It has been a busy couple of months for the Auckland Motors Mitsubishi rally team as the car is being carefully rebuilt following the big accident at the Tauranga Clubman Rally. As mentioned in our last update a high speed accident in stage 4 saw the car leave the road at around 140 km/h and suffer a heavy front-on impact with a bank and large tree stump. Patchy memories from driver and co-driver seem to point to the crash starting from cutting a corner coated with icy mud. This shot the car straight off the road and once this happened they were both passengers for a short and scary ride. The car took heavy damage and so did driver Bryn who was rushed to hospital once the stage was shut down and appropriately cancelled. A great reminder that while fun motorsport is still a highly dangerous sport – especially rally.
Bryn suffered several small fractures in his back but has shown exceptional commitment to a quick recovery. This has taken a lot of physio and rehabilitation work but is coming along well. He has already been seen a few times sitting in his old rally seat pretending to drive and making car noises – a strong return for next year’s championship is definitely in the pipeline.
The car itself was in bad shape and was immediately stripped back down to a shell – the shell sent off to Mills Collision Repair in Hamilton for some much needed straightening. The crew there are renowned for their high standard of work and it wasn’t long before a close-to brand new shell returned to Auckland. The engine and other components were sent away to be checked for damage and a small fortune in brand new parts was ordered for the rebuild.
Check again in a couple of weeks for another update as the Auckland Motors Mitsubishi Evo 9 RS gets closer to its assault on next year’s New Zealand Rally Championship.
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