Unseasonal weather saw crews conducting recce in trying conditions, and at times in up to six inches of snow. Notes were tricky to write with snow covering much of the roads and hiding obstacles and apexes, but with clearing weather in the afternoon, most crews managed to get a set of usable notes for the Sunday.
A ballot of the top 3 seeded crews held at driver’s briefing on Sunday morning would see Reeves and Spedding draw car 1 on the road and be first to head into the forest and find out if the snow had melted overnight. Indeed the snow had departed, leaving behind a slippery, slushy surface which would challenge crews all day.
Within the first kilometre of SS1 the Reeves Racing pair realised that the car was not making maximum power, the cause later found to be a leaking boost hose; however they managed to equal the stage time of ARC regular Justin Dowell and Matt Lee in their newer Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9.
With the boost problems fixed Reeves won SS2 and 3 from VRC contenders Jesse Robison and Adam Wright, with Dowell and Lee finishing third heading into the Service and giving the Reeves Racing crew a Heat 1 win, and 30 Championship points. Â
After a 45 minute service break in the picturesque town of Thornton, Reeves and Spedding were first to head back into the forest for a re-run of the three stages that made up Heat 1. Knowing that another heat win would secure the 2010 championship, Reeves focused on driving cleanly on the chopped up Stage 4. Â
The DMS suspension in the Subaru provided incredible traction in the rough and slippery conditions over the 16km of SS4 and again had Reeves leading the field into the remaining two stages. Robison had suffered a problem in SS4 and dropped 30 seconds to Reeves. Â
With this is mind, Reeves was now solely focused on a Heat 2 win and with Dowel electing not to score Championship points on the event, the crew could safely back off to ensure no problems were encountered over SS5 and 6 to win Heat 2 and victory in the 2010 Victorian Rally Championship.
With Reeves backing off Dowel was finally able to catch Reeves and win the event by five seconds; however, Reeves and Spedding were elated with their two heats wins, bagging them a full 60 points and securing the 2010 Championship with one round still remaining.
The Victorian Rally Championship now heads to Warragul and a combined round with the Australian Rally Championship, where the state’s best crews can test their talent against the countries best drivers.
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