Yesterday it was frost making roads slippery, this morning it was rain creating tricky conditions for competitors in heat two of Subaru Rally Tasmania.
After yesterday’s domination of heat one, Eli Evans found himself behind the eight ball after the first stage, spinning off the road and struggling to restart the Skoda Fabia R5. The excursion lost him five minutes and sees him in fifth at the midday service, more than two minutes off the lead after this morning’s three stages.
Harry Bates took the opportunity to grab an early lead after the first two stages but found himself stopped at the start of the third stage, the Yaris AP4 grounded with a flat battery. Making it back to the midday service, Bates will rejoin the heat this afternoon to salvage some points.
Steve Glenney was out to make amends for yesterday’s off but found himself with a two minute, 10 second penalty for late check-in to a control before he even started the day’s stages. This didn’t deter the Launceston local however, as he stormed through this morning’s loop.
Even with the time penalty, Glenney leads the heat by nine seconds from Molly Taylor, with Adrian Coppin in third.
Taylor’s morning was not without issues, she overshot a corner in the first stage and spun the Subaru WRX STi on the third stage.
Lewis Bates described this morning’s conditions as some of the trickiest he’s ever encountered – a steady morning sees him in fourth in the Toyota Corolla S2000.
In ARC2, Glenney leads the class, with Mark Butcher in second and Adam Kaplan in third.
Subaru Rally Tasmania wraps up this afternoon with a second pass of this morning’s three stages before a podium celebration at Inveresk at 4pm.
ARC Top Ten (provisional – up to SS14)
1. #4 Glenney/Sarandis 38:59.8
2. #6 Taylor/Read 39:08.8 (+00:09.0)
3. #5 Coppin/Feaver 39:11.4 (+00:11.6)
4. #8 Bates/Moscatt 39:22.0 (+00:22.2)
5. #2 Evans/Searcy 41:18.2 (+02:18.4)
6. #9 Butcher/Clarke 41:30.1 (+02:30.3)
7. #7 Walkem/Walkem 41:32.1 (+02:32.3)
8. #14 Anear/Maguire 44:30.7 (+05:30.9)
9. #11 Kaplan/Penney 46:08.1 (+07:08.3)
10. #10 Hayes/Hayes 53:46.6 (+14:46.8)
ARC2 (provisional – up to SS14)
1. #4 Glenney/Sarandis 38:59.8
2. #9 Butcher/Clarke 41:30.1 (+02:30.3)
3. #11 Kaplan/Penney 46:08.1 (+07:08.3)
4. #10 Hayes/Hayes 53:46.6 (+14:46.8)