Teenage rally driver Tom Cave finished the first day of this year's Rally of Scotland in fifth place overall in his Proton Satria Neo S2000, after an eventful day of competition in the Scottish forests. And as both official Protons, of Alister McRae and Keith Cronin retired from the event, Tom now has responsibility for flying the Proton flag on the event.
Tom and co-driver Craig Parry began the day in seventh place overall, after two runs through the superspecial stage at Scone Palace in Perth. However, like several other drivers, they would suffer an early set-back, when a puncture on the first stage of the day cost them a minute as they drove out of the stage at reduced speed.
Tom then struggled to find a rhythm on the two following stages, complaining that he was unable to get sufficient heat into the tyres to gain maximum grip. However, he maintained his focus and arrived at the mid-day service in ninth place and with a clear idea of how to improve the car.
The Davies Motorsport technicians checked the car and fitted a set of cut intermediate tyres, designed to provide grip and longevity but also, heat up to optimum temperature quicker than those used in the morning.
The move clearly paid off and Cave was immediately back on the pace. He set a pair of top six stage times on the second loop of three stages and avoided any further problems, to climb from ninth to fifth overall by the end of the day's six stages.
Speaking at the end of day service, Tom said: "I'm really pleased to be fifth at the end of the first day. It's been a tricky day, for sure, and this morning, I didn't think we would be in this position.
"The tyres we chose for the first loop really weren't working in the cold conditions. I just couldn't get enough heat into them to make them work and because of that, I couldn't get a good feeling with the car.
"The car itself felt really good - it was working well and felt very strong. But at the lunchtime service, we stayed with the same compound tyres but added a cut to try to get more heat into them and that seemed to work. The grip was much better and the overall feeling was really good.
"After that, it all seemed to come together. I was really pleased with the pace we were setting and we managed to avoid any more problems, like the puncture we picked up on the first stage this morning."
The second day of the event takes the crews south-west of Perth, to the area bordering Loch Ard. They will face four stages, in two loops of two run twice. However, not only will they face the fearsome Loch Ard test, at almost 30Km, they will face the day's 90 stage kilometres with only a tyre service mid-way through the day.
"I'm not celebrating yet," said Tom, "as there's still a very long way to go and tomorrow will be a long, difficult day. Two runs through the Loch Ard stage will be very demanding and now, as we're the last Proton running, we really must get through to the finish."
The first crews are due to drive over the finish ramp at 15.00hrs, in front of the stunning backdrop of Stirling Castle.
