Handbrake ends Reeves’ Power Stage charge

In what looks set to be a battle royale this weekend, Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Gelsomino have finished second to Scott Pedder/Dale Moscatt (Renault Clio) in the Power Stage of the Quit Forest Rally today.

Reeves' day started perfectly when he brought the RallySchool.com.au Mazda2 home with the fastest time on the qualifying stage, 0.77 seconds ahead of Pedder, with another Victorian, Alan Roe, in third.

Then, on the warm-up for the top five Power Stage 'shoot out', the hydraulic handbrake fitted to Reeves' car for rallies broke, and with only a few basic tools in the car, he was unable to have it repaired before the actual stage started.

The tarmac street stage includes three hairpin corners and another corner where drivers have to negotiate a barrel, so having no handbrake made it quite difficult. Reeves, however, drove as smoothly as possible and was happy to finish just 1.2 seconds behind Pedder.

Repairs to the handbrake will be made ahead of tonight's start of the rally proper. Crews will do two runs of the Super Special Stage (the same course as the Power Stage) near the Busselton foreshore this evening before the gravel rally stages start in earnest tomorrow morning.

The Quit Forest Rally is round 2 of the ECB Australian Rally Championship, which Reeves and Gelsomino currently lead.

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