 It's uncompromising, addictive and often unforgiving with an adrenaline rush like no other. There is no practice, no second chances. It's the ultimate motorsport competition on gravel. It is rally and this is the East Coast Ball Bar's Australian Rally Championship. It's that time of year again when the quiet New South Wales coastal holiday destination of Coffs Harbour reverberates to the sound of high-revving engines and the surrounding hillside is shrouded in dust from the world's greatest motorsport spectacle on gravel, the World Rally Championship. It's round ten of the WRC and round five of the East Coast Ball Bar's Australian Rally Championship. Hi everybody I'm Greg Rust, welcome to Coats Hire Coffs Coast Rally Australia. In today's show we'll feature the classic clash between Toyota, Datsun and Porsche and showcase a myriad of models from a bygone era of rallying. The East Coast Ball Bar's four wheel drive national series is full of Subaru's and Mitsubishi's every driver eager to grab top billing at Australia's highest profile rallying event. And of course we have the all-important Armour All Power Stage just five points separate the top two outright championship cars. That's just what's on offer as a bonus today for the fastest two wheel drive car and it's coming up right now. Last round the battle for honours came down to the Mazda of Reeves and the Renault of Pettah. After crashing out at the previous Armour All Power Stage, Brendan Reeves was keen to make amends. Scott Pettah had found form and his walk and shore performance Cleo was fast. Too fast in fact for the rally school Mazda 2 and he secured maximum bonus points. As always only championship registered competitors can qualify for the Armour All Power Stage and they have just one qualifying run to get themselves into the fastest five. We're here for the running of the fifth Armour All Power Stage of the year. This is where competitors can earn bonus points before they start the rally proper. The first half of the year it's been Brendan Reeves but the hard charging Scott Pettah has whittled away his lead and is now leading by five points. This part of the championship every point is critical. This stage is worth five bonus points. There's plenty at stake and plenty on offer. Here's a snapshot of how the stage looks. Along straight off the start line introduces the humps that are a feature of this stage. After a tight left at New South Wales now it's down across three humps to reach the first split the Can-Am Crumps. The undulating gravel roads lead to the second split at Polaris Pass and then on to the tightest turn Coats Corner. The second chance to stretch their legs happens downhill entering a wide but rough sweeper before the finish comes up at 2.5 kilometres. Ross Duncan has been driving the course. Here he is now with Dean Herich. Nobody better qualified than our five times national champion Ross Duncan who's just gone through the Armour All Power Stage. You're looking a bit flustered mate what is it like? You know all the power stages we've done so far I would have loved to run at competition speed. This one I don't think so. Really? Have a look at this. The whole way through the course is just littered with stones and there is the odd jump. In fact hundreds of jumps. In fact there's one jump I reckon if they hit it hard they'd finish up in South Australia. That's how high it is. So we've really thrown a cat amongst the pitchers. As you say sometimes we're on tarmac, sometimes a traditional rally stage. This one you're saying rough and very tricky to get through to not even wreck the car. Rough and tough yeah conditions are changing and those jumps depending on how hard you hit them on whether your car is going to land properly whoever's got the best car for jumping will win this stage. So that could make or break it so it's not just on outright paces about picking the lines picking the best spots looking after your car and coming with a good time. Exactly you can't come up to a jump and de-accelerate as you come up to it it's like a motorbike you've got to give it the big number so it jumps and lands perfectly. So there you go Ross Duncan wants to get in the commentary box so it's a little bit rare. Sound like it's going to be a very interesting qualifying run Rusty and it's back to you to recap it. Thanks Dean the Walk and Shore performance Renault was on fire from the start making light work of the humps but a miscalculation cost them dearly. Without the two spare tyres from testing yesterday the Clio was 50 kilos lighter in the rear and around she came. I didn't think it was going to be that bad down the hill and just picked it in the air and turned it around so I don't think we'll be in the I don't think we'll be in the power stage this time. With only one qualifier the writing was on the wall he and Dale Moskot had to wait and watch as the following drivers each bettered their time. No such problems for Brendan Reeves and Rianan Gelsimino. Clean and tidy the rally school Mazda 2 immediately set the standard 1 minute 49.1. Michael Bowden was next on the road but wasn't taking any risks in the VW Polo. At 1 minute 55 dead he was fought fastest but into the final. Steve McKenzie returned this round with his new Opticote Fiesta despite a slow start squeezed into fifth place 0.3 behind the Warho Warrior. That didn't leave much for the Repco Polo also returning after missing last round but McPatten and Bernie Webb were still settling into the rhythm and not about to risk it all so early. Team Citroen stormed into the final though Tony Sullins quicker over the short sprint stage by 0.4 over his teammate Adrian Coppin. So