Harry Bates and John McCarthy have continued their fantastic run of form on Sunday morning to edge even closer to a Netier National Capital Rally victory.
With three stages having been run in the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Cup, the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia duo comfortably claimed the opening two stages before Molly Taylor and Dale Moscatt bucked the trend and took out the morning’s third stage.
Despite the minor setback, Bates and Moscatt still hold a commanding two and half minute lead over the Orange Motorsport Engineering Subaru WRX Sti, who have essentially locked in P2.
A further four minutes behind Taylor and Moscatt in third place are Clayton Hoy and Erin Kelly, with the Mitsubishi Evo IX pilots currently 27 seconds ahead of their closest rivals in Luke Anear and Andy Sarandis.
Despite Anear and Sarandis closing in on Hoy and Kelly in the morning’s first stage and reducing the gap to just 13 seconds, a tough SS13 for the AGI Sport prepared Ford Fiesta R5 allowed the third placed crew to extend the gap to 27 seconds.
Sunday morning also proved decisive in the Hoosier Challenge as Chris Higgs and Steve Fisher, who currently sit fifth outright, were unable to close in Hoy and Kelly, dropping to more than a minute slower.
In the ARC 2WD Cup, Ryan Williams and Brad Jones continue to lead the way over Adam Kaplan and Aleshia Penney with the junior pair carrying a buffer of almost six minutes.
Sunday also had its fair share of casualties with Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin, Tony Quinn and Damian Roach and Taylor Gill and Peter Harris all going off in the morning.
Stay up to date with the Netier National Capital Rally via the ARC live blog.
The action continues later today with the event’s final three, which begins with SS14 to run 1:30pm AEDT.
Top 10 at midday
- Harry Bates/John McCarthy 1:47:35.5
- Molly Taylor/Dale Moscatt +02:37.7
- Clayton Hoy/Erin Kelly +06:31.3
- Luke Anear/Andy Sarandis +06:58.5
- Chris Higgs/Steve Fisher +07:51.4
- JJ Hatton/Nathan Long +09:07.7
- Andrew Penny/Rhys Llewellyn +10:19.0
- Ryan Williams/Brad Jones +14:44.1
- Adam Kaplan/Aleshia Penney +20:26.1
- Trevor Stilling/Nigel Walters +20:57.5
Photo: Sportz Fotos