In the lead up to the June 25 - 27 event, the Rally Power team were busy at work, replacing the Subaru WRX’s engine after it failed at the finish line of the Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally. With the help of MJP Automotive and S&J Automotive who built the new motor, the car was ready just in time for Rally SA, and also generating more power and torque than ever before.
The event officially kicked off on the Friday night at the Angaston Super Special Stage where the team had a steady start placing third going into the Saturday’s stages.
For the first time Rodda and Piristi entered in the Australian Rally Championship section of the event, therefore mixing times with the national competitors and running on the Kumho control tyres. “It was great to be able to compare times with the front runners, and be seeded amongst them on the road. The Kumho tyres took a little bit to get used to, and once we got the tyre pressures correct we started to gain confidence in them,” Rodda said.
Coming into the stage 4, Rodda and Pirist had a very small lead on Dwyer and Ryan before slipping down to third behind both Dwyer/Ryan and Brown/Dale, but were still eighth in the ARC to end heat one.
With the car running faultlessly and the S&J motor not missing a beat, they had a good start to Heat 2 setting fifth fastest stage times in the ARC.
Sunday's stages again went smoothly, just off the pace of front runners, Dwyer/Ryan, but still managed to post an SARC stage win on the last pass of the Mt Crawford Stage. To round out the event Rodda, Pirist and the Rally Power team took out second Outright SARC and a great seventh Outright in the ARC.
“It was a fantastic way to end the event. It's our best SARC and ARC result to date! Participating in the first Champagne spray on the Podium was a great feeling too. We couldn’t have achieve the result with out the amazing help and support in the lead up and during the event from Matt Parker from MJP Automotive, Sean, Joanne and Daniel Day from S&J, Mark Povey and his crew from SA Motorsport Tyres everyone else who helped out in service across the weekend. Also a huge thank you to our other sponsors, Isaacs Auto Electrical, Meadows Veterinary Centre, Safeguard Insurance Brokers, Focus Home Improvements, Festival City Photography, Autosport and Vale Signs.”
The SA Rally Championship now heads to the Copyworld Walky 100 in Robertstown on August 14, where the Rally Power Motorsport team hopes to continue their success.
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