We have finished day 1 of Rally Australia with a 1min 20second lead. Today has been a good day but in very difficult conditions. Overnight rain along with rain throughout the day made the clay based roads treacherously slippery, particularly on the repeat run.

On the morning loop we were able to set some good times, despite losing time when catching a WRC car in front of us on the first stage. We always knew the afternoon was going to be hard, so the plan was to take it easier and consolidate our lead. It was the most slippery road I have been on for a long time which resulted in a few altercations with banks and a detour into a paddock. Nevertheless our last 2 splits of that stage were the 4th fastest overall against all the WRC cars.

Please see our link to today's video blog

All in all we are very happy with the day and the team and car are doing a perfect job. Tomorrows stages are much more like New Zealand and even if the wet weather continues, the roads shouldn’t be affected as much. In saying this, the weather is forecasted to clear up over the weekend.

It has also been great seeing all the Kiwi fans and our supporters club on the side of the road!

The plan is to attack tomorrow and set some more good stage times. Until then,