As the seasons change and the temperature drops, the MV Solar Rally team braved a trip to Glenn Innes.
Only Michael and his yellow beast made this trip, with a team comprised of navigator Ken Hind and support crew Dennis Valantine and Jai Condon.
Arriving safe and well on Friday night, the boys were well rested and ready for action bright and early on Saturday.
They were exuding confidence and energy as they set out 14th in the run in their Datsun 1400. The course included four stages, a total of 120km, along smooth, fast and flowing shire roads.
New to the calendar, Rally New England was the opening round for the 2015 Gary's Motorsport Tyres NSW Rally Championship.
Following a service at the end of stage one, the team were feeling good about their start. The smiles continued at the completion of stage two.
Running results going into the third chapter had MV Solar in ninth place overall, proving that a broken radiator fan was not going to break their pace.
The race was on at the completion of the third sector- but not for the car you would expect! On their way for the afternoon service, Dennis and Jai suffered a tyre blow out on the support vehicle. But a quick change and they were on their way again.
Wrapping up the final stage, there was smiles all round with Michael commenting that it felt like the race was only half over.
"We had a really good day," he said.
"Pushed a little hard on the last couple, had a spin on the one before in the spectator point so we probably lost 15 seconds there.
"It was a good, fast run.
"We had a couple of hairy moments in there, but we are back in one piece which is good."
Having completed the course in a total time of one hour and 33 seconds, Team MV Solar finished the day in 12th position outright, snatching up first in the Pocket Rocket Class.
