Access Hardware’s Spencer Lowndes has finished round two of the Australian Rally Championship in fourth outright, moving him into equal fourth outright in the ARC and equal second outright in the Privateers Cup.
Lowndes had a less than perfect start to Heat Two, colliding with a kangaroo on the first stage (SS10) of the morning, before rolling towards the end of SS12.
“We were a bit unlucky this morning but seeing the damage to some of the cars that had similar incidents with kangaroos yesterday, we got out of it pretty well,” said Lowndes. “There was only some minor cosmetic damage to the bumper and the headlights, so we’d obviously done something right.”
“Unfortunately we didn’t take advantage of that and rolled two stages later, but once again it could have been a lot worse.”
“We just got the timing a bit wrong and by the time I had seen the corner I was in fifth gear coming down into a third gear corner, and I jumped onto the brakes but it was too late and we ran off the outside of the road,” he continued.
Lowndes’ service crew repaired the damage caused by the roll over and he was quickly back on the pace, only 0.2 seconds off Neal Bates on SS16 and holding off a chasing field over the final four stages.
“We were able to record top three stage times once we got going again so it goes to show how strong the car (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) really is,” said Lowndes.
“Fourth outright was a great result all things considered. We’ve been able to secure some more points towards the Championship and I know we’ve still got some more speed to find, so I’m looking forward to the next event.”
Lowndes is now the leading placed Mitsubishi driver in the Australian Championship, sitting equal fourth along with Eli Evans.
The Access Hardware Rally Team’s focus now shifts to the next round of the Australian Rally Championship, coates Rally Queensland, being held in the Imbil State Forest, from June 21 - 22.
Pic: Redline Photographics.
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