The region was hit by rain in the days preceding the event, but other than some standing pools of water the route was largely unaffected thanks to reasonable drainage.
After 130 kilometres of rallying, Shepheard/Smith held off the Subaru WRX of Glenn Brinkman/Steve Richardson to win by a shade over two minutes.
While the Shepheard Lancer performed faultlessly, Brinkman suffered some damage to his front drivetrain after a heavy landing, and drove half of the rally with the car alternating between two and four-wheel drive.
Taking a great third place was the WRX of Daniel and Tim Callinan, the Pioneer Motors car sounding better than ever and translating that into results with a new gearbox installed for the event.
The Gladstone crew of Paul Andrews and Ashley Bolt (Evo 6) ran a consistent event to take fourth, while in a Mitsubishi round-up Bernie Graf/Cameron Thompson were in fifth for the day.
Gary Stacey/Tony Blackshaw (Datsun Sunny) were equally dominant In the Classic, Clubman and 2WD categories – taking the winners’ laurels in each area, along with a fine ninth outright for the event.
The compact event was all over by 8.00pm, with the presentation of provisional awards held at the Rydges Capricorn Resort, where Rally HQ was based.
The QRC resumes on September 9 with a date change for the traditional Gallangowan end-of-season event, which is now the penultimate rally of the series.
Provisional Results:
- Steve Shepheard/Tom Smith, Lancer Evo. 6, 1:36:08
- Glenn Brinkman/Steve Richardson, Subaru WRX, 1:38:11
- Daniel Callinan/Tim Callinan, Subaru WRX, 1:40:04
- Paul Andrews/Ashley Bolt, Lancer Evo. 6, 1:40:27
- Bernie Graf/Cameron Thompson, Lancer Evo. 5, 1:40:58
- Colin Hunter/Bronwyn Humphrey, Jeep Wrangler , 1:42:07
- Allan Clunes/Gavin Wieland, Mazda 323 GTR, 1:46:39
- Dave Ovenden/Mel Both, Subaru WRX, 1:47:16
- Gary Stacey/Tony Blackshaw, Datsun Sunny, 1:47:21
- Matt van Tuinen/Chris Murphy, Subaru WRX, 1:47:59
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