The experienced duo of Andrew Taylor and Robin Smalley took out last weekend’s Yakkerboo Trial, the latest round of the Victorian Club Rally Series.
Driving a Mazda RX7, the pair trailed young gun Grant Heywood in a Datsun 1600 for much of the event, but Heywood paid the price for bald rear tyres and beached his Datsun on the final stage, gifting Taylor the victory.
Simon and Ian Ellis were second in a Subaru Legacy RS Turbo, while Campbell Eastwood and Darren Miller gave their recently-built Datsun Stanza its best result to date, finishing third.
Aside from Heywood, Geoff Portman was the most high profile retirement. His borrowed Holden Commodore suffered rear suspension failure on stage seven, although the former Australian Champion will return to competition at next week’s Rally of Melbourne.
It was not a good event for the Evans family either, with Simon’s sister Kylie failing to finish in her Impreza RS, while dad Peter Evans retired his Impreza.
Final results:
1 Andrew Taylor/Robin Smalley, Mazda RX7 17:37 

2 Simon Ellis/Ian Ellis, Subaru Legacy RS, 20:17 

3 Campbell Eastwood/Darren Miller, Datsun Stanza, 20:22 

4 Mark Millar/Dion Clayton, Datsun 240Z, 21:40 

5 Ben McKee/Ashley Mabbitt, Ford Escort Mk2, 22:24 

6 Derrick White/John Rawson, Peugeot 504 Ti, 25:07 

7 Adam Bloomfield/Phil Hurle(J), Holden Commodore VH, 26:02 

8 David Lawrance/David Webb, Datsun 1600, 29:27 

9 Trevor Woods/Kimberley Woods, Datsun 1600, 31:26 

10 Rex Muldoon/Tristan Kent, Datsun 260Z, 32:10
Photos: John Doutch
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