Rallying’s back with a vengeance down under, with the Australian title underway, and the New Zealand championship set to fire up this Saturday morning.
While COVID-19 continues to ravage Europe, here in the Southern Hemisphere we are almost back to normal, and rally competitors have come out in force to make up for lost time.
Canberra played host to the National Capital Rally last weekend, and as expected, it was the two brand new Toyota GR Yaris AP4s of Harry and Lewis Bates who dominated from the outset.
The young duo won every one of the 14 stages, with Harry winning 11 on his way to victory, and Lewis the other three.
Regular Kiwi competitor, Nathan Quinn, took the third step on the podium in a borrowed Lancer Evo X, but encouragingly, seven different drivers scored top three stages times over the two days of competition.
As always in Canberra, road conditions were rough and rugged, and not even recent torrential rain could stop the choking dust from playing its part.
Similarly, the rate of attrition was high, including the two Ford Fiesta R5s of Luke Anear and Tommy Monaghan, who both rolled. Anear got going again, but novice driver Monaghan wasn’t so fortunate.
Another front runner, Richie Dalton, also crashed out of fourth place in his ex-works Yaris AP4 after a rear suspension failure sent him off the road two stages from home.
This was the first championship round held using the new Hoosier control tyre, and competitors came away generally impressed by their performance. Only the hard compound is available to use, which was probably just as well on the dry Canberra stages.
It’s highly likely that 2021 will be another Toyota benefit, however, there are plenty of promising signs to indicated that this season will be the most competitive for many years.
The ARC next runs in Queensland in mid-May.
Back in New Zealand, you won’t find a rally person who isn’t bubbling over with excitement ahead of this weekend’s Otago Rally.
Nearly all the big names will be there, except Raana Horan, who has had to withdraw after breaking ribs in a recent boating accident.
The record entry of 114 competitors shows that local rallying is as healthy as it’s ever been, and we’re all confident that the competition will be just as healthy over the NZRC rounds to come.
Like Bates in Australia, Hayden Paddon is expected to take the chocolates, but should he suffer any problems along the way, drivers such as Hawkeswood, Hunt, Stokes, Turner, Marston and Summerfield will be there to pick up the pieces. Saturday can’t come quick enough!
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