 

Stage 10 would see it all go wrong for the team, as a ball joint sheared on the front suspension, causing the team to grind to a halt.  In World Rallying, you can miss stages at a great time expense but still be in the rally. 

After a few hours waiting in the freezing Welsh forest, the team was towed back to service, where Subaru Rally Team USA set upon making the car decent for the final day of stages.  What was encouraging was that many fellow Production class entries were having similar problems—hence the Americans could make a good result after all.
 
The third day was shorter—only four stages—making for fewer opportunities for the team to improve their position.  However they ended up making the most of their opportunities, and finished stages as high as 25th overall, eventually coming in 40th overall out of 87 official finishers and 11th in stage.

This was one of the most difficult rallies that Pastrana has ever experienced, both in terms of conditions and bad luck.  The experience of Wales will serve the team well in 2008, as they will be more comfortable with the surroundings and will have a better base of stage notes to go off of, which has proven over the years to be an asset to up and coming teams. 

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