Scott Pedder’s pre-event promise to take every stage win at this weekend’s International Rally of Queensland looks well on course as he powered to a lead of over a minute in the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship.
Pedder’s blistering speed, which included taking two outright stage victories against the far more powerful MRF Skoda’s, means he heads into the second day of the endurance event with a strong lead over rival Brendan Reeves.
“A really, really good day,” beamed Pedder at the end of day service. “We wanted to win every stage and that’s what we’ve been able to do, although the second time through Kandanga we did only win it by 0.1 seconds!”
“To take two outright stage wins too is incredible, however they are both downhill stages so that probably helps a little bit,” he admitted with a cheeky grin.
While Pedder has lived up to his pre-event commitment to push, rival Reeves had promised to take a far more cautious measured approach, a promise that he has equally kept.
“So far everything is going to plan,” he said despite the more than a minute lead in Scott’s favour. “We got through, we didn’t break anything and I’m keeping the Championship very clear in my mind.”
“I knew Scott was going to try to win every stage, so his speed didn’t surprise me. I was quite cautious this morning, and I pushed a bit harder this afternoon and it felt really good. The plan tomorrow is to up the pace again to start trying to put a bit of pressure on Scott.”
Reeves said he’s looking forward to the 35.72 kilometre stage fourteen tomorrow, and has pinpointed that one stage as his focus. “I think that stage will suit me, that’s the stage I’m looking forward to!”
After problem filled runs in Canberra and Western Australia, Citroen’s Tony Sullens was happy to report a clean day which has seen him move into third.
“The car has gone really well, and we’ve had no dramas which has been great,” Sullens explained.
“I did go out after lunch and have a real go on the longer stage. I got caught out on a left hander which I’d taken flat out on the morning’s pass, but it definitely wasn’t flat out the second time round.”
“We spun, had to fine reverse, that cost us a bit of time and just reminded me that I’m under no pressure so it made me back off a bit,” said Tony.
Debuting a brand new engine this Round had given Michael Boaden a few sleepless nights as he wondered about reliability, but after today’s stages he was a happy man.
“Today has been pretty good actually. I’m pretty satisfied right now, the engine has lasted and that’s the main thing. This weekend was about proving reliability, and getting miles on the car, so so far so good.”
In comparison fifth placed Adrian Coppin had a drama filled day, suffering two punctures this morning and with only one spare he was forced to drive for over fourteen kilometres with the flat tyre flapping on his Citroen.
“In two years of rallying we’ve never had a flat, then today we’ve had two and we had one during recce too, so it seems our luck has caught up with us,” he commented.
“This afternoon though the pace was there and that really boosted our confidence, we were having a really good scrap with Tony (Sullens) and (Michael) Boaden.”
After two strong results where Coppin has showcased incredible reliability, he can only hope that the drivers ahead of him hit problems. “We’re just too far behind, but if someone in front has trouble then a podium is still a chance.”
James Wilson rounds out the top six in his Group N Ford Fiesta ST. Dramas for Mick Patton who made the retirement list after he broke the exhaust on his VW Polo.
“We broke the dump pump in half, and when we got to the end of the Derrier stage we could smell something burning. So we leapt out because we didn’t want to watch the car go up in flames, but it was just the smell of the exhaust heating up the mud and dirt up on the firewall,” Patton explained.
“We decided we weren’t in a Championship race with anyone so we pulled out to check the car over properly and make sure we can go out again tomorrow. Before we hit the problems the car was great, we were right on the back of Michael Boaden and Adrian Coppin.”
In the National 4WD category Queensland local Jay Davidson has been punting his Subaru Impreza with fearsome abandon and currently sits almost eighteen seconds ahead of NSW driver Peter Roberts’ Mitsubishi Lancer.
While fellow Mitsubishi driver Mike Bailey, who had been hoping to use his local experience, sits further adrift in third almost a minute and a half off the pace.
Neal Bates had been expected to race away in the Classics, however a crank sensor failure early in the day had him over four minutes off the pace. That gave Jack Monkhouse the upper hand, but with Bates back up and running it was a case of how long Jack’s Datsun 180B would stay ahead.
“Neal had a problem and that was the only way we knew we could beat him,” said Jack. “It actually helped me, once I was in the lead it kept me focused and drive nice and neat.”
Monkhouse holds the lead by just 10 seconds, Bates lopping huge chunks out of the lead. “No one ever wants to come second,” laughed Neal. “It was actually really good to have to be in the position to have a really hard chase.”
Further back Brett Stephens sits third in his classic Nissan Bluebird, Clay Badenoch in fourth in his brand new Toyota Celica RA40 and racing veteran Tony Quinn fifth in his BMW M3.
Back at the head of the field Czech Jan Kopecky leads the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in his MRF Skoda S2000, with a handy one minute and twenty-seven second lead to Scott Pedder, and further back in third Brendan Reeves.
With both Pedder and Reeves eligible for APRC and ECB ARC honours, the pair is on track to raise more than one trophy by the time they reach the finish ramp tomorrow afternoon.
Fellow Aussies Matt van Tuinen and Mark Pedder hold fourth and fifth in the Asia-Pacific standings.
A further six forest stages await drivers during tomorrow’s second Leg in the plantation forests around Imbil and Kenilworth.
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