Second outright at Cowra Rally for BEMW team

Under sunny skies in Cowra, the BEMW Rally Team stormed to an impressive second place outright at the AMSAG Cowra Services Club Rally last weekend, despite almost rolling during one crucial stage.

Piloting a 1990 model BMW 325i coupe, British & European Motor Works owner Mark Callinan and navigator Matt Wilson put the car through its paces throughout 15 stages over the course of two days.

The first stages on Saturday consisted of open and ultra-fast shire roads, where the car was bouncing off the rev limiter in fifth gear at almost 200km/h. The remainder of the day, however, saw forest roads that were both tighter and rougher - a rock impact actually caused one of the rims to split (although fortunately the tyre maintained pressure) and also bent the rear arm, while the newly-reconditioned front bumper fell prey to a particularly large hump as the car landed heavily on its nose.

Perhaps the most notable incident of Saturday’s racing was the car’s very near rollover as the tail ran wide off an embankment - quick counter-steering by Mark and ‘enthusiastic encouragement’ by Matt to keep on the throttle saw the car make it back from the brink and onto the road to complete the stage unscathed... albeit with a little extra adrenaline coursing through the team’s veins (footage of the incident is available via the website below).

By Saturday night, with consistent performances by the driver, navigator, and the car itself, the team had managed to move into first position in the modern category (second place overall). The remaining stages on Sunday - including the crowd-pleasing Special Stage at Woodstock Raceway - saw the BEMW car maintain this position against tough competition to finish with a best-ever result of first in class (second overall) amongst a field of over forty competitors.

As a result of this win, the BEMW Rally Team is now well-placed to take out this year’s AMSAG Open 2WD Rally Championship. This performance would not have been possible without the support of sponsors Sydney-Wide European Autos, Penrite, Sonax Car Care Products, and The Other Dimension. Further details about the team, including some amazing YouTube footage from this and earlier events, can be found on the team’s website: www.bemwrally.com.au.

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