Twenty-year old Victorian, Brendan Reeves, has finished fourth in the all-tarmac round of the Australian Rally Championship at Rally Tasmania, despite not having driven a turbo, four-wheel drive rally car since 2007.
Driving for the Les Walkden Rallying team, Reeves and his co-driving sister, Rhianon Smyth, finished the 17 stage, 206 competitive kilometre event on the north west coast of Tasmania with only three vastly more experienced competitors ahead of them.
The Toyotas of Neal Bates and Simon Evans finished one-two in the final event for the factory-backed Corollas, with Reeves and Eli Evans left to fight it out for third place.
However, any chance Reeves had of finishing on the podium were dashed mid-way through the second day when he punctured a tyre and lost over a minute.
“The puncture was unfortunate, but aside from that we’ve had a good weekend,†Reeves said. “I got more and more comfortable with the LWR Subaru, and it was great to have a good battle with Glen Raymond today.
“Raymo was very quick in his Corolla, but we managed to hold him at bay and maintain our fourth place.
“Our aim for this weekend was to bring the car home in one piece and build on our tarmac rally experience, and we’ve managed to do that,†he said.
“Rally Tasmania has been a great event, and it’s been fantastic to drive for the Les Walkden Rallying team again.â€
Rally Tasmania – ARC final results
1. Neal Bates / Coral Taylor, Toyota Corolla S2000, 1h39m22.1s
2. Simon Evans / Sue Evans, Toyota Corolla S2000, +10.5s
3. Eli Evans / Chris Murphy, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, +36.4s
4. Brendan Reeves / Rhianon Smyth, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, +2:40.0s
5. Glen Raymond / Matt Raymond, Toyota Corolla Sportivo, +2:48.4s
6. Dean Herridge / Glen Weston, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, +3:40.3s
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