Whilst many in Perth were taking stock of the damage caused by severe weather overnight, hardened rally competitors, officials and enthusiasts were heading out of town for round 2 of the WA Clubman Rally Series on September 17th.

Along the roads on the way down to the WA Car Club’s Stirling Stages Rally, it was evident that heavy rains had fallen recently.

Many of the transport roads were muddy and the underlying clay wasn’t helping either. The two wheel drive Clubman cars were definitely going to struggle for traction in places.

It had been a long time between rallies for Clubman competitors and many were keen to get back into the swing of things. Lee Mcilroy and Steve Vass had swapped cars again and brought out their Westnet Employment Services Ford Escort for a run. The pair led the clubman only entrants away.

The Benger Autocross track was used as SS1. Running two at a time on the Super Special Stage (SSS) the Clubman field started in front of a good crowd of spectators. The rain seemed to hold out, although the wind was strong and bitterly cold.

Being a combined State and Clubman rally, the SSS was quite slippery in places after the four wheel drive cars had been around. The Mazparts/WASP Escort of Dave Thomas and Paul Church won the stage with father-son combo Graham and Matt Harper second in their Melville Mazda Hyundai Lantra.

After the short SSS competitors headed out to tackle stages around Stirling Dam.

Lea Welch and stand in navigator Andrew Hannigan took the SS2 stage win. The pair raced their Genie Performance Exhausts MK I Escort through the stage 28 seconds quicker than nearest rivals, Kingsley and Ros Foster (Boddington Service Station Toyota Celica). Jay Cruickshank/Aaron Willox retired prematurely when they rolled their Works Automotive Commodore. Also having some bad luck in SS2, Harper/Harper retired early with a blown head gasket.

Having a ball on the Stirling, Mcilroy/Vass continued to push hard and were rewarded with a quickest time in SS3. Ros and Kingsley Foster were just two seconds adrift in their front wheel drive Celica. After a great start Thomas/Church struck trouble in SS2. The pair had bent a strut and limped through SS3, retiring shortly afterwards. The Crown Motor Company Daihatsu Charade of Jo Bond and Jenny Kendall also retired in SS3 when the pair put the car off the road and got stuck, running out of late time. Will Zwart/Stephen Rance (Crown Motor Company 4WD Mazda 323) were on their first rally. Running at the rear of the field, the pair were enjoying themselves. In SS3 the pair broke a gear selector cable and were forced to retire.

By mid afternoon the weather was looking better. The sun had come out and the wind was dropping although the roads of SS4 were muddy in places. Foster/Foster took their first stage win of the day with Gary Whittle/Sharon Black second in their Datsun 1600. The end of the forest stages saw one more retirement for the day. McIlroy/Vass was forced to retire during SS4 with the simplest of problems, a broken fan belt. It had now become a hat trick of retirements for the Extreme Racing Team.

Crews returned to the Autocross track for SS5 and the end of the rally. The final stage win went to Kevin Hollingsworth/Neil Munyard in their Toyota Corolla. Second fastest time went to Chard Marshall/Kaylin Miller in their Datsun 1600.

Duetime quickly calculated the Clubman times and provisional results were posted for inspection.

Struggling with misfiring, the Sleeps Transport Nissan Exa piloted by Kevin Sleep and Chris Kirkhouse finished tenth. Hollingsworth/Munyard completed the rally in ninth and Rex Ratenbury/John Thornborough got their Mazda 323 home in eighth.

The yellow Charade of Jon Nannen and Ivica Zekic was seventh, Mark Stevens/Paul Scally were sixth in their Hyundai Lantra and Marshall/Miller were fifth. Having lost some time in SS3 dropped Welch/Hannigan to fourth by day’s end. Whittle/Black kept it smooth despite a spin in SS1 to gain third place. Keeping it in the family, Aaron and Karel Foster took their Boddington Service Station Hyundai Excel to second place, whilst parents Kingsley and Ros Foster won the rally.

For the Clubman series, round three will be the Rally Australia Trial event, scheduled for October 16^th 2005.

Karl Drummond

As Saturday the 17^th of September dawned, some wondered whether the final round of the WA State Rally Championship and round 2 of the Clubman Cup would run.

The Perth Metro area had some severe weather over night and for most it was unknown if the weather had reached Harvey.

Along the roads on the way down to the WA Car Club’s Stirling Stages Rally, it was evident that heavy rains had fallen recently.

Even the entry road into the Benger Super Special stage and Rally HQ was very muddy. The clay under the gravel crust was seeping through making the road slippery.

It was soon evident that this theme would continue through most of the roads on the event.

Being the last round of the WARC, the pressure was on. There were theoretically several drivers who could win the championship. Alex Stone/Dianna Madlener (WRX) led the pack with a slender lead going into the Stirling. To win the championship, Stone/Madlener needed a high finish and having drawn car 1 for the second rally in a row, the pair had their work cut out for them.

The Benger Autocross track was used as SS1. Running two at a time on the Super Special Stage (SSS) the rally started in front of a good crowd of spectators. The rain seemed to hold out, although the wind was strong and bitterly cold.

The first few cars through found the SSS had a lot of water on it in places. Deep Creek sponsored Chris Anderson/Joel Lithgo (Lancer Evo 4) set the fastest time around the short stage with Father Michael Anderson and navigator Toni Feaver (Lancer Evo 6) in second.

