Irish Motor Sports News – Harry Hunt’s Rallye du Maroc comes to a premature end

Harry Hunt’s Rallye du Maroc comes to a premature end

Oct 05, 2016

Up-and-coming Cross Country driver Harry Hunt had high hopes for the Rallye du Maroc, but he is already on his way home after an accident on the second stage of the rally.

It was a frustrating conclusion to his very first event in the Peugeot 2008 DKR, with which he will contest next year’s Dakar Rally alongside experienced co-driver Andy Schulz.

Having got off to a solid start, Harry was third overall after the initial splits on the second stage of the rally, which happened to be the longest of the entire six-day event. Unfortunately, he was caught out by a bump in a fast section where the rear of the car dug in, sending it into a series of rolls.

“We were 136 kilometres into the stage and there was a long, easy right hander with a bump at the end,” said Harry. “Andy called the pace note for the bump in 200 metres, so I braked – but I braked during the actual corner. I didn’t actually need to brake there but I thought I would take it easy. Then the car just snapped right and dug in, and we flipped at about 150kph. It’s annoying as we were trying to be careful at the time, and we knew we had a good pace without taking too many risks. Unfortunately that’s sometimes the nature of these events: you only need a split second of miscalculation in 10,000 kilometres for it to go wrong.”

Harry and Andy were taken to hospital for checks before heading home, where they will now focus on preparations for the Dakar from January 2-14 next year, as they bid to improve on their 10th place from 2016.

“This is obviously a bit of a setback as I would have liked to have had the full mileage from this event, but there’s no point dwelling on it,” added Harry. “In these situations you just have to pick yourself back up, learn what you can, and move on. On the positive side, the car is absolutely amazing and I really enjoyed driving it. Even in the 300 kilometres or so I did, I learned a lot. PH Sport did a brilliant job, and I can’t wait to drive it again now.”

Akio Toyoda praises Toyota Gazoo Racing...
Jan 17, 2021 Comments Off on Akio Toyoda praises Toyota Gazoo Racing & Hino Sugawara Team on Dakar Rally 2021
Honda 1-2 on 2021 Dakar Rally as Kevin...
Jan 16, 2021 Comments Off on Honda 1-2 on 2021 Dakar Rally as Kevin Benavides wins & Ricky Brabec 2nd in the world’s toughest race
5th place overall for Bahrain Raid...
Jan 16, 2021 Comments Off on 5th place overall for Bahrain Raid Xtreme ‘Hunter’ driver, Nani Roma
4WD honours & 2nd overall for...
Jan 16, 2021 Comments Off on 4WD honours & 2nd overall for Toyota Gazoo’s Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel