Hard charger Matt Bailey and navigator Andrew Lade have secured the 2012 Brakes Direct.com.au Queensland Excel Series, winning three of the five rounds.
The pair bounced back brilliantly this year after having a few reliability issues last year. They stamped their authority on the series early on and convincingly won rounds two, three and four.
Matt Bailey said: “We’ve had a fantastic year with 3 strong results out of 3 events contested, with the first SEQ based event postponed due to bad weather, and being unable to make the re-scheduled date due to personal reasons.
"Once again the car has been amazingly fun to drive, and even more fun to own, with minimal cost and time to maintain and/or repair it. I’d like to thank specifically our selfless service crew headed by Johnny Rogers, my brother Mike’s help with logistics and most of all good friend and co-driver Andrew who has been as reliable and consistent as he has been great company to be with in the cockpit. We’d also like to thank event sponsors – CFM Bodyworks (IROQ) and EMAE (Border Ranges). Big thanks also to be my very supporting wife, Em.”
This year’s series sponsors have put together an extremely impressive prize pool. Brakes Direct.com.au, Performance Patios and Decks and Dirt Devil Industries have committed in a massive way putting one of the most generous prize pools in State level rallying together. The prize pool consists of the following:
1st – Four x Kumho R800
Brakes Direct.com.au Voucher $200
Dirt Devil Industries Voucher $500
2nd – Two x Kumho R800
Brakes Driect.com.au Voucher $150
Dirt Devil Industries Voucher $300
3rd – Brakes Direct.com.au Voucher $100
Dirt Devil Industries Voucher $100
And this year courtesy of Dirt Devil Industries a “Rookie of the Year” prize has been introduced. With, the winner receiving free entry to a round of the 2013 Series.
Series President Andrew Dillon commented, “This year we have been really fortunate to have some fantastic local businesses backing the series. They have been kind enough to provide some fantastic prizes that hopefully will generate more interest in the series here in Queensland and attract more competitors into the category.”
Final positions for the 2012 series are as follows;
1st Matt Bailey/Andrew Lade 30 points
2nd Allan Reinikka/Marney Kucharski 18 points
3rd Peter Stewart/John Rutch 10 points
Planning is already underway for the 2013 series and the series organizers are hoping to have at least 5-7 cars consistently competing. This will be a real step forward for the series in Queensland. For further information on the Queensland Excel Series visit www.excelrally.com.au
Photo: Kristan Hayes
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