| Experts Cup Review
The final round of the 2006 WA State Rally
Championship was a slippery affair. Running around the catchment area of Wellington Dam in
Collie, the July weather supplied plenty of rain and turned the clay based roads to mud.
With a new twist for 2006, the Experts Cup Rally was changed to a fully pace noted event.
Teams had the opportunity to look at the special stages in the morning, prior to the rally
starting in the afternoon.
A lot hinged on this event. If Alex Stone and
Dianna Madlener (WRX) did well on this rally the state championship would be theirs.
Others would be fighting hard for the win, those closest in contention were Toby
Heyring/Peter Turner (Spec C WRX) and Rob Herridge/Anthony Chudleigh (WRX).
By the 2:00 pm start the rains had stopped
falling in the forest, helping slightly with traction. Whilst the head of the field ripped
through the stage, those further back approached with more caution. Herridge/Chudleigh
took themselves to an early lead, winning SS1 with Chris Anderson/Joel Lithgo (Spec C WRX)
2nd and John Macara/Paul Helm (WRX) 3rd.
In SS2 Herridge/Chudleigh found a tree and a
bank, giving their Subaru a bump in the left front and finishing the stage third fastest.
Leigh Hines/Stuart Percival (WRX) were second quickest and Heyring/Turner took stage 2
honours in their new Spec C WRX.
SS3 was a test of teams over 25km around
Wellington Dam. The stage had some distinctly muddy sections to negotiate. Heyring/Turner
again won the stage. This time the Lancer Evo 7 of Dennis & Jacquie Dunlop was second,
equalling the time of Stone/Madlener’s WRX. Relatively early in the rally Lee
McIlroy/Steve Vass lost a great deal of time. The pair had gone off the road and got their
WRX stuck in SS3. As precious time ticked away the team recovered the car, however not
before 7 or so minutes had expired dropping them well down the order. Hines/Percival were
forced to bow out at the end of SS3 with a blown engine which also caused an under bonnet
fire. Graham Furness/Peter Lindsay also ended their rally in SS3 with driveline problems.
SS4 was the start of the night stages.
Macara/Helm won the stage, Stone/Madlener were 2nd and Herridge/Chudleigh third. By the
end of SS4 the overall rally lead held by Heyring/Turner had been whittled down to just 1
second.
In SS5 Stone/Madlener took their first stage
win of the event. ARC regulars Darren Windus/Jon Mortimer borrowed a local Spec C WRX for
the Experts. In SS5 the pair were second quickest and keeping up the pressure
Herridge/Chudleigh were third. Some were struggling with the slippery stages and the dark.
Karl Drummond/Karen Russell (WRX) found reverse on several occasions after overshoots on
corners whilst Kevin Sleep/Alex Kirkhouse were struggling with this year’s Experts.
The pair left the road in SS5 and lost an inordinate amount of time recovering their
bogged Honda Civic.
The last and long repeat of the Wellington
Dam stage was next. Where some would have been taking a conservative approach toward the
end of the rally, those at the front were fighting it out hard. Drummond/Russell found a
ditch in SS6 dropping a minute or so getting out. Peter Spight/Graham Harper found the
same ditch in their Hyundai Lantra although without 4WD, the time lost was much greater.
For Stone/Madlener, an off in SS6 lost precious seconds producing a nail biting finish for
the pair.
Finishing strongly in tenth place, Derek
Reddie & Jon Statham gained a credible tenth in their Galant VR4. Doug Tostevin/Alan
Cook (Legacy RS) finished ninth and Blair Pugh/Glenn Martinovich finished eighth outright
and first 2wd in their Ford Escort. Recovering from the dramas of the last event, Chris
Anderson/Joel Lithgo finished seventh behind the identical WRX of Windus/Mortimer in
sixth. Finishing their first rally for the 2006 season, Dunlop/Dunlop made the top five
with fifth place and Macara/Helm were fourth. With less experience in the dark
Heyring/Turner lost the rally lead finishing the event in third place. Herridge/Chudleigh
had driven quickly enough to be second and Stone/Madlener took the rally win by 9 seconds.
For Alex stone it was a flawless performance,
having driven to a first place trophy on every round in 2006. Toby Heyring/Peter Turner
took a well deserved 2nd in the outright 2006 WARC and Rob Herridge/Anthony Chudleigh were
3rd.
For the 2006 Class awards (N4) Heyring/Turner
were 1st, Herridge/Chudleigh 2nd and Graham Furness/Peter Lindsay 3rd. The P1 class was
won by Mark Cameron/Ian Deboer, 2nd Ray Robertsun/Richard Reeves and 3rd Julian
Wright/Jeff Huggins. P2 and 1st in the 2WD championship was won by Steve Davies/David
Abetz, 2nd Kevin Sleep/Alex Kirkhouse, 3rd driver Nigel Anderson and 3rd co driver Richard
Harris. P3 was won by Leo Iriks with Peter Spight 2nd and Jamie Trainer 3rd. The P3 co
driver situation is a little different. Graham Harper won with Jonathon Knox, Paul Van der
Mey and Glenn Martinovich are all tied in second on 20 points each. P5 was won by
Stone/Madlener, 2nd Karl Drummond/Karen Russell and 3rd John Macara/Paul Helm. Tom
Wilde/Kyle Sayer had themselves a great debut season winning the inaugural P6 class and
rookie driver, with Doug Tostevin/Alan Cook 2nd and Warren Phillip Clark 3rd P6 driver.
3rd P6 co driver went to Brad McDonald.
Karl Drummond |