Steve McKenzie, Michael Bowden, Adrian Coppin, Tony Sullins and Brendan Reeves line up for the bonus championship points in the Armourall power stage coming to you from the Coats Higher Rally Australia in Coffs Harbour. Welcome back to the holiday destination of Coffs Harbour despite the tranquility of the New South Wales North Coast one week a year it burst since a life with Coats Higher Rally Australia and it's the hinterland where all the action is happening right now. Qualifying in the Armourall power stage wasn't kind to McPatten so no points on offer for the man flying the flag for Repco. He's with Dean on the start line. So our wildcard entries as McPatten and Bernie Webb great to have you guys back after missing South Australia mate must be good to get back behind the wheel. Yeah it is we've done a lot of component testing in the six weeks that we unfortunately missed SA but cars really good we feel quite comfortable with it but it's a long weekend to go mate so we're just gonna do our thing and tick some boxes this weekend for sure. Great to have the Repco rally team back and good luck through here. Thanks guys. Five, four, three, two, one. Listen to the BW hunting for traction there as they launch off the start line. Lots of experience Bernie Webb in the passenger seat there they attack this stage. The first of the jumps is a couple going up to the left first left hander. Through the New South Wales now corner and they will head to what we've deemed or called Can-Am Crump. This is a bit of a hybrid rally word that we owe Dale Moskut for the explanation. Exactly and the second one is the one that's the one that's the highest of those three. Crest and hump all blended together they're through there nicely good work so far little nose heavy in its behavior this car. Rusty they've got to keep the boot in to keep those shock absorbers on full extension so they can't come in on the brakes otherwise they'll nose dive in and he's doing a good job here at the moment. That's the super impressive part as we weave through Pedder's pinch just a nice line there too Ross very centered on the road weren't they? True Polaris pass and that's the benchmark time that we'll be using to compare with other competitors the splits as this special stage unfolds. Heading up now to the high-tech oils speed trap as well we'll get an idea of what kind of top speed through these frightening trees on the coughs coast but they are attacking no doubt about it. It's a fast run down through here Rusty they've got to keep the the boot in it to keep those shockers on full full extension otherwise they'll go nose diving into the into the crest. 115k an hour at the high-tech oils speed trap. This is a tidy run from this combination you could almost tell from the way Bernie Webb was looking at the beginning of the stage you just wanted his driver to bring it home nicely 156.7 that is the time to beat. We've misjudged one of the big humps but apart from that it was fine yeah we're just here blowing the cobwebs out getting ready for the big stuff over the next three days essentially. So even what he said there let's put that under a bit of analysis on the replays he felt it was untidy here and then through Pedder's pinch still all in all a reasonably tidy run as we go back to Dean. Great to have the Mackenzie Brothers back by Stephen and Brent in the brand new car mate debuting here on a big rally and just lobbed in the power stage mate well done. Yeah yeah cheers um yeah excellent to have new car finally out it's been a long time coming we didn't have as much testing I guess as we planned but we're here we put in a reasonable time for the first stage and yeah I'll have you so far. Smiles is it all guys good luck to them on this run. Smile about Dean this is a terrific looking car Ross they launch away. He's a good young young boy this guy he's come up through the ranks and it's good to see him in this car and I'm sure he'll do it proud he's testing these jumps as he said he doesn't know how hard to hit him but he's certainly having a try here at the moment. For New South Wales now that looks very neat. Looks good looks good. Oh yeah plenty of air there and landed nicely. What appears to be impressive here Ross without opening two runs is how well as we check the split there the can and split just how well they are absorbing the bumps and maintaining full speed. You've got to remember these front world drive cars so they really you know that they are not as good as a real world drive car to jump they sort of are a bit more difficult and the cars are landing nicely those suspension setups are very very good in this car. Jump into six right with four left then crest into eight right. Working that wheel comes in nicely tight through the through the left hander. Significantly up at Polaris look at that on the split versus pattern and web and you've got to say these two are being ultra calm listen to Grant in the passenger seat there. He was quick through that left hander very very quick this is going to be a very fast time Rusty. High tech oils the top speed before 115 look at that what a big difference in the top speed these guys are on the limit. Well he's certainly carrying the speed the car is jumping well through the finishing time here and it's a good time 150. Six seconds quicker and Brent's voice even when they were on the limit did not change good work. I'm happy with that time there's still a bit more in it but I think one of the jumps we hit a bit hard. I'm not sure what's going on the front end of cool being down there so I'll have a look after this see if it took it well or or not and there's a problem with the mic