The team put in an inspired drive, beating the V8 Commodore of Jacob Bruinsma and Lisa White to take out the P4-Class over the weekend.
In addition to the ‘family car’ battle, the i30 CRDi also brought home trophies for 1st place in ‘Showroom Class’, ‘Eco-Rally Challenge and topped it off with a highly respectable 2nd place in the ‘2WD Championship’, finishing with outright 8th place at the ARC on the weekend.
With some class competition at last, Team Hyundai Rallye took to the forests on Saturday morning with an increased sense of purpose and determination to push the i30 for extra speed. First day results were encouraging - achieving a new top speed of 155km/hr helping them secure a significant lead for the class in the morning stages.
“We really enjoyed having the competition this weekend – it certainly made the event much more interesting for us, and we had a great time with Jacob and Lisa,” co-driver, Harvey Smith admitted. “We really hope that they will make it to Victoria, and perhaps that might encourage some other 2WD competitors to come out and have a play! We have a lot of fun with Barry Kirk and the other guys back in the field. It’s great camaraderie, and we have a lot of laughs.”
The Commodore put on some spectacular shows at the spectator points, which obviously cost the crew some time. Team Hyundai Rallye were nowhere near as spectacular, but kept to the plan to keep pushing the i30 to its limits.
Driver Mick Gillett conceded the early stages were challenging for the larger vehicles. “Stage one was obviously tough for the larger cars,” he said. “The i30 is far more nimble in those conditions, and we were able to capitalise on that advantage. We pushed the i30, and it delivered.”
On day two the i30 increased its lead over the Commodore, and maintained an unassailable class lead in the endurance event. Once again, the Hyundai i30 was one of only 11 ARC cars to finish the gruelling 269km of competitive stages, showing its class and durability in the long-form of rallying.
“With three finishes in a row we’ve shown the Hyundai i30 turbo-diesel is ultra-reliable, and the team is looking forward to the Victorian round of the ARC in November. We really feel we are working well together in the car, gaining more speed with every competitive kilometre travelled, and the fantastic service crew make it all the more easy to concentrate on doing our job in the car.” said Gillett.
The final round of the Australian Rally Championship will be held on Saturday 13th November, in Drouin in the foothills of Mount Baw Baw part of the West Gippsland Neerim district of Victoria.
For more information about the event visit http://www.rallyvictoria.com.au/
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