It was an all Subaru affair at the head of the Victorian Rally Championship field in round four of the series, the AMH Rally of the Bay.
The crews of Ben and Cathy Hayes, and Ivan Regester and Paul Humm shared honours, with overall victory going to Regester by a mere three seconds.
In Heat 1, Regester began with a flier and opened a nine second gap on the first stage, eking a few seconds on each of the next two to win the Heat by 19 seconds.
In Heat 2, he had a puncture on SS6, dropping 20 seconds, and by swapping times on the other four stages, Hayes won the heat by 16 seconds.
Paul Eccles took third overall after an event-long battle with his son Stephen, when Stephen broke an axle on the last stage. They were equal after seven stages, with Stephen taking a three second lead into the last stage.
Ivan Regester and Paul Humm were equal VRC winners at the Rally of the Bay. Photo: Wishart Media
The 2WD category was another tight battle between Grant Walker/Steph Richards in their classic Escort RS1800, Brian Semmens/Dan Parry their Nissan 200SX V6, and Brian Newton and Ryan Price in their Honda Civic.
At the end of Heat 1, Walker lead Semmens by a mere two seconds, with Newton only one second further back in third.
During Heat 2, the gaps between the three gradually opened. The final margin was 29 seconds between Walker and Semmens, with Newton a further 27 seconds back in third .
The experienced Grant Walker and co-driver, Steph Richards, led home the 2WD runners in their Escort. Photo: Wishart Media
In the tightly contested Grant Walker Parts Hyundai Excel Series, the more experienced Brendan Hood took out Heat 1 by 18 seconds, but Josh Bohm fought back well during Heat 2, taking that heat by 42 seconds.
It meant a gap of 24 seconds in Bohm’s favour by the end of the event.
So, with the series at just over the half way point, the series points stand at:
Outright Driver                   Outright Co-Driver
Ben Hayes             179        Cathy Hayes        177
Ivan Regester      142        Tom Reussman  141
Paul Eccles           141        Paul Humm         138
2WD Driver                           2WD Co-Driver
Grant Walker     216        Steph Richards  216
Brian Semmens 157        Dan Parry             157
Brian Newton    121        Ryan Price            121
Grand Walker Parts ExcelsDriver                                       Co-Driver
Brendan Hood   174        Richard Hood    174
Joel Perkins         170        Tom Brennan     170
Josh Bohm           156        Hayden Cribb     116
Report by Peter Otzen
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