A hungry pack will gather in Bonalbo, NSW, on Saturday the Accent Benchtops Working Dog Rally as crews from the MTA NSW Rally Championship and the P3 Solutions Queensland Rally Championship battle for supremacy.
Starting car 1 are the current NSW Rally Champions, Glenn Brinkman and Harvey Smith, in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. Glenn is also the sponsor of the event and knows the local area well.
Matt Sosimenko, Clerk of the Course, remarked that Glenn’s involvement as the event’s major sponsor is a great boost for the sport, particularly his support of up and coming crews and the event’s officials. The rally also gives an economic boost to the local community.
The crew of Wayne Morton (from Central Queensland) and Kirra Penny (Canberra) will be very quick in their Toyota Corolla S2000. However, Sosimenko stated: “A quick read of the entry list shows there are five or six crews sniffing the tails of these front runners who realistically are very capable of an outright win.”
These include Glenn Raymond / Kate Catford (Subaru Legacy), Tristan Kent / Peter Hellwig (Lancer Evo 9), Richard Shimmon / Jim Glesson (Lancer Evo 7), Brayden and Blake Wilson (Lancer Evo 9) and Clayton Hoy / Alan Stean in yet another Evo. Tony Sullens and Kaylie Newell are also entered in their Citroen DS3.
As this event is also a round of the East Coast Classic Rally Series, Sosimenko also cautioned: “Don’t discount the battle for ‘Top Dog’ in the Classics”.
Thomas Dermody will be pushing for the classic win. Photo: Dave King
Ryan Smart / Hugh Reardon-Smith (Datsun Stanza), Tom Dermody / Eoin Moynihan (Ford RS1800), Nathan Quinn / Ray Winwood-Smith (Mazda RX2), Wayne Hoy / Richard Galley (Datsun 240Z), Craig Aggio / Megan Benson (Toyota KE30 Corolla) and current Classic Rally Champion Clay Badenoch, with Catriona Kelly, in a Toyota Celica RA40 are just some who will entertain the crowds with their sideways driving.
Crews will be flagged away from the showground at 8.30am on Saturday. They will complete a series of day and night loops combining three competitive shire road stages, before returning each time to the showground for service.
Whilst this is a new event some of these roads were previously used in the 2009 WRC. Two designated spectator points allow free access to action on the stages.
RallySafe will feature at this event with both tracking and timing allowing the public to follow the competitor’s progress.
Why Working Dog Rally? Bonalbo is famous for its long history with working dogs. In fact, the first Working Dog Trial was held in 1954 as part of the Bonalbo Show.
The Provisional Start List is available on the events web site www.workingdogrally.com.au
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