The National Capital Rally, round two of the ECB Australian Rally Championship, was an up and down event for Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Smyth.
The event got off to a great start with Reeves winning the Power Stage, a shoot out of the five fastest drivers in qualifying on Friday, bagging him 5 Championship points.
After a mixed day on Heat 1, with a stage win and then brake problems, the RallySchool.com.au team worked all night to have the Mazda2 ready for Heat 2's seven stages and Reeves was confident of a good day's rallying and securing more Championship points to add to the five he won as a result of his Power Stage win on Friday.
Unfortunately, just three kilometres into the opening stage, whilst turning square right through a sharp gutter, they broke the rear hub, meaning they were sidelined for the rest of the morning's stages.
Repairs were made by the service crew and Reeves and Smyth were able to re-join the rally at the start of Stage 11.
Reeves was soon back in the groove, recording a fourth fastest stage time, before winning the following stage, SS12. Another fourth fastest stage time on the day's final stage saw Reeves finish Heat 2 in eleventh outright position.
Heat 2 of the National Capital Rally was won by Eli Evans (Honda Jazz), with Scott Pedder (Renault Clio) second and Jack Monkhouse third in a Nissan Silvia. Evans took outright rally honours for the weekend.
With his eleventh placed finish in Heat 2, Reeves has taken 15 points from the first round of the Championship and will be looking to add to his tally at the next round, Quit Forest Rally in WA, in April.