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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">ELSEWHERE AROUND THE WORLD</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">21/06/2004</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">2004 FIA Junior World Rally Championship </FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">Natalie Goes In Search Of Eastern Promise</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"><B>Natalie Goes In Search Of Eastern Promise</B> <BR> <BR> After a frustrating start to the 2004 FIA Junior World Rally Championship on two of the most difficult rallies in the series (Monte Carlo and Greece), top female rally star Natalie Barratt heads to Round 3, the Rally of Turkey on 24-27 June, in search of Eastern promise. <BR> <BR> The Rally of Turkey will be a new experience for Natalie and co-driver Carl Williamson as neither has contested the event before. This hopefully won’t be too much of a disadvantage for the duo for although the JWRC did visit the Eastern Mediterranean country last year, the event was run under very different circumstances. Held in March, severe weather almost put the rally in jeopardy and left stages wet and muddy with even patches of snow found in certain areas. This year the rally takes place in June, which is likely to offer baking hot temperatures of 30 degrees centigrade upwards and very different dry and dusty road conditions for drivers to contend with. <BR> <BR> Following its first WRC outing on the Acropolis Rally three weeks ago (4-6 June), Natalie’s new Renault Clio S1600 remained in Greece after the rally for Natalie to test the Risbridger Motorsport Solutions car on the rough gravel roads. <BR> <BR> The Rally of Turkey encompasses rough, rocky gravel stages which are run at an average altitude of 1200 metres above sea level through the Anatolian mountains. Like in Greece the importance of cooling the car will really come into play on this rally as under the baking summer sun cars contend with narrow twisty mountains roads and steep uphill climbs resulting in slower average speeds and restricted engine airflow. Drivers also need to be wary of rally wrecking rocks and boulders which hide on the inside of corners and are brought to the surface of the track by the cars in front. <BR> <BR> Natalie said: “I’ve never rallied in Turkey before but I’ve heard a lot from other drivers about last year’s event. It’s supposed to be very twisty with lots of uphill climbs similar to the roads found in Cyprus and Greece. From that respect it won’t be too much of a trip into the unknown for me as I’ve done Cyprus twice before and Greece three times so I’m no stranger to rough gravel rallies, I’m just hoping the stages don’t get too cut up. <BR> <BR> “The heat is going to be a big factor in terms of cooling the car and also on tyre wear. As this will only be my second rally in the Clio we ran a test after the Acropolis Rally to gain more mileage in the car under similar road conditions. We’re awaiting a new 2004 specification engine to arrive for Turkey which will be much better than the one we ran in Greece and I’m hoping it will bring us closer to the pace. We’ve had a disastrous start to the season with two mechanical failures, so I’m hoping we’ll have a good run in Turkey and that it’ll be the turnaround point for the rest of the season.”</FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>