WRIGHT WRAPS UP SNOWY RIVER SPRINT
The 2024 Australian Tarmac Rally Snowy River Sprint descended on the seaside town of Lakes Entrance last weekend and Jason and Fiona Wright picked up from where they left off.
The Wright pair in the Nissan R35 went back to back after the 240km, 18-stage journey from Buchan to Orbost.
Initially things were dominated early by Matt Close and Cameron Reeves before a fuel pump failure saw them parked up on SS4.
This meant Wright and Paul Dowie resumed their rivalry and the Nissan held on by just over a minute from Dowie.
The Wrights also dominated Modern Super Rally winning all 11 stages in class, while Dowie and John Allen also won Modern 2WD.
Once again Matt Close and Cameron Reeves led Modern AWD before mechanical dramas struck again, allowing Crichton Lewis and Anthony Carr to take the honours in their Subaru WRX STI.
Paul Buccini welcomed new navigator Bernie Webb and they dominated Early Modern 2WD by over six minutes.
The colourful pairing of Justin Waterhouse and Adrian Bryant would storm away in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, pulling a gap of over 90 seconds in Early Modern AWD on the opening day alone.
But they detonated a motor on stage 12, which set-up a close battle between a pair of Mitsubishi Lancers.
In the end Michael Mansey finished 1m22s ahead of Alan Hines.
The throttle-stomping Mick Downey and Jarrod Akker in their Holden Commodore carried on their Classic Super Rally form by taking a massive 21-minute win.
Picking up where they left off last round, the dynamic father and son team of Michael and Lachlan Nordsvan jumped to an early lead in Classic.
Despite having a much tougher time on the second day, battling illness and tyre degradation, they won by nearly 2 minutes ahead of the Datsun 240Z of Cam Lepp and Josh Herbert.
Rob Oshlack and Neysa Ellison (Porsche 911 GT3) continued their strong pace in Rally Challenge.
Although their BMW and Audi rivals had flashes of speed, they would not get near the Porsche.
Rally Sport proved to be a fascinating war of attrition that was not decided until the final stage.
After each of the three leaders fell victim to mechanical issues, including two leaders on the final stage, the limping Evo of Luana Garwood and Suzanne Atkins incredibly took class honours for a second event in a row.
The crews now have until early September to regroup in preparation for the gruelling Great Tarmac Rally.
Image: Angryman Photography
Don’t forget the latest issue of Auto Action will be available via subscription here or at selected news outlets. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.
Podcast: Oscar starred, but Lando won
The Miami F1 Grand Prix finally turned it on, and for the first time this year Max Verstappen was beaten on the track!
McLaren launched the attack, first with Oscar Piastri and then by Lando Norris who had a bit more luck with the Safety Cars. He pulled away for a maiden win
Listen to our latest episode on your podcast app of choice or here
