I'd rather a mechanical failure that cost pounds to fix than thousands, but it still won't take the hurt away of not being able to finish the rally, But probably best like that, if you got to your first rally and won it, you'd have nothing to work towards getting the best out of the car getting dave to drive it proper.
It will be worth it in the long run, this bit of pain will only make it sweeter when it finally comes good
TiG