Jeff David takes out 2013 Alpine Rally

Porsche driver, Jeff David, has won the 2013 Alpine Rally after a tough three days of competition in the East Gippsland forests.

David and co-driver, Grant Geelan, overcame clutch problems in their 911 to win by just over two minutes from Scotsman, Alister McRae, driving a Ford Escort.

In dry and dusty conditions on the final day of the rally, many of the leading crews fell foul to problems and dropped out of the running, or out of the event completely.

They included overnight leader, Alan Friend, who suffered rear suspension failure in his Nissan Silvia, and another former leader, Mike Conway, who broke a throttle cable in his Escort and was forced to miss the day's second stage.

Wayne Hoy and Lisa Dunkerton have finished third in their Datsun 260Z, three minutes clear of the Honda Civic of Brett Middleton and Andrew Benefield, while Luke Sytema and Rowan Woollard rounded out the top five in their Escort.

Provisional results, 2013 Alpine Rally:

1. David / Geelan, Porsche 911, 4h42m12s
2. McRae / McShane, Ford Escort, 4h44m24s
3. Hoy / Dunkerton, Datsun 260Z, 4h48m13s
4. Middleton / Benefield, Honda Civic, 4h51m23s
5. Sytema / Woollard, Ford Escort, 4h53m02s
6. Orders / Taylor, Toyota Corolla, 4h53m49s

More results are available at http://mucc.net.au/rallyresults/2013AlpineRally/ 

Photo: Peter Whitten

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