Teamed with new co-driver, Arron Topliff, in readiness for an attack on the Otago Rally in New Zealand, ‘Goldy’ won all 9 stages of the event, which was held in wet, foggy conditions.
The Open category saw the turbo-charged Nissan Silvia of Graeme Cook and Brad Armstrong emerge victorious, whilst in the hotly contested Rookie Series Jarrod Gotch and Shannon Grills won in their class B Celica, after a determined run through the foggy night stages.
The event opened with a short leg consisting of a Super Special stage and an 8km run through Jenolan East forest. Brad Goldsbrough quickly established a lead in his Datsun 1600, jumping out to a 30 second lead in the wet conditions.
AMSAG debutant and Rookie Series competitor, Jayke Skeffington, was leading the challenges. 18 year old Skeffington, with co-driver Mark Patroni, also in a Datsun 1600, were drawing acclaim with an attacking drive in the slippery conditions. Skeffington and Bill Brown/Trent Murphy in another Datsun 1600 quickly established a rivalry, which was to continue for much of the event. Brown was only a handful of seconds behind Skeffington in third Classic position.
The Subaru WRX of Gareth Morgan-Thomas/Matt Ruggles led the Open category from Gerald Schofield and Dave Hills - both in Lancer Evolutions. Morgan-Thomas wasn’t happy however, with his Subaru struggling for power with turbo boost issues. Graeme Cook led the Open 2WD category from Mark Callinan in a BMW, and the Young brothers in a Commodore.
As the rally progressed, Goldsbrough continued to pull further away from the chasing pair of Brown and Skeffington, who swapped stage times in a see-sawing battle. Graeme Cook closed on Gerald Schofield’s Lancer in the Open category as Morgan-Thomas withdrew with suspension failure and Dave Hills/Paul Bennett slipped out of contention into an eventual retirement.
John Joyner (Evo 6) was enjoying a strong drive and battled with the turbocharged Bluebird of Trevor Parsonage. Both would find themselves well up the finishing order by the end of the rally.
Night saw the fog roll in, and this changed the nature of the event immediately as crews struggled to see through the ‘pea-soup’ fog. It didn’t stop Goldy, however, who was able to maintain his stage winning ways. Bill Brown was another to quickly come to terms with the conditions and drove away from Skeffington into second Classic and second overall.
Skeffington retired on the last stage with wheel bearing failure, but he had established himself as a challenger for future AMSAG events. Third Classic was inherited by Mark Bramble/Michael Bannon in the Galant in a consistently fast drive which highlighted the potential of this improving team.
Cook and Armstrong took the Outright Open honours in the 2WD Nissan from Schofield/White and Joyner/Warwick, both in Lancers. Dave Roberts and Paul Mallos took out the Open Front-Wheel drive class. Trevor and Rob Parsonage were 1st Open Rear-Wheel Drive after the Young brothers and the Callinan BMW both ran out of fuel in the last few kilometres of the final stage.
The Neale brothers, Gavin and Jamie, cut through the fog to win class A in the little Datsun 1200, with Jarrod Gotch claiming class B in the Celica. Father and son team Adam and Peter Crich in the Gemini took out class C, with Matthew Stretton taking out class D in the mighty Mercedes.
In the 16 strong field of AMSAG Rookies, Jarrod Gotch and Shannon Grills took the event from Tim Joass in a Gemini. Glenn Inkster/Bryan McDarmont were third in a Lancer after the demise of early pacesetters, Skeffington and Tom Clarke. The AMSAG Rookie Series is designed to cater for competitors who are new to the sport, with eligibility requiring that a competitor has competed in less than five events and the vehicle is normally-aspirated 2WD.
Kelly Caruana brought her Commodore home to win the Ladies class, with Mel McMinn in the co-driver’s seat. Lyle Topliff was second, turning the tables on her sister, Rae Waterhouse, who failed to finish the event with mechanical failure.
A huge thank you to all the officials who braved the miserable conditions, and congratulation to rally director Peter Batt for another successful running of this event.
Results:
Classic
1. Goldsbrough/Topliff        Datsun 1600
2. Brown/Murphy         Datsun 1600
3. Bramble/Bannon         Mitsubishi Galant
4. Stretton/Miller         Mercedes
5. Middleton/Walker         Commodore
A. Neale/Neale         Datsun 1200
B. Gotch/Grills         Toyota Celica
C. Crich/Crich            Gemini
D. Stretton/Miller         Mercedes
Open
1. Cook/Armstrong         Nissan Silvia
2. Schofield/White         Mits. Lancer Evo6
3. Joyner/Warwick         Mits. Lancer Evo6
4. Parsonage/Parsonage      Nissan Bluebird
5. King/Maytom         Nissan Skyline
04 Gotch/Pederson         Subaru Impreza
02R Parsonage/Parsonage      Bluebird
02F Roberts/Mallos         Hyundai Excel
Rookies
Drivers
1.   Gotch
2.   Joass
3.   Inkster
Co-Drivers
1.   Grills
2.   McDarmont
3.   Batt
See more of Geoff Benson's Jenolan Rally photos HERE
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