Well that's another rally weekend over and by the time you read this you will know that Brad Markavic and Glen MacNeall in the Auto One Subaru WRX won the event , while John O'Dowd and Ben Searcy came in second and Rob Webber/Tony Feaver were third. In the 2 wheel drive race Mark Travis/Tony Floyd in a Toyota Sprinter took a convincing win while putting on a magnificent show of sideways driving, followed by Shane Harmer/Nic Anyan in their Holden Commodore (taking out the 2wd challenge at the same time), and Greg and Deanne Flood came in third.
The Clubman Cup was closely fought with less than 25 seconds between the first two cars in the end, with Jason and Paul Lowther in their Toyota Corolla taking the win from Carl and Tracey Ratterbury's in their Mk1 Ford Escort. New comers to the sport this season Mitchell and Stuart Clark took out third place in a Datsun 1600.
As for the event, it was run by the Ascot Car Club, with Justin Hunt leading a very capable team of volunteers, and using some of the best roads in and around Grimwade Plantation, not far from the small south/west town of Kirup, where the rally based itself.
The road ranged from very tight and technical to fast flowing roads allowing for plenty of variety with some yumps thrown in for those who wanted to be brave and do some low level flying.
The weather played the game with the sun out for most of the day, with a couple of light showers thrown in, which helped keep the dust away but left some muddy spots to keep the competitors on the ball. This caught some of the crews out, with them going off and getting bogged with Roger Dickson in the Falcon the first victim in SS/1. Most were able to region the event but significant time loss. In a couple of cars the electrics didn't want to play the game, such as Tom Wilde's Honda on SS/5, after swapping times with Mark Travis all event. Geoff Leatt-Hayter's Nissan Silvia succumbed to the electrical gremlins as well. The only car that didn't fare well was the Toyota Yaris father and son team of the Newell's, who on the last stage tangled with a tree and will most probably need to re-shell. Luckily both the crew walked away with only a bruised ego and pocket.
From a photographer's point of view and as somebody that has helped run events and competed on these roads many many years ago, the roads looked great with a bit of everything and I look forward to the next visit to the Grimwade Plantation.
The next event in the WA rally championships (RallyWA) is the 50th running of the Light Car Club - Carringtons Traffic Services - Safari Rally based in Chidlows, just 40 minutes east of Perth on Saturday October 10th. For more information go to www.rallywa.com.