Winning 6 of the 8 stages in the penultimate round of the Tasmanian Rally Series, the team in the e-Home Subaru WRX maintained a quick pace, despite the enormously slippery conditions, eventually winning the rally by a staggering one and a half minutes.
“We had no problems – everything went according to plan. It was really slippery out there, but we were able to keep the lines tidy, and apart from running out of brakes on stage 6, the car ran faultlessly all day,” a happy Waldon said at the end of the rally in New Norfolk.
The win has sealed the series for 2007 for Waldon – his second in a row.
Second place-getter was Victorians Brendan Reeves and co-driver Rhianon Smyth in a 4WD non-turbo Subaru Impreza RS. The team had made the trip over Bass Strait in an effort to get some in-car time, after the latest round of their home championship had been cancelled due to heavy rain.
And their first impressions of Tasmanian rallying?
“Absolutely loved it – had a great time. Loved the roads and the roadbook was fantastic,” a very enthusiastic Reeves commented at the end of the rally.
Although he’s not eligible for points in the Tasmanian Series in 2007, he’s already thinking of leaving his car in Tasmania and returning for the next and final round in September.
Another team that was happy with the way the rally developed was Lynn Rattray and Lindon Hills. They finished third outright – narrowly missing out on second position by three seconds. Having wrestled with the Pirtek Subaru WRX for the last couple of rallies after converting it from bitumen to gravel trim, the Burnie based team were comfortable with the car and were able to relax and enjoy their rallying.
One crew that had an atrocious rally was the ARM Subaru team of Lee Peterson and James Booker of Hobart. They broke a driveshaft at the start of the first stage, ruling them out of the points for heat one, and out of contention for outright rally position. They were able to start heat two of the day, salvaging points towards the series, and setting the fastest time on two of the afternoon’s stages.
With one round still to be run in the Tasmanian Rally Series, the Waldon/Ferguson combination have the Series title well within their grasp. But the minor placings are far from determined.
The final round of the 2007 TRS will be conducted on roads around Scottsdale in the State’s north-east on September 1. On roads that are best described as fast but tough, there will be no quarters asked for nor given, as the teams fight for the final points on offer for the season.
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