Out into the forest things changed drastically for some competitors. Stone/Madlener put their WRX off the road early in SS2 and their rally was over. It would now be an agonising wait to see whether their lead would be enough to take the championship. Anderson/Lithgo didn’t get much further either, retiring with mechanical problems in SS2. Silverstone sponsored Craig Bignell/Joan Percival also had trouble with SS2. The pair put their Evo 3 off the road for a short time, losing about a minute. Anderson/Feaver took their Panel Worx Evo 6 to a stage win and Mick Steele/Lee Tierney (Speed Works WRX) were second.

The Yellow CDM Australia Evo 3 of Matthew Knox/Elio Della Maddelena shared the fastest stage time in SS3 with Steele/Tierney. John "Chucky" Macara and co-driver Chris Parish were second in SS3 in their Wheels on Yirrigan WRX. Having a bad run of luck all year, Linde Materials Handling sponsored Mark Cameron/Adam Pearson hit a rock in their Suzuki Swift Gti and retired soon after with damaged suspension. Adam Fox/Matthew Schroder in their Rohan Fox Automotives Toyota T18 also retired when they ran out of late time in SS3.

By the mid point of the rally things were looking a little better. The weather was holding out although the roads of SS4 were muddy in places. Bignell/Percival took their first stage win for the rally with Knox/Della Maddelena second. On one particular right hand corner in SS4 the line was tricky to judge. Maximum Motorsport’s Rob Herridge/Lisa Dunkerton (WRX) attempted to take out media when they took an interesting line through the corner as did Rod and Michelle Stone in their Mazda 323.

Crews returned to the Autocross track for SS5 and a service. By a strange twist of fate, Kim Stephens in his first drive in a rally set the fastest stage time in his Silver Maximum Motorsport WRX with Knox/Della Maddelena second.

For such a short stage, there was high action. Whilst Anderson/Feaver may have been charging hard earlier in the day, everything came to an abrupt end for the pair on SS5 when they rolled heavily and retired. David Gould/Wayne Marshall (Honda Civic) also retired after SS5 of unknown problems.

Knox/Della Maddelena won SS6 with Bignell/Percival fighting back to be second on the stage. Steele/Tierney won SS7 with Knox/Della Maddelena second as the battle see sawed.

Chris Gerdei/Matthew Richards returning to rallying put their Racetune Escort off on the penultimate stage and retired. Stone/Stone also retired their Mazda with overheating problems.

So it was down to the last stage of the last rally in the year for the WARC and things couldn’t have been much tenser. Herridge/Dunkerton took the stage win whilst Knox/Della Maddelena and Chucky/Parish shared the second fastest time.

After the rally there was a nail biting wait whilst Duetime calculated provisional results. All knew that the WARC rested on the outcome of this rally.

Some different names filled the top ten.

The Swan Auto Subaru Parts Subaru Legacy of Warren Phillip-Clarke/Chris Kostopoulos took a well-deserved tenth place. Robert Ash and Alex Kirkhouse must have been very pleased with their ninth place. It is no mean feat to gain a top ten finish in a state round, let alone your first season. James Anderson/John Coney was the only two-wheel drive team to break the top ten. The pair finished eighth in their Deep Creek sponsored Nissan Sunny. The Skunkworks WRX of Toby Heyring/Peter Turner was seventh, sixth went to Ross Mackenzie/Paul Vandermey (Rospen Motorsport WRX) and Bignell/Percival managed fifth. Chucky/Parish had a trouble free run to finish fourth just 12 seconds behind Herridge/Dunkerton in third. A further 10 seconds ahead was second placed Steele/Tierney putting in a sensational drive. Showing just how tight the battle had been during the day, Knox/Della Maddelena won the rally by just 18 seconds.

In the WA State Championship, things were close too. Herridge/Dunkerton finished with 42, Macara with 43, Stone/Madlener with 44 and with 48 points Bignell/Percival retained their WARC title.

Hosted by the West Australian Car Club, the 2005 Stirling Stages Rally will run in and around the Shire of Harvey.

This year, eight special stages totalling 106km will comprise the state championship event, whilst Clubman competitors will compete on four special stages at around half the distance. Rally headquarters and the central service park are based at the Autocross track, approximately 3 km from Benger.

The first taste of competition will be a short blast around the Benger Super Special Stage. Rally cars will line up two at a time and run against each other and the clock in furious sideways action as crews warm up for their assault on the forests around Stirling Dam. The Stirling will also run into the dark, adding another dimension to what is to be a crucial round in deciding the State Rally Championship this year.

Spectators will have the opportunity to see both competition and servicing in a central location. The Benger Autocross venue contains Rally Headquarters, the Super Special Stage and the service area. After watching cars compete two at a time, a short walk will allow spectators to watch rally cars being repaired, inspected and adjusted as teams return from the forest for service. Clubman competitors will service once, whilst state competitors will service three times during the event. The Super Special Stage will run twice with the first cars starting at approximately 12:00 PM. Food and drink will also be available at the Benger facility. To get to the Benger Autocross track, follow Southwest Highway; Approaching from Perth turn left into Sandalwood Road 2.7 km south of Benger.

Approaching from Bunbury turn right into Sandalwood Road 5.5 km North of Brunswick Follow the signs to the circuit. Motorsport and animals do not mix, please do not bring pets to the event. Spectating is free.

The WACC is seeking officials to assist on the Stirling Stages. If you'd like an exclusive spectator point, just metres from the rally action in the forest or can assist in anyway, please contact Ann Skipworth on: 9455 7284 or via e-mail: fskippy@bigpond.com.