Evans and Orders celebrate Rally Victoria victories

Young Victorian driver Steve Mackenzie finished a remarkable second overall in his underpowered Ford Fiesta coming home 2 mins 27.7 sec behind Evans with Pedder a further 17.9 sec back.
 
Pedder sat second for most of the day but lost time during stages 13 and 14 and fell back to third overall with Justin Dowel 41.5 sec behind to mark his return to the ARC with fourth place in the debut of his new Volkswagen Polo G2.
 
"I'm thrilled to win all six events this year," said Eli Evans.
 
"Honda has provided a reliable and consistently fast car and our results reflect that.
 
"Next year will be a whole different ball game and I'm looking forward to the challenge of defending my title."
 
Tasmanian Stephen Turner was able to hold on to third for the round for the first outing of his R2 spec Ford Fiesta.
 
Simon Evans was entrenched in a tight battle with younger brother Eli this morning but a broken differential in the MazdaG2 on the day's fourth stage put him out of contention and allowed Eli to run away with the heat.
 
Will Orders celebrated his return to Australian rallying with back to back heat wins and the last ever four wheel drive ARC round win. Orders in the Evo V finished ahead of champion Michael Boaden in the more modern Evo IX by 47.6 sec to take the win.
 
Rallyschool Australia Junior Challenge winner Dane Berry in an Evo IV put in a notable drive to finish third 1 min 25.7 sec behind Boaden and third outright for the round.
 
Fellow RAJC winner Adam Casmiri was in the top three until the third last stage when he stopped midway with mechanical failue.
 
John Mitchell had a short day behind the wheel of his Evo VII. He and his co-driver wife Jo Cadman had only travelled 300 metres before being caught out by the slippery surface on a fast bend, sliding off the road backwards and rolling down an 10 metre embankment. Both Mitchell and Cadman were unharmed in the accident.
 
In the Australian Classic Rally Challenge a broken gear selector in the RA40 Celica put Neal Bates out of the running and gave Grant Walker the heat and round win in his Ford Escort.
 
The Nissan Stanza of Darryn Snooks finished --- behind Walker while fellow Stanza drive Trevor Stilling ended up third for the round.
 
The opening round of the 2013 ARC, Rally Canberra takes place 1-3 March.
 
RALLY VICTORIA BOSCH TWO WHEEL DRIVE ARC HEAT TWO RESULTS
1- Eli Evans                   Honda Jazz          1h 35min 0.8 sec
2- Steve Mackenzie        Ford Fiesta          1h 37min 28.5sec
3- Mark Pedder              Honda Jazz          1h 37min 46.4sec

RALLY VICTORIA BOSCH TWO WHEEL DRIVE ARC ROUND RESULTS
 1 - Eli Evans                  Honda Jazz
2 - Mark Pedder             Honda Jazz
3 - Stephen Turner         Ford Fiesta

BOSCH TWO WHEEL DRIVE ARC FINAL STANDINGS
1 - Eli Evans                  Honda Jazz             519
2 - Mark Pedder             Honda Jazz             331
3 - Matt Amos               Holden Commodore  238

RALLY VICTORIA BOSCH FOUR WHEEL DRIVE ARC HEAT TWO RESULTS
1 - Will Orders               Mitsubishi Evo V        1h 31min 52.9sec
2 - Michael Boaden        Mitsubishi Evo IX        1h 32min 40.5sec
3 - Dane Berry               Mitsubishi Evo IV        1h 34min 06.2sec

RALLY VICTORIA BOSCH FOUR WHEEL DRIVE ARC ROUND RESULTS
1 - Will Orders               Mitsubishi Evo V
2 - Michael Boaden        Mitsubishi Evo IX
3 - Dane Berry               Mitsubishi Evo IV

BOSCH FOUR WHEEL DRIVE ARC FINAL STANDINGS
1 - Michael Boaden        Mitsubishi Evo IX       499
2 - Mick Patton              Subaru WRX Sti        315
3 - Tom Wilde                Mitsubishi Evo X        245

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