Stirling Stages 2004 Review
The perfect weather displayed on most other rounds of the
2004 State Rally Championship held out for this year’s Stirling Stages. The final
round of the state championship and round three of the WA Clubman Championship was run on
the gravel roads around Stirling Dam in the Shire of Harvey. Hosted by the West Australian
Car Club, state competitors would contest ten stages with Clubman teams contesting five.
This year all eyes were on the running of the Stirling
Stages. Although the route was the same as last year, revisions had been made else where,
primarily in the interests of safety.
Competitors lined up two at a time for SS1. Kicking off the
Stirling was a Super Special stage run around the South West Touring Car Club’s
Autocross track in Benger. "Chucky" John Macara & co-driver Hanna Drury
carrying number one on their Lancer Evo III lined against Mike Anderson /Anthony Chudleigh
(Lancer Evo VI). The Super special stage was short and the first few competitors all
shared similar times. Some though were struggling with the dry, loose gravel which would
dictate the roads for the whole event. The first stage win of the day was taken by
Matthew Knox/Trent McCullough (Lancer Evo III). Second for the stage was shared amongst
three teams: Chucky/Drury, Anderson/Chudleigh & Brad Markovic/Jon Mortimer (Subaru
WRX).
SS2 was the first real taste of the forest roads and a high
speed taste at that. The first few kilometers were very open and most teams were flat out
in top gear. Markovic/Mortimer were the first to come to grief on SS2. On a fast section,
the pair heavily rolled their WRX into immediate retirement. Both escaped unharmed thanks
to the safety devices fitted to the car. Stephen Oxley/Sally Flintoff (Subaru WRX) also
ended their rally prematurely sliding off the road and getting stuck. The Subaru camp was
beginning to suffer in SS2 when Lee Mcilroy/Steve Vass (WRX) retired with gearbox failure.
Ben Searcy/Daniel Smith (Suzuki Swift) added to the growing list of retirements in SS2
when they retired with a broken drive shaft. The stage win went to Craig Bignell/Joan
Percival (Lancer Evo III) with Chucky/Drury in second.
After the hefty rate of attrition in SS2, SS3 ran more
smoothly. The fastest four wheel drive cars clearing the stage in less than seven minutes.
James Anderson/John Coney running a Nissan Pulsar GTI retired in SS3 of unknown reasons.
Knox/McCullough took the stage win with Bignell/Percival in second with a margin of just
two seconds. The two teams traded places for SS4, making a right battle for the overall
lead. Mark Cameron/Julie Iriks in their Suzuki Swift ended their rally in SS4 when the
pair went off the road, crashing the car into a large hole.
SS5 was a long stage with several tricky corners including a
hairpin. Chucky/Drury appeared to be suffering a misfire in the stage, although still
sharing an equal second fastest time with Knox/McCullough. Justin Kinnear/Adam Pearson
retired on the hairpin of SS5. The Ex Works Suzuki Swift suffered transmission failure.
The second of the Anderson trio of cars retired in SS5. Chris Anderson/Joel Lithgo (Lancer
Evo IV) also suffered transmission failure whilst the third Anderson car of Mike
Anderson/Anthony Chudleigh (Evo VI) retired with mechanical failure. Bignell/Percival won
SS5.
The second pass of the Super Special Stage made up SS6. The
third stage win in as many stages taken by Bignell/Percival. Chucky/Drury taking second
and Knox/McCullough in third.
State competitors entered regroup and service, whilst Clubman
competitors finished as the last of the light faded. After the retirement of Mark Travers
(Toyota Corolla) with engine trouble, Toby Heyring/Peter Turner (Hyundai
Lantra) charged off into the lead for the Clubman only battle and won the event.
State teams would be out under lights for the
remaining four stages and fortunes were about to change for some. During the
afternoon, ominous looking clouds had gathered which threatened rain. As dusk drew closer,
the clouds disappeared and the clear skies dropped the temperature rapidly. Simon
Lowther/Jeremy Coleman (Subaru Legacy) were again struggling on this event. The pair has
had a mechanical jinx all year and it struck them yet again, retiring them in SS7. Despite
the darkness, most teams were faster on the second run through the forest stages.
Bignell/Percival took yet another stage win with Macara/Drury in second.
SS8 claimed the scalps of one crew who had been battling hard
for the lead all day. The Lancer Evo III of Knox/McCullough retired with over heating
problems. Chucky/Drury traded places with Bignell/Percival on the stage with Macara first
and Bignell second.
Bignell/Percival were to suffer their first major upset for
the entire season. Whilst leading the event, the pair suffered a flat tyre in SS9.
Stopping to change the tyre in the stage dropped them seven and a half minutes. A huge
amount of time to lose. Gavin Morgan/Chris Parish (Evo III) was forced to retire in the
same stage with a blown transmission. Running in the top four all day, Ross Mackenzie/Paul
Vandermey (Subaru WRX) took second place on SS9 with Macara/Drury taking the stage win by
twelve seconds.
Shane Eather/Dave Burton (Subaru RS Legacy) have been flying
this year, bringing top ten results in most rounds. On SS10, their good luck left them.
The crew left the road 3 km into the stage and beached the car on a stump. Unable to
recover the car themselves, the crew was forced to retire. The final stage win went to
Macara/Drury with Bignell/Percival recovering slightly from SS9 in second.
After 10 special stages and 14 retirements in the state
competition alone, it was certainly a race of attrition.
Some different names filled the top ten. A fast drive in
their Honda Civic awarded Kevin Sleep/Alex Kirkhouse with a tenth place. Nigel
Anderson/Mike Rowston trying to run over photographers on SS5, brought their Toyota
Corolla FX to the finish in ninth. The return of Blair Pugh/Toni Feaver to the state
championship saw the pair finish a strong eighth in their Ford Escort RS, despite
penalties. After last year’s Stirling Stages, Nic Box/Todd Payne (Toyota
Levin) were happy to have finished the rally and awarded a top ten finish in seventh.
SS9 dropped Bignell/Percival back to sixth by rally’s end. It wasn’t all bad
news for the pair; they have won the 2004 State Rally Championship outright. The Subaru
Legacy RS of Doug Tostevin/Alan Cook was inside the top five with a fifth place. The
Mitsubishi Galant VR4 of Derek Reddie/Andrew Percival had proved reliable for this event
and awarded the pair fourth place. Mick Steele/Lee Tierney (Subaru WRX) made the podium in
third place. The fast and consistent performance of Mackenzie/Vandermey rewarded the
pair with second place. John "Chucky" Macara & Hanna Drury won this
year’s Stirling Stages outright. It has been John’s second outright win in as
many rallies.
Special thanks must be given to the WA Car Club this year.
The job of organising the Stirling Stages was difficult, with many hurdles to overcome.
The 2004 Stirling Stages was proudly supported by: Hot FM, Budget, Coates Hire, Deep Creek
Tree Farms, Maximum Motorsport & Geoff Murphy Automotives. Thanks also to all of the
officials who gave up their time to make the event a success.
Story: Karl Drummond, Pictures: Paul Kane
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