Midday Update: Evans leads heat two at Forest Rally

Tankformers’ Eli Evans has continued where he left off on Saturday, holding a 31.5 second lead in heat two at the Make Smoking History Forest Rally in Western Australia.

Evans and co-driver Ben Searcy set the fastest times on four of the first five stages in their Skoda Fabia R5.

Toyota Genuine Parts’ Harry Bates and John McCarthy claimed the other stage win by a slim 0.8 of a second from Evans, bouncing back from their disappointing day on Saturday.

Contel Communications Steve Glenney and Andy Sarandis remain in the mix, 17.7 seconds behind Bates with Subaru do Motorsport’s Molly Taylor and Malcom Read finding some pace in their WRX STI to sit in fourth position.

Yes! Optus’ Adrian Coppin has gained confidence throughout the morning in the second Skoda Fabia R5, holding down fifth position, only 13.5 seconds adrift of Taylor.

In ARC2, Sky Refrigeration’s Glen Raymond continues to lead Maximum Motorsport’s Brad Markovic, with Ross Dunkerton in third and Haowen Chu in fourth.

Round two of the CAMS Australian Rally Championship concludes with three stages to run on Sunday afternoon.

Visit www.rally.com.au for all the latest results, news and video from this weekend’s rally action.

ARC HEAT TWO (after five stages)

1. #4 EVANS/SEARCY 45:37.5
2. #2 BATES/MCCARTHY 46:09.0 (+00:31.5)
3. #3 GLENNEY/SARANDIS 46:26.2 (+00:48.7)
4. #5 TAYLOR/READ 47:00.7 (+01:23.2)
5. #7 COPPIN/KELLY 47:14.3 (+01:36.8)
6. #6 RAYMOND/CATFORD 47:51.0 (+02:13.5)
7. #10 BATES/MOSCATT 48:36.1 (+02:58.6)
8. #9 MARKOVIC/FEAVER 49:48.9 (+04:11.4)
9. #14 O’DOWD/WILDE 49:59.1 (+04:21.6)
10. #11 PENNY/PRESTON 51:29.9 (+05:52.4)
11. #12 DUNKERTON/DUNKERTON 51:37.7 (+06:00.2)
12. #15 KAPLAN/PENNEY 55:19.9 (+09:42.4)
13. #16 CHU/ALCORN 1:18:25.0 (+32:47.5)