Trying to wrestle a rally car with an injured thumb is less than ideal, although that was the situation Queenstown’s Mike Sheehan was faced with last Sunday.
Determined to minimise the damage to his class lead in the FIA Group N 2WD category, he strapped his thumb and decided to drive in the New Zealand Rally Championship’s third round at Canterbury. The injury, which requires a 12-week healing period, had happened only a week earlier, when a pass went wrong as he was warming up his son’s team for a rugby game.
‘‘It was not ideal. Mentally, I was just broken after two stages,’’ Sheehan said.
The pain from the ripped ligaments was intense and he was devastated when another car passed him in a stage, as he was unable to hold a consistent pace in his Ford Fiesta R2.
Popping some anti-inflammatories dulled the discomfort and a he received some good news when his main class rival Robbie Stokes punctured, spurred him on to continue through the next five stages of the seven-stage event. Stokes and his sister Amy went on to overturned a half-minute deficit on the final stage to win.
‘‘All power to him. It was an awesome drive,’’ Sheehan said of his fellow competitor.
With three rounds left, he has 24 points to Stokes’ 19 and needs to finish at least second in class in each race to take home the silverware after the final rally at Waitomo on October 19.
For now, he is focused on ‘‘doing everything I can to get my thumb right’’ before the fourth round in South Canterbury on June 22.
- by Catherine Pattison
Photo: Geoff Ridder
