18 Oct 12

Nobre praises mechanics
for rapid repair job

Paulo Nobre has his WRC Team MINI Portugal mechanics to thank after he reached the finish of day one of Rally Italia Sardegna in 15th overall.

Brazilian Nobre damaged his MINI John Cooper Works WRC when he crashed on Thursday morning’s Qualifying Stage.

With only a few hours available before the opening stage got underway at 16:13hrs local time, it took a heroic effort to get Nobre’s car repaired in time. “The team did an amazing job and we’re here now,” he said.

Nobre’s Australian team-mate Chris Atkinson is eighth after two stages but far from happy with the handling of his car, which resulted in a lack of confidence behind the wheel. He hopes set-up changes at overnight service will transform his prospects on day two.