Andrew Pannam and Tim Batten in a Subaru Impreza WRX avoided a mob of kangaroos en route to winning a weather interrupted Bully Zero Begonia Rally on November 13.
Andrew Pannam won a rain shortened Begonia Rally in Victoria. Photo: Craig OBrienAndrew Daniell and Emily Leech in a Datsun Stanza were second, while Luke Sytema and Adam Wright rounded out the podium in a Ford Escort RS1800.
Following a few late withdrawals, 37 crews set out under threatening skies for the fifth and final round of the Focus on Furniture Victorian Rally Championship. Based in Ballarat and utilising the technical forestry tracks of Caralulup forest and the more open roads near Creswick, the event was to consist of 10 stages divided into two heats.
Having already secured back-to-back drivers’ championships at last month’s Akademos Rally, Darren Windus came into the final round targeting a win on home soil to cap off two dominant seasons. However his bid was short lived when a broken driveshaft ended his day on SS3.
Pannam and Batten, who were only one second off Windus after the two opening stages, seized the lead when Windus retired.
Behind them another classic battle for 2WD supremacy was unfolding. Coming into Begonia, Neil Schey/Scott Middleton held a slender lead over Michael Conway/Jenny Cole and Grant Walker, all in Escorts, while Daniell and Sytema ultimately battled it out for 2WD event honours.
Conway held a nine second advantage over Schey following the two opening stages, before extending his lead when Schey dropped more than a minute on the long challenging SS3, and maintained his position over the next two stage to end Heat 1 ahead of his two rivals.
Ahead of the 2WD Championship battle, Daniell was putting in some stunning times to finish fastest on SS3 and SS4, and despite dropping 14 seconds on SS5, finished a mere second in front of Sytema.
In the Our Auto Rally Series for Hyundai Excels, Stephen Eccles/Simon Pilepich in a borrowed car, having seriously damaged theirs at the Akademos, comfortably won the heat ahead of Luca Giacomin/Brett Williams.
With persistent rain becoming torrential at the completion of Heat 1, event director Arron Secombe made the decision to cancel Heat 2 under safety grounds and avoid any further road damage.
The cancellation resulted in Conway/Cole securing the 2WD championship and Eccles/Pilepich the Excel series.
- Craig O’Brien
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