The Rally SA roads are notoriously fast and Smart and Allen set a fantastic pace in Heat One, sitting comfortably in third position up until the final stage. The restricted Toyota Corolla’s front differential failed only 6km from the finish of the heat, ending Ryan and John’s day in the Mt. Crawford forest.
“We were trying the new Ferodo DS UNO brake pads this weekend and they were working really well, everything was going great and I was driving as fast as I could,” Ryan said on Saturday night.
“It was disappointing to get so close to the end of the day and then not finish, but I guess that’s rallying sometimes.”
Smart and Allen finished Heat Two in third position, behind the unrestricted ARC cars of Dowel/Lee and Boaden/Cheers after Pedder/Tierney DNF’d with an engine failure.
“It was really great to see Michael Boaden and Helen Cheers on the podium today, they have been driving so well this year and last year and it’s great to see another family team like us getting up on the podium,” Ryan said.
“Well done to JD (Justin Dowel) and Matt, and Eli and Glen too. I guess I’ll have to go to the gym 16 days in a row now before the WRC in Coffs so I’m as tough as Justin,” Ryan laughed.
“On a serious note, we’re focused on winning the championship and though we would have liked to have been on the podium, we are happy with the points we recovered after our DNF in Heat 1.
“The WRC and Victorian roads are much tighter and trickier, more like my home roads in Queensland, so we are confident we will finish the season strongly.”
The Bosch Australian Rally Championship continues at the WRC in Coffs Harbour in six weeks time.
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