Next time you have a flat tyre on your car, see how you compare to a top Welsh rally crew when it comes to wheel changing.
Elfyn Evans and Dan Barritt were crowned Kings of the Wheel Change ahead of last week’s XION Rally Argentina.
The M-Sport World Rally Team duo won the inaugural WRC TV Wheel Change Challenge in Villa Carlos Paz.
Evans and Barritt were clear winners of the competition after 11 World Rally Car crews went up against the clock and each other in a race to see who could best handle the pressure of a timed wheel change on their rally cars.
After unfastening their seat belts and jumping out of their cars, crews changed their rear left wheel. They replaced the jack and wheel in the rear of the car before sprinting to collect an Argentine flag which driver and co-driver held aloft.
Evans and Barritt completed the task on their Ford Fiesta RS in a blistering 46.00sec to defeat Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20) in 47.07sec, with Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R) in third in 47.13sec.
“We’ve spent quite a lot of time over the last few years trying to get the best system and it showed,” said Evans.
Last to finish were Martin Prokop and Jan Tománek who entered into the spirit of the event by donning high-visibility safety jackets before starting their change. They completed in a leisurely 3min 08sec.
Changing wheels is an integral part of WRC, one of a small number of motorsport disciplines where competitors must do so in the heat of competition.
The WRC TV Wheel Change Challenge can be viewed on the WRC YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/TcP9ANRAb8g.
