London
to Sydney Marathon
5th June - 4th July 2004
Day 27 - Roma to
Noosa
McRAE BACK BUT
NO CHANCE OF A TOP 10 PLACE
Today the event climbed from the oil and
gas town of Roma where the Mayor flagged off the cars to the
posh holiday resort town of Noosa. A stark contrast where
the warm ocean, the glamour of Hastings Street and balmy sunshine
make a welcome change for the hard worked crews as they count
down the days until they reach Sydney.
The good news is that Jimmy McRae finally
found a machine shop capable of skimming the head of his Toyota
engine and re-fitting the head gasket. "It will good to run
the last three days of the marathon," said Jimmy. "But with
the penalties we’ve got we’ll be lucky to get into the top
ten. But I really want to be a finisher."
McAndrew did it again topping the times
on both of today’s 20 km stages. But now it’s Montgomery and
Lorimer who are trading identical stage times – they were
equal third on the second stage today. With Toyota man Steve
Blunt making a charge from the rear to record second fastest
time and a solid third fastest on the first stage.
Meanwhile McAndrew holds a 14m 10s lead
over team mate Montgomery almost 2 minutes ahead of Lorimer.
Anthony Ward creeps up the leader board in his Escort and
is now in 5th place.
Tomorrow is the biggest stage day of the
rally – three stages totalling over 100 kms of flat out racing
over forest tracks on the way to Glen Innes, a town fiercely
proud of it Scottish heritage.
"This could be a decider
in the final stages of the marathon," said Toyota driver Steve
Blunt. "These really are sting-in-the-tail stages." more...
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out daily reports:
5th
June to 4th July 2004 day by day
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