After the disappointment o retirement on round 2, John Powells Evo 9 was fitted with a new engine before round 3 in Costa Rica.

So at the start of the event John had a 2nd overall in round 1 and a non-finish in round 2 so was in need of a decent finish here. On stage 1 John and his main competition for the championship, Ricardo Trivino were both caught sleeping by youngster Jose Montalto in a Subaru who went 20 seconds quicker than John. Not to worry though as John went fastest on stages 2 and 3 to get within 3 seconds of the lead.

Unfortunately Powells Evo 9 left the road on stage 4 for over 6 minutes. Time loss was not the only problem though, picking up a burst rim and tyre the rim ripped the front brake pipe in two. John managed back to service where there was no spare brake pipes. Our crew managed to swap a rear pipe onto the front to give him full brakes on the front.