“Harry did a stunning job”, a beaming Neal Bates said after his clear win of the Australian Classic Rally Challenge, part of the ECB Australian Rally Championship and International Rally Queensland held last weekend on Queensland’s sunshine Coast with Smart & Ryan winning the WebStor Wheel Change Challenge.
Bates, the clear favourite, set the pace even before the rally begun with blistering laps of the tricky Nambour showground during the media day on Friday, turning heads with even seasoned International APRC competitors surprised at the 30 year old RA-40 Celica’s turn of speed.
Harry Bates, Neal’s 18 year old stepped in to Navigate when regular co driver of over 20 years service Coral Taylor could not attend the rally.
Harry had only done a few local events with Neal and the International Rally Queensland was his first major event.
Thousands of rally fans watched a great evening of rally car action with four classic teams putting on a rally demonstration, which concluded with the “WebStor Wheel Change Challenge”
Ryan Smart wins WebStor Challenge – image Vettas Media
Rally fans cheered and clapped as crews completed their demonstration laps, finishing in the infield in front of the grandstand.
A close fight for the fastest Wheel change ensured assisted by the Pedders “No Bull”, “Archie ARC” and the ECB East Coast Bullbars cheerleaders!
Ryan Smart (Datsun 180B SSS) took out the “WebStor Wheel Change Challenge”, closely followed by Bates, (Celica) a bewildered Harry having never changed a wheel before, from Keith Fackrell, (Escort RS 1800) to Fro Horobin, (Datsun 180B SSS).
Attention turned to the opening morning stages around Imbil and Bates opened his account with a solid lead of 2min 18s over Ryan Smart after the second run through the Pomona Dash.
Ross Dunkerton struggled after the first stage with distributor problems and David hills Escort had a gearbox failure.
Keith Fackrell had an uncharacteristic problem with damage to a rear upright shock absorber; punching a hole through the body, hitting the bottom of the roll cage, losing the shock in the process and sidelining him for the weekend.
With the Escort ranks severely depleted, Clay Badenoch in his Toyota Corolla held onto third.
Series leader Fro Horobin (Datsun 180B) finished Saturday in 4th place, 8mins 7sec back from the lead, Bates claiming the day with an extended lead over Smart in his new Datsun 180B SSS by 3mins 56sec.
Ross Dunkerton repaired the Escort RS 1800 to rejoin the rally on day 2, roaring back into the action with a 3rdfastest on Derrier reverse, thrilling the crowds with a high-speed entry to the Imbil spectator park as fast as any of the top teams, with the Escort on full attack!
On the next stage, David Hills in his Escort RS 1800 took on Dunkerton head on, taking 3rd fastest, Smart winning the stage over Bates, 1.2 secs back.
Bates took control on the next stage, Smart dropping 23 secs to the Otago Rally winner, Hills upping the pace to finish 3rd fastest behind Smart, Bates lead safe being 5mins 25secs in front.
Fro Horobin rolled the Datsun in the next stage, ending his chance of a finish and consolidating his lead in the Classic Rally Challenge. Horobin is one of the crews to commit to the entire championship and now Horobin faces a big battle to get ready for the next round.
Fellow WebStor wheel Change competition prize money winners decided after they heard the news to donate their prize money to his car rebuild fund!
With the sad news of a navigator passing away due to injuries sustained in an accident in the Queensland Championship, the afternoon schedule was rearranged with a stage cancelled and Derrier reverse lengthened.
Bates continued to his lead to take the win in the Breakneck Stage, powering on to win the Classic Challenge, Ryan Smart in the 180B SSS 5mins 35 seconds in arrears and Clay Badenoch 3rd. 14mins, 26 seconds back.
Jeremy Browne and Rob Hunt (Mini Cooper S) finished the rally last outright, some 50 minutes behind the hard charging Bates; their rally was about competing in a car that has been used for 40 years, by a crew who was competing 40 years ago!
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