Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Gelsomino have won the National Capital Rally, round 2 of the Kumho Tyre Australian Rally Championship (ARC). The pair dominated Heat 2 of the event today, taking the honours by over a minute. Added to their second place in Heat 1 yesterday, the overall title for the weekend goes to the Victorians.
After suffering from gearbox issues in Heat 1, Reeves and his team replaced their broken gearbox at the end of the day in readiness for a full assault today. They replaced their regular ‘dog’ gearbox for a standard one, courtesy of Tasmanian competitor Craig Brookes, and despite the fact that Reeves needed to change his driving style as a result (left foot braking isn’t possible with a standard gearbox), it proved no hardship for Reeves who dominated the day’s competition.
Reeves won the first four of the day’s stages and held a 50 second advantage over second placed Nathan Quinn going into the final two stages of the day. His final winning margin was just over one minute and six seconds.
The rally was Reeves and Gelsomino’s first on home soil since November 2014 and it is Reeves’ first competitive drive since October 2015.
The National Capital Rally consisted of a total of around 210 kilometres of competitive stages in the forests around Canberra held over two days.
“It’s a fantastic feeling to win at Canberra again,” Reeves, who won the event in 2014, said.
“We had a tough day yesterday but hung in there and put ourselves in a good position. Everything ran perfectly for us today and I felt really comfortable in the car, so to win the heat and the overall event is amazing.
“We couldn’t have achieved this result without the help of our hardworking team and Rhianon and I are really grateful to them.”
National Capital Rally Heat 2 results
1. Brendan Reeves/Rhianon Gelsomino (Subaru Impreza)
2. Nathan Quinn/David Calder (Mitsubishi Lancer), +1:06.5
3. Harry Bates/John McCarthy (Toyota Corolla), +1:44.2
National Capital Rally Outright Results
1. Brendan Reeves/Rhianon Gelsomino
2. Nathan Quinn/David Calder
3. Simon Evans/Ben Searcy (Subaru GC8)
Photo: John Doutch
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