“We will?be back.”
That was the comment from Sean Gill after he and co-driver Michael “Zippy” Cummins crashed out of Rally Trinidad yesterday.
The pair had been leading the gruelling three-day event until they crashed on the penultimate stage at Bronti in the Simpson Motors/Shell V-Power/Automotive Art Suzuki SX4.
“We are OK. I have a pain in my ankle, but we were not hurt . . . . I believe that the sump guard struck a bump and as we were travelling on grass in fifth gear, we lost it,” Gill explained.
He said the damage did not appear to be great, but the engineers would have to examine it.
“We will continue our campaign and would want to be ready for Sol Rally Barbados,” he added.
However, Gill admitted that Trinidadian-based Jamaican John “Penti” Powell, in the Subaru S14 had him under immense pressure yesterday as crews contested the remaining stages before heading to Saith Park for the Mayor’s Cup.
Gill and Cummins had picked up a four-second penalty for arriving late, but still headed the leaderboard with a total elapsed time of 58 minutes, 18.26 seconds.
Powell and his co-driver were next with a total time of 58 minutes, 40.03 seconds.
Last year’s winners and pre-rally favourites Jamaicans Jeff Panton and Mike Fennell (Jr) in the ex-Marcus Gronholm and Malcolm Wilson Ford Focus WRC, followed with a time of 58 minutes, 54.78 seconds.
The Barbadian pair of James Betts and Geoff Goddard in a Subaru Impreza were off the pace with one hour, 05 minutes, 56.99 seconds.
Two other Barbadian pairs – Trevor “Electric Manning” and Dustin Edwards, and Harold Morley and Zad Waddell – are among seven pairs out of the event.
