Higgins withdraws, O'Sullivan 3rd after day one

On Saturday, the 2003 Wild West ProRally in Olympia, Washington began amid extremely dry conditions. Race organizers decided to cancel all afternoon stages due to high forest fire danger, and with the cancellations came an eight hour break for the racers.

An unfortunate set of circumstances forced powerful David Higgins and Daniel Barritt from the race early in the day. Barritt, suffering from a viral infection, was physically unable to continue safely navigating and the team withdrew from the competition. Higgins noted, “carrying on would have risked damaging the car and damaging ourselves.”

Barritt was suffering, and even though his heart is 100% in the team, he could not physically cope with the event. A rally co-driver and a driver have a special bond. It can not be broken or replaced with a substitute. The relationship these two share in the car takes years to develop, and can not be replaced on a whim, thus forcing the retirement today.

A driver of this caliber, driving this kind of car at this kind of speed, allows no margin for error. For Higgins to drive 100% he needs to be able to get calls in the same cadence and in the same way he’s used to getting with Barritt. This team has already proven they can win a championship. You have to be incredibly physically fit, and if you’re a little off, you could make a mistake; an unacceptable risk.

Filling the void left by Higgins was O’Sullivan, ever competent and resilient on the course. O’Sullivan and Edstrom, despite minor damage on stage two, battled Ramana Lagemann all day for top-three position. Although landing in the third spot, O’Sullivan is easily within striking distance, and looks forward to the continued duel tomorrow.

After day one was complete, Lauchlin O’Sullivan’s technicians worked together with him to make adjustments to the car, hoping to gain an advantage for Sunday. Even the smallest changes to the suspension settings can have dramatic effects on the car’s handling and performance.