Leading the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship Classic Rally Challenge, the team returned triumphant from the QUIT Forest Rally to a small shed on the outskirts of Queanbeyan to prepare the car for the fast roads of the Barossa.
And before even arriving in SA, the team knew they would have a hard task ahead of them. Neal Bates and Coral Taylor had returned from Otago with their weapons-grade RA40 Toyota Celica and would be dominant for the event.
But also in the mix was another Australian Champion in Barry Lowe with Helen Pearl alongside in his Holden Commodore, along with its NASCAR-derived heart. The trifecta was finished with SA locals Nev Whittenbury and Dave Rudham in their Datsun 180B, always a hard charger on the SA roads.
Friday nights stages at Gawler Sports and Community Centre saw Fro start out strong, setting a time only bettered in the Classic field by Bates and Taylor in the Celica on the first run of the Super Special Stage. In the second running they were bettered by Nev's 180B as well, but still looked toward Saturdays stages in a strong second place.
Saturdays stages however saw Fro Horobin struggle with his inexperience on the fast South Australian roads, dropping back behind the locals. Barry Lowe and Helen Pearl didn't last long on the attack though, as the Baynes Gully stage claimed the Commodore from the fray. Also hot on Fro's heels were Queensland pairing of Wedding and Lasijczuk in a Datsun 1600, setting good times and applying pressure to the 180Bs in front.
Sunday saw stages more to the liking of the FroSport Internationale team, setting times much closer to that of Nev Whittenbury's 180B, and even a little closer to the times of the Bates/Taylor Celica. A moment on the Manfour stage did unsettle the confidence, and an incident late in the event saw the engine pumping oil all through the engine bay. But those pre-event preparations proved fruitful in getting the crew to the end for a podium position.
FroSport Internationale still leads the Classic Rally Challenge pointscore, and is now making plans to be at International Rally Queensland, where there is sure to be a bumper field of Classics ready to put on a great show for the Sunshine Coast crowd.
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