RallySport Magazine September 2016

LIGHTFORCE RALLY SA - ARC 4
Brad Markovic on his
way to third place in
Heat One.
Championship standings
after round 4 of 5:
1. Simon Evans 251
2. Molly Taylor 246
3. Harry Bates 245
4. Tom Wilde 175
5. Chris Higgs 172
6. Brad Markovic 113
Watch the highlights HERE
* Heat 1 * Heat 2
Eddie Maguire’s great run came to an
end on the final stage when he slid off
the road into a tree stump, damaging
his Lancer’s front suspension.
In the classics, Mal Keough’s Quattro
was a clear winner over Tony Quinn’s
BMW.
After the previous days of rain, crews
were happy that day one of the event
had proven to be fine, albeit it overcast.
With better weather forecast for heat
two, there was plenty to be excited
about.
HEAT TWO
Molly Taylor started heat two,
much to her surprise, as the ARC
championship leader.
“It’s exciting for us, but it doesn’t
change our approach in any way,” she
said. “Consistency is our strength, and
we just need to keep scoring points.”
Harry Bates, who lost his
championship lead to Taylor, had his
Corolla looking brand new again after
a tremendous effort by the Neal Bates
Motorsport mechanics overnight.
The car was driven into Parc Ferme at
3.00am, and Harry was yet to drive the
car. His father, Neal, had driven the car
up the road and back after the repair,
and everyone had their fingers crossed
that it was back in one piece.
It was a slow stage one for Bates, but
he admitted it was good to get back on
the horse after the biggest accident of
his short career.
“I can’t thank the team enough,”
he said. “It was my error, and I’m so
thankful that the team were able to get
22 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - SEPTEMBER 2016
the car finished in time. The drinks are
on me!”
Windus and Markovic, both showing
pace throughout the weekend, came
unstuck on the same corner of Trial Hill,
the day’s second stage.
Windus rolled gently while trying to
avoid the tree that Markovic eventually
hit. Neither car was badly damaged,
and while Markovic missed a couple
of stages and rejoined later in the day,
Windus’ car had ended on its roof,
so the team were unwillingly to risk
damaging the engine by restarting it.
Reeves had started day two were
he left off on day one, and after the
opening two stages his lead was
already out to 21.6 seconds and victory
looked his. Evans, meanwhile, was
letting Reeves run his own rally and was
determined to finish with a good haul
of points, knowing that he only needed
to keep an eye on the times of Bates
and Taylor.
Bates had settled into third place,
ahead of Taylor and Maguire, but the
pretty BMW M3 of Tony Quinn had
retired with driveshaft failure.
With the sun shining brightly, the
status quo remained on the repeat
runs of Corryton Park and Trial Hill, and
nobody appeared to be willing to risk
anything.
The final two stages, Telephone Road
and Crawford, were run for the third
time each, and while the roads had cut
Crowd favourite, Mal
Keough, took the
classics victory.