Gillett wins Taree

[Whitey]

The Rally of the Manning Valley saw 8 Excels face the starter in round 4 of the Race Brakes NSW Excel Series. Rain in the week leading up to the event had made some of the stages very slippery.

Andrei Artamonov/ Vadim Linev did not make it past SS1, sliding wide and making a considerable impact with a tree.

Fro Horobin & Matt Holloway were also having an interesting time with electrical problems on the first loop which they managed to diagnose as a loose earth at the main service break .They set some great times on the second loop to finish second Excel home.

Glenn Farrant/ Matty James were travelling at warp speed however after a big moment on the first pass of Knodingbul down had an even bigger moment shortly after. In true keep the boot into it fashion, Glenn was unable to drive out of the trouble and seized the motor when the car ended up on its side.

The Cullens showed more commitment than in the past, however they to a had some troubles with a split clutch hose which necessitated Ben lept from the moving vehicle at the service IN control.

Haggers and Bek had a reasonable run, were a bit tentative in the slippery stuff early. At the main break they readjusted their light and the results were immediately noticeable on the following stages. With Bek commenting “We even drove with as much commitment as Whitey a few times”

Dave Roberts with his Rally Queensland Nav Kate Murphy were plagued by minor intercom problems throughout the rally, as a result Crazy Dave was not able to drive with any confidence on the second loop.

David White with stand in Nav, Matt Mead had a trouble free run, the only near mishap was on a couple of call in SS3 (including a triple caution!!!) which had inaccurate intermediates in the road book.

Hyundai’s Mick Gillett and Harvey Smith also had a trouble free run except for the roadbook issue in SS3. “We came very close to ending our rally with the Excel sliding off a low wooden bridge onto the creek bank on the far side. The driver’s rear wheel hit a tree as we drove back up onto the road.’ said Smith.

The results were a win for Gillett/Smith, with a fast finishing second for Horobin Holloway. David White/ Matt Mead a consistent third. The next round of the Race Brakes NSW Excel series is at Batemans Bay in just two weeks.