RallySport Magazine September 2016

LIGHTFORCE RALLY SA - ARC 4
WIDE
OPEN
Simon Evans pushing
hard on day one of
Lightforce Rally SA.
Six points separate
top three in title fight
Story:
LUKE WHITTEN
PHOTOS: Peter Whitten, Luke Whitten
Lightforce Rally SA blew the championship
wide open and now not
one, not two, but three drivers
will be a part of a thrilling battle in the
final round on the beautiful Coffs Coast.
Simon Evans, Molly Taylor and Harry
Bates left the Barossa Valley with just
six points separating them.
PRE EVENT
The pre-event ride day and
shakedown was cancelled on Thursday
night due to heavy rain, leaving crews
to twiddle thumbs and wander amongst
themselves, waiting for a decision on a
revised route from the rally organisers.
Rally winner Brendan Reeves was in top form.
Simon Evans, who relinquished his
championship lead to Harry Bates last
time out in Queensland, was sporting
a repaired and repainted Subaru. The
light blue colour of the paint was visible
if you looked hard enough, but the
matte black vinyl covering it was the
same as in previous events.
Championship leader, Harry Bates,
was looking for a consistent weekend.
With no major changes to the car since
the last round, he was no doubt aiming
to keep ticking boxes on the road to the
championship title.
ARC newcomer, Arron Windus,
fresh off his win in a Victorian Rally
Championship round was, admittedly,
like all the drivers, rueing the
cancelled shakedown.
“I’m not worried about the result
this weekend,” he said before the
event. “It’s all about learning and
getting experience.”
Early on the Friday, Waterholes
was the first stage to be cancelled
(how ironic). This was followed by QH,
Buddys and Gum Flat, which were all
left out of the route.
It was looking like another
shortened event like the previous
round in Queensland, but rally
organisers swiftly scheduled the
repeat of three shire road stages,
including the ‘driver’s favourite’
Goldfields.
HEAT ONE
The first loop of stages of the
morning was in fact, not a loop at
Weather fails to dampen SA spirits
Despite mother nature throwing
everything it could, Lightforce
Rally SA was a resounding
success, despite many difficulties in the
lead up to the event.
Over two inches of rain fell in the
Mount Crawford region throughout
Thursday and Friday, causing
headaches for Clerk of Course, Ivar
Stanelis, and his experienced team.
However, rather than simply cancel
stages, the organising team swiftly put
in place a brand new itinerary, only
losing 20km of distance in the process.
The cancelled stages were to an
extent, replaced, and it was business as
usual.
Four stages, Waterholes, QH, Gum
Flat and the popular Buddys, were
cancelled, but three longer shire road
stages were all run a second time.
This provided value for competitors,
spectators and media, who perhaps
thought the event was in serious doubt
early on Friday morning.
SEPTEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 19