Harry Hunt fully prepared for Spanish mission 20.10.2011: Harry Hunt Rally of Spain preview Harry Hunt will start the penultimate round of the Production Car World Rally Championship in Spain this week fully prepared, despite

Harry Hunt Rally of Spain preview

Harry Hunt will start the penultimate round of the Production Car World Rally Championship in Spain this week fully prepared, despite not undertaking a test for the event, which uses a combination of asphalt and gravel stages, and a crash in shakedown this morning.
 
The 23-year-old from London, who secured the FIA Production Car Cup for Drivers of 2WD Cars with his third victory of the season in Australia last month, has entered rallies on both sealed and loose surfaces in the past three weeks. He also tackled three night stages during the recent Rally of Scotland. A stage run under the cover of darkness will bring Friday’s action in Spain to a close.
 

“I’m in good shape going to Spain because my last two rallies have been on Tarmac and gravel and I did three night stages in Scotland, plus a 44-kilometre night stage in Sanremo so I feel very well prepared for Spain,” said Harry. “There was an opportunity to test in Spain this week but the venue was 200 kilometres away from the rally base and we couldn’t be sure the road was representative enough. We’re ready.”
 

Harry will be at the wheel of his regular Citroen DS3 R3T in Spain and will use a car set-up developed by engineers from the French manufacturer. “Citroen has found a good base set-up,” said Harry. “We’ll probably make a few adjustments to the dampers but it’s going to be fairly close to what we’ll need.”
 

Of his accident on his first run in shakedown today, Harry said: “The irony is that I was only intending to do one run anyway! Unfortunately we got caught in the ruts on the gravel and the car just went over on my side. The main thing is that the damage is mostly cosmetic, so it’s just a question of replacing a few panels. Luckily, tomorrow is another day.”
 

Rally of Spain gets underway with the first of 18 special stages on Friday October 21. Harry and co-driver Robbie Durant will cover a total of 406.52 competitive kilometres prior to the finish on the seafront in the holiday town of Salou south of Barcelona on Sunday October 23. Day one features one full gravel stage and two mixed surface tests. Days two and three take place entirely on asphalt.
 

People at home can keep up with Harry’s exploits through his regularly-updated Twitter feed (twitter.com/HarryHunt), his Facebook page (www.facebook.com/harryhuntmotorsport) and his website (www.harryhuntmotorsport.com). 

 
- Anthony Peacock- also photo