 Scotland's Jimmy McCrae and Pauline Gullick have paced themselves well in the early stages of the silver fern. At this point, leading is not important, but McCrae, the celebrated British Rally Champion, is eager to stick in touch. It's been pretty good, we had a bit of a problem with sticking brake, brake pedals sticking in the first stage, but since then just been getting us bedding ourselves in for the next seven days. I've just got to be quicker tomorrow, that's all. McCrae's 1978 Escort is powered by a modern variant of the Ford Focus and is allowed under the rules to encourage and maintain classic cars with sometimes the better reliability of modern technology. Jimmy's skill behind the wheel has been even again today in the dust, but the Scotsman is praying for rain. I'd rather drive on a wet road than driving dust. At least on a wet road, in fact you've got better grip on a wet road than you have on dry dusty roads. When you come into a cloudy dust, you've got to slow down and just pick your road and see where you are, or you could end up, you might be thinking straight, but it might not be. We had a bit of a shower on the way in there and I thought, keep coming, keep coming. Modified Ford Escort is Brian Stokes, Cosworth engine, six-speed sequential gearbox and independent nine-inch rear axle, by far the biggest weapon in silver fern, but not without its own dramas. Stokes' race looks almost over as the sophisticated six-beaters on the ground with no fourth gear. The car will make the compulsory park firm a tonight in town without its gearbox. Rally rules allow the cars to be worked on for designated periods of time before and after special stages and touring. So long as they meet the clock and the times, there's no punting. So while the car is away, the team can fix or replace their gearbox, but cannot fit it to the car until released in the morning for the start of rallying.