In a major success for the Wildcat’s new constructors, Qt Services, saw a clean sweep of the first three places in the gruelling Pharaons International Cross-Country Rally, held over seven days and 3,000 kms in Egypt’s Western Desert.
In what was a thrilling finish, Jérome Pélichet and Eugénie Decré took the honours in their Team Raid Lynx 4-litre Wildcat 200, which was raced for the first time with its new Sadev/Qt developed six speed sequential gearbox.
Beaten narrowly into second place after a tough battle with the Raid Lynx car, were Roberto and Nicola Tonetti in their Team Pro Race 4-litre Wildcat 200, who had led for much of the rally but fell foul of some treacherous terrain during the last stage.
However, the third-placed Wildcat was probably the most satisfying placing for Qt Services, as boss Dave Marsh explains: “Michel Visy’s third-placed Wildcat, built in our Liskeard, Cornwall works, was a considerable achievement for both Qt and Michel’s Cantal Events team, as we only delivered it six weeks before the rally. I suppose it says a lot for the ease of setup, even for the Pharaons. It was also the first event for our new Jaguar 4-litre V8 installed in Michel’s car; it ran faultlessly throughout and for him to bring it home in third place is a terrific bonus.”
It was a satisfying win for Pélichet and Decré in their winning Raid Lynx Wildcat and Eugenie Decré was complimentary about their achievement: “For sure there were some impressive cars at the technical check but in the end, we can say that the reliability of the Wildcat is more proven. We hope to repeat the success in December on the Eco Rally Africa Race.”
