Atkinson hopes for pace gains in Wales

Chris Atkinson will be hoping to climb into the top 10 on day two of Wales Rally GB after revealing how his ultimate pace was masked by brake issues on Friday’s six all-gravel stages.

Driving for WRC Team MINI Portugal for a second time, Atkinson is 11th overall starting Saturday’s seven tests in his John Cooper Works WRC. And he’s optimistic for an upturn in speed following the overnight halt in Cardiff.

“We had the brakes glazed over from the first stage and that probably cost us a fair bit of time through the day,” the Australian explained. “But we’ll change the type of pads we’re using for tomorrow and hopefully solve that problem. The pedal was hard but when you pushed it, it didn’t bite, there was no immediacy and you had to take care a bit. Then halfway through the stage I couldn’t turn the car on the brake any more so I was having to drive round that a bit. It wasn’t ideal but it was a good steady run with no major risks.”

He continued: “We were 1.6 seconds per kilometre slower on average over the day with the brake problem and Kris Meeke was one second per kilometre in his MINI last year so I think we can move up to that pace.”

Atkinson’s Brazilian team-mate Paulo Nobre starts first on the road on day two. He’s currently 20th overall on the FIA World Rally Championship qualifier.