Big weekend for Reading and Young
In addition to the Australian Rally Championship finale, there was also a Tasmanian Rally Championship on the line last weekend.
It was a memorable weekend for defending Tasmanian champions Bodie Reading and Mark Young (Subaru Impreza WRX), who not only successfully defended their Tasmanian title, but also finished second overall in the ARC MainFix Production Cup, after claiming their maiden title in the same category last year.
This year’s Tasmanian championship series was a bit convoluted to say the least, with only one round held in the lead-up to Rally Tasmania.
The opening round, also held on the North-West Coast in April, was a single-heat event, with the next two rounds cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, including dangerous weather.
With contenders only taking a bare minimum of points into the season finale, which included two heats on the Saturday (round two) and two-heats on the Sunday (round three), the points were heavily weighted towards the back of the season.
Consequently, a consistent weekend is what was needed to wrap up the outright title, which is exactly what Reading and Young were able to produce, winning three of the four heats on offer.
The only time their colours were lowered was in the first heat on the Saturday, with second-generation driver Aiden Peterson and co-driver Mitch Newton (also in a Subaru) getting the upper hand in the morning.
They were also consistent over the weekend, finishing second in the remaining heats, added to their round one runner-up effort, to wrap-up second in the championship by a considerable points margin.
Meanwhile, veteran David Thompson and co-driver Matthew Sanders (Ford Capri Perana V8), took advantage of the back-end points loading, winning three of the four heats in the two-wheel-drive category, to take out an unexpected championship, despite not running in the first round in April.
The pair also wrapped up back-to-back ARC 2WD Classic Cup championships in the process.
By Martin Agatyn
Image: DMAC Photography
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