British driver Harry Hunt will start Rally Australia this evening, despite a last-minute scare aboard his Citroen DS3 R3.
Hunt's i-Cars-run Citroen suffered a problem with the turbo during the team's pre-event test on Monday. The trouble was rectified by a new vacuum valve for the car, which was flown out to Australia by one of the team's engineers.
"The car wasn't boosting properly at the test," said team manager Iwan Evans. "We spoke to the team back in the UK and went through what the problem could be. He brought the spare part out in his hand luggage, we fitted it and the car's perfect now."
The problem with the DS3 did force a change to the team's timetable for the event, however.
Hunt added: "We hadn't planned to run at shakedown this morning, but when we couldn't test on Monday, it was really important to get out in the car. Everything is good now. It's going to be a great event, the roads are incredible around here."
Hunt is leading the 2WD Cup in the Production Car World Rally Championship and chasing his first FIA title. The 22-year-old won four rally titles in his rookie season last year.