then it's like a crack or so a little bit of interruption but I think we're putting in a reasonable time here. Geez a hard marker let's take a look at some of this on the replay this is a good performance comes a little bit a little bit nose heavy but down through here he looked good look at that so the Mackenzie brothers Steve and Brent displace Mick Patton and Bernie Webb in the Armor All the top spot can they remain there Michael Bowden wants to change all that right after the break you are watching the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship while preparations are getting underway in beautiful Coffs Harbour for Coats High around Australia the action has already begun out in the forest for the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship currently our leader in the Armor All power stage is Steve Mackenzie but Dean is at the start with the War Hope Warrior and he wants to change all that do you know Michael Bowden Helen cheers qualified just outside the top three points up for grabs mate this stage is a bit of you isn't it yeah look I'm going to have a bit more of an attack now I know how hard I can hit those jumps it was a bit of a touch and go thing when we first done it but yeah look it's totally different when you're doing notes in a road car with shitty yoll suspension and and yes you know we can hit it at this and yeah but look I felt really happy with it and Helen even commented how she she thought it wouldn't handle it pretty good so well we'll have a bit more of a go this time now you're fairly close to the whippersnappers in front they've just done a 150.3 they've thrown down the Gaul and had a real crack through there so that must have been pretty committed on that stage to get that time yeah that's for sure that's that's a really good stage time and you know I just hope I can match it or better it come on that's what we like to hear a fighting Michael Bowden Helen cheers good luck guys for this one thank you that's really interesting mindset isn't it just the one qualifying run but that is enough to build the confidence of someone like this who knows how to win championships away he goes they've done all the work on this car and of course as he said he's already had the qualifying run he knows how the car jumps so he's going to give it to her and he is doing just that Helen cheers in the passenger seat Michael Bowden nice and tight on the entry they work now towards the crumps the can and crumbs look at this this is the one let's see how he goes over that he's not no he's not going this fast I don't think it's Mackenzie through there he's down at the split but his time he's got time to recover here Michael Bowden look at the eyes look at the determination the biggest jumps coming up so that depends on how much courage he's got left right through there it's quite tricky up through the pedder's area there as it comes down lovely line through the pedder's pinch down at the split but he's recovered some time as you can see there the gap was bigger before can he can this pairing in the final split recover that and move to the top of the armour wall power stage big mission can they get there anybody you can do it can be Michael Bowden and he's having a big try but can he pull it back 124 kph for our last pairing through at the high tech split just down fractionally 4 kph he's not going to do it 100 this is going to be close it doesn't seem as though they'll do it but there's not much in it lost it up the top corner the Mackenzie's will stay in the top spot for now I lost it up on one of the corners went in a bit too deep and on the rock Lucy's staff mate backed it in I knew where the time was but hey it was worth a crap so let's take a closer look here that's where he lost a bit of time there I think rusty a little bit of understeer as he went into that corner well no change in the armour wall power stage lead Stephen Brent McKenzie but the Citrons want that spot Dean team sits in Australia Adrian Coppin Timbatten qualified third maybe your gobsmacked you've even got in you've got a bit of an issue that you're dealing with yeah we've got a brand new gearbox for this one Dino and arrived yesterday out of customs and freight so it's been a frantic week but we've got a bit of an issue with the voltage so I didn't actually couldn't select second or third gear so I'm actually amazed that we've got here in third and um it's you know see how we go through here but I don't think it's going to uh going to fix itself anytime soon it's sort of an electronic issue it sort of does grab a gear but it doesn't know that it's grabbed a gear so the electronics is a bit that's playing up is that correct yeah that's right you sort of 10 grabs and maybe it grabs it and some of the dozen and then on the down shift so look it's just one of those things we've just got to persist and get through here and get it sort of before we start tomorrow yeah like I said did a good job in qualifying mate good luck for the final run here mate thanks Dino it's a bit tricky for them guys so if they're going to go and push they've got a bit to play for yeah absolutely what about that electronics rusty how about that great work by the team we've got to say given the delayed arrival of this gearbox through customs as Adrian said they're to even to get it done and hopefully they can get this car sorted for the for the rest of the weekend but it's a huge challenge for this pairing he and Tim batten as they attack the power stage as you can see on the dash it's actually selecting the other gears all right there he's up into fifth 70 big jump there's a problem there and starting to flash on and off it