| 2005 Trial Event.
For the Anderson family, it was a
case of third time lucky. Young James Anderson has sealed what father Mike and older
brother Chris have been pursuing for years, an outright rally championship or series
victory.
Sunday the 16th of
October dawned to see competitors line up for round 4 of the Clubman Rally Series. Held in
Mundaring, the Rally Australia Trial event is used to train officials for the
international event run just a few weeks later.
Warmer weather had dried out the
roads and made the stages dusty. The top level of gravel on the first group of stages was
very loose and didn’t offer much grip.
14 special stages would decide what
was claimed to be the last Rally Australia Trial Event. Lee Mcilroy/Steve Vass had been
working feverishly on their Westnet RX7 to have it ready for the rally. Having drawn car
one was not to be an easy day for the pair, eventually ending up off the road in SS4.
The short stages were bringing a lot
of close times. James Anderson/ Jon Coney (Nissan Sunny) would take the lion’s share
of stage wins during the day, however many times were shared. The longest stage was first
up for the day. Mazparts/Wasp sponsored Dave Thomas/Paul Church set the fastest time for
SS1 in their Ford Escort. Jo Bond and Steve Rance retired from competition early. In SS1
the pair hit a tree and then rolled their Daihatsu Charade. Both were taken to hospital
for observation and later released.
Special Stages 2 & 3 were short
stages at just over a 1km long. Duncan Leighton/Sam Skipworth (Ford Escort) won both
stages however shared the SS3 win with a 3 other crews.
SS4 saw the retirement of
Mcilroy/Vass. The RX7 had slid off the road in a difficult position and only a small stump
was holding the car from taking the scenic route down an embankment. Coney/Anderson then
assumed first position on the road and continued to strengthen their lead.
SS5 had several stage winners and 8
teams within 5 seconds of each other through the stage. Chard Marshall/Matthew Richards
had a truly Australian experience when the duo collected an Emu in SS5 and had to retire
their Datsun 1600.
Leighton/Skipworth and
Anderson/Coney continued to fight it out on SS6 before an electrical fault delayed
Leighton in SS7, then a fire in liaison to SS9 retired the newly built Escort altogether.
Steven Davies and David Abetz (Corolla) won SS7 starting their challenge for the lead
whilst Aaron & Karel Foster won SS8 in their Hyundai Excel. Julian Wright/Jeff Huggins
had been pedalling their Datsun 1200 hard in the morning stages. After SS8 the car had to
be retired after an earlier altercation with a tree.
On the remaining stages several
teams put in strong performances and shared stage times. Lea Welch/Justin Smith (Escort),
Kingsley & Ros Foster (Celica), Mark Cameron/Adam Pearson (Suzuki Swift), Nigel
Anderson/Mike Rowston (Corolla) and Ben Searcy/Daniel Smith (Swift) were all challenging
for stage wins. Anderson/Coney were proving too quick and continued their seemingly
unstoppable charge.
After 14 stages Peter Spight/John
White brought their Hyundai Lantra to a respectable tenth place. Ray Robertsen/Richard
Reeves (Suzuki Swift) finished well in ninth, Anderson/Rowston were eighth, and
Aaron/Karel Foster was seventh. Welch/Smith slotted into sixth, Cameron/Pearson had a
trouble free run to be fifth and husband/wife team Ros and Kingsley Foster were fourth.
Thomas/Church were third, Davies/Abetz second and Anderson/Coney first.
The win for Anderson/Coney has given
the pair an unbeatable position in the Clubman series for 2005. The Light Car Club Darling
200 Rally will cap off this year’s Clubman Rally Series. Scheduled to run on November
26th, event regs and info are now available.
For now the attention of WA,
Australian and indeed international rally people will be firmly on Telstra Rally
Australia. The event will start on the Perth Gloucester Park Super Special Stage on the 10th
of November.
Karl Drummond |
