The Victorian Rally Champion for 2008 will be decided at the final round of the championship on November 16, when the leaders face off at Victoria’s only pace-noted special stage rally – all in Subarus.
Young gun in the VRC is Jesse Robison, but unlike Formula 1’s Lewis Hamilton last Sunday, it is Jesse who must win, and Mark Fawcett who only has to finish fifth or better to win the Championship. Old stager, David Nutter, is there waiting in the wings. Currently equal on points with Jesse, he obviously is faced with the same task if he is to capture his first Victorian Championship.
Currently fourth on points, Ivan Regester has a chance to take victory, but is dependent on all three of the leaders having at least a little trouble in the Rubicon State Forest – but then only if he can bounce back from his own DNF at the Murrindindi Magic just three weeks ago.
The 2 Wheel Drive Championship is also up for grabs, again with four people in contention. Brian Semmens, in his powerful V6 Nissan, has one hand firmly on the trophy, and would probably have to DNF to be beaten, but Andrew Taylor (Mazda RX7) and Paul Batten and Ross Allan (both driving Hyundai Excels) will be hoping for some Nissan gremlins while trying to wrestle the lead from each other.
The large capacity classes, P4 and P5, are even more closely poised as we enter the last round. In P4, Brian Semmens again leads the way, but Rex Muldoon and Andrew Taylor are poised to take advantage of any errors made. In P5, Mark Fawcett holds a 10 point lead over David Nutter, with Jesse Robison a further six points back. A balancing act between holding on to class position while challenging for outright points will create an interesting day for the 4WD chargers.
Both sponsored awards – the Stuckey Tyres Clubman, and the No Bull Novice award - have been sewn up among registered crews, but the overall annual awards in each section are still in doubt, with a couple of old chargers, returning to the sport and having fun, making the young guns work hard for the annual glory.
Rising star, Brendan Reeves, will be running in the AKADEMOS again this year, prior to jetting off to England and a date with Malcolm Wilson and the Ford World Rally team at the Ford Fiesta International Drivers Shoot-out.
Words: Peter Otzen
Photo: Natasha Swan
SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO READ THE FULL STORY
