Round Two of the Australian Rally Championship, the Quit Forest Rally in Busselton, began on Friday night with two runs around the Super Special Stage in town.
The Honda Civic Type R of Eli Evans and Glen Weston placed well, finishing fifth after both stages and only 3.5 seconds from the first car, putting them in a good position for the remainder of the heat on Saturday.
With some small suspension changes, the Honda was travelling well however only finished four of the eight stages on Saturday. A malfunction with an engine pulley after the Ferndale stage forced them to fix the Civic Type R. The team missed the final group of stages, however rejoined the field after the final service of Heat One.
On Sunday, the remainder of the Quit Forest Rally went well for the team who made further tweaks to the suspension for more traction. Both Eli and Glen were happy with the result, with the car finishing 13th overall.
Eli remarked; “Wow, this car is so much fun to drive. There’s no question that the spectators thought that our car was the most spectacular one in the field. It sounds awesome and looks so fast when it’s on a stage.
“This was always going to be our toughest round in this year’s championship due to the ball-bearing gravel that covers the roads in WA. Being car two on the road didn’t help either as there wasn’t a clear swept driving line like the cars behind us had to drive on.
“We learnt an awful lot this weekend on car set-up. We worked hard on getting a good base setting for the suspension and the car continued to set faster and faster times over the event.
“I’m really looking forward to the round in Coffs Harbour next month. The Honda was fast there in 2008 when Guy Wilks drove it and we have a test session planned in the meantime.”
Round Three of the ARC is the Coffs Coast Rally (Coffs Harbour) on May 15 and 16.
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