Evo’s dominate KCF Rally Series opener

The trusty and familiar Mitsubishi Evolution proved the car to have at the opening round of the KCF Rallysport Short-Course Rally Series last weekend, with no less than the top five spots being taken by the marque.

New South Welshman Nathan Quinn, with co-driver Craig Jones, stole the show when he managed to gain a late entry to the event and continued with his recent run of rally successes. His superb effort in the ex-Chris Atkinson Evolution 5 was matched by the brother and sister team of Ryan and Rebecca Smart who ran their first event in an Evo 6 Lancer, recently acquired from Bruce Fullerton.

Marty Beckton and John McCarthy took their Evolution 6.5 to the third spot on the podium, while Erik Johnsson/Drew Crossley grabbed fourth in the ex-Steve Shepheard car and the Knowles’ (Simon and Margot) ran the first event in their beautifully rebuilt Evo 6 to clinch fifth.

Kathy Mullaly and the team from the Brisbane Sporting Car Club once again presented the event at the township of Jimna and selected two stages of 7.6km and 8.9km for the field of 32 entries. With temperatures in the high twenties and none of the recent rain in sight, it was a glorious day for rallying. As pace-noted events, these rallies are popular with everyone from beginners to the most experienced, and reconnaissance proved trouble-free.

The event was also the opening round of the 2008 Silverstone Competition Tyres Gemini Rally Series but unusually only three crews were nominated, equalling the entries for ‘Pocket Rocket’ points.

The ‘Pocket Rockets’ included Craig and Linda Newell (Honda Civic), Gideon Street/Daniel Grissinger (Peugeot 306) and Steve Andrews/Debbie Dillon (Proton Satria).

Over the opening stage, Quinn went out hard and grabbed an immediate lead.

The Smarts were also quick out of the box, probably no surprise to those who had seen them in action in their ageing Datsun 180B. Beckton and Johnnson were also quick, as was the VR4 of Ross Cox/Jason Page and Craig Aggio/Therese Feldman in their works-replica Celica. Greg Latham/Nathan Long packed up early with electrical troubles in their Hyundai Excel.

Over the longer SS2, the finishing order was the same, as Quinn established himself as firm favourite. Jason Van Passen/Dirk Van Holst Pellekan retired their Charade just 500 metres from the end of the stage with a boxful of no gears in their Charade.

With times improving slightly on the second run of the first stage, the field started encountering problems. Wayne Menzies/Chris Baxter, having moved into the ex-Keith Callinan Subaru WRX, suffered overheating and went no further. Matthew Harrison/Simon Lake retired their Mazda BFMR with a snapped ball joint and Andrews/Dillon put the Satria into a bank. Ben Lynagh/Jeff Mendoza lost the brakes in their Gemini.

Quinn’s times kept dropping, as did everyone else’s in the top group, but he was running at about 1-1.5 seconds per kilometre quicker than his rivals. A trouble-free run saw the crew maintain, and increase their gap to second place and at the end of the third run over the pair of stages, victory was theirs. Their winning margin over Smart/Smart was a healthy 50 seconds, with Beckton/McCarthy a further 50 seconds back in third spot.

Erik Johnsson/Drew Crossley improve with every outing in the ’07 QRC-winning car and they took a solid fourth. Simon and Margot Knowles drove consistently and quickly to secure fifth amongst classy competition.

Craig Aggio/Therese Feldman were not only a fine sixth but won the Classic class convincingly over Brian Fallon/Linley Fallon in the Triumph 2500.

In the Geminis, Nathaniel Dillon/Graeme Offer won the top prize, from Grant Brecknell/James McIntosh and Tim Dillon/Adrian Dillon in third place.

Other overall class winners included Craig/Linda Newell (Honda Civic - PN2), Glenn Mitchell/Bryan Zelinski (RS2000 – PN3), David Claes/Lachlan McKenna (Volvo - PN4), Jamie Lawson/Chris Munro (Celica 4wd – PN6), Dave Ovenden/Cate Kelly (RX2 - RRR2), and Ross Cox /Jason Page (VR4 – RRR5).

The next round of the KCF Series is scheduled for Saturday, May 31.

1. Nathan Quinn/Craig Jones                    Evo 5 Lancer                36:36
2. Ryan Smart/Rebecca Smart                 Evo 6 Lancer                37:26
3. Marty Beckton/John McCarthy              Evo 6.5 Lancer             38:16
4. Erik Johnsson/Drew Crossley               Evo 6 Lancer                39:06
5. Simon Knowles/Margot Knowles           Evo 6 Lancer                 40:16
6. Craig Aggio/Therese Feldman               Celica turbo                 40:18
7. Ross Cox/Jason Page                          VR4                            40:23
8. Dave Ovenden/Cate Kelly                      Mazda RX2                 41:10
9. Brian Fallon/Linley Fallon                     Triumph 2500               41:24
10. Jamie Lawson/Chris Munro                  Celica 4wd                   41:25

Author