Dominant lead for Reeves at Ojibwe Rally

The first three stages of the event were held in daylight on Friday (US time) and whilst they were very dusty, the Aussie pair had a good clean run. A small vibration in the second stage proved to be dirt in a wheel rim but the Team O'Neil Ford Fiesta R2 ran perfectly.

After a 30 minute service where spotlights were fitted to the car, the same three stages were repeated in the dark. In Stage 4, Reeves drove entirely with just the normal headlights on as the dust was so thick. In stage 5 and 6 there were patches of dust throughout but they managed to keep the car in the middle of the road and finish the night over two minutes in front of their series rival, Andrew Comrie-Pickard.

"It was a real challenge driving night stages again with so much dust, but it worked out well for us," Reeves said.

"The stages are really soft and sandy so in the second pass there was a lot of ruts. It was tricky holding the right line as there was very little traction. Tomorrow we will try to maintain our lead as the new stages will be technical and most likely dusty again like today".

The rally resumes on Saturday (US time) with another nine daylight stages.

Reeves and Smyth are currently second overall on the 2WD championship table despite missing the first two rounds.  Since commencing their Rally America campaign, the pair have won all three of the events they have contested and are in a strong position to make it four from four, edging them closer to a championship win.

Author