doesn't look as quick through the crumbs we go wow good effort though that said at the split they've got some time so yep that's positive just ahead well he's back in the fifth gear so he is having a big try sweet through pet is it look good the car now the crucial split will the mckenzie's be able to retain it not for now because adrian koppin and tim batten for now are in the lead of this armor all power stage what a result that would be given the the complications with this car looking comfortable behind the wheel three three in the needle through there down through past the camera it's not our fastest so far in the stage that's very reasonable all things considered super close here it's going to be just they do it well done to adrian koppin and tim batten against the odds they move to the top of the ladder that was worse than the last one but we still went faster but it just wouldn't get out of second gear so she's just got to rev the whole way and what can we do we just got to try and get it sorted for tomorrow so it's an absolute handful but he has a dip he has a go look at the look at the way it's moving constantly shifting trying hoping to find it it's on the paddles there you can see him flicking him back and forth the sequential gearbox of course so somehow adrian koppin and tim batten sneak in front of the opticoat fiesta to guarantee at least one point for third but the second team citron car is with dean right now looking for that same spot and that's coming up after the break coughs harbour is renowned for the biggest banana in the country but this weekend it's the biggest rally in the country that is the center of attention right now the best bunch of drivers in the east coast bullbars arc is assembled in the forest hinterland to find out for the bonus points in the armor all power stage and dean is with our next competitor the second of the citron is tony solace and julia barklay great run second in the qualifying you have to beat your teammate to get on top mate he's pumped out a 149 six it's about three seconds quicker than the previous run but in this stage i think you can do it okay i hope so he's obviously having a go but um yeah we will too yeah um tough stage that's a balance between doing some drama to the car or damaging the car and getting the time isn't it oh definitely my my mission is to keep the car in one piece for the rest of the rally i don't mind if we if he beats us but you know i'll definitely we want to have a go if we can i can see it in your eyes mate you can have a go thanks mate good luck to them both who are both suffering with the flu so they're doing a fantastic job the qualifying good luck in this run good observation dean and they're like that aren't they super competitive pairing these two and he doesn't mind if he's beaten i don't think so up to the very first jump of the stage that's only a small one as they pull their way up the hill every round of the australian championship has a power stage but each seem to have something unique gee this is a challenging power stage true new south wales now and they work towards the can and crumbs the crest and humps together that really knocked these cars around you get too much air so uh and he's carrying a reasonable amount of speed through there rusty head of his teammate crucially a head of his teammate at the first split you could pick that he's doing well sure that by plus into hope right five over great little cars these of course so been a welcome addition to the championship this year hasn't it very well presented and prepared very successful in europe of course left for hump the crest 30 look at this from the calara split they've been able to find even more time and improve on that lead over their teammate what he came down very hard on the right hand there and snuck through there very nicely very nicely done hi-tech fastest so far 127 kilometers an hour and that's reflected in the landing he is on fire at the moment this is going to be a very fast time these guys look like they're going to move to the top of the ladder but it just underscores the strength the impressive that drive was for coppin and batten with the problems they had to uh had to deal with well done i don't know if you spot they didn't want to hurt the car so long event to go 148 that's a good time done by 1.4 oh really well done i had a bit of a game i had a bit of a go and i thought well i didn't do anything stupid but you still um you know pushed on pretty hard you've really got a longer distance ahead of us i don't want to fix the car this afternoon that's for sure so really wise approach from this pairing as we check the replay i bet he'd like to have another go good time that they found out this was that was a big jump there rusty so one out and one in citron still the top spot of this armour all power stage with brendan reef to come in the rally school mazda two sullens he's not confident i reckon he'll boot his wife you he's he's got his head around it and the first he's the first run through he was at the front you know front end of the field so it'll be a swept line now and he's had a bit of a look at it like okay that's a good thing he's mazda right now fastest qualifiers brennan reyes and reanna gelsomino congratulations on the qualifying you're gonna have to go about 1.1 seconds faster than your qualifying run to take tony sullens he just did a 148 too so great time by them points on the line plenty on offer for you on this stage mate yeah like our qualifying run went pretty good we hadn't had much of a pre-event test so that was really my test and and the car feels good i did feel like i got a flat front right but it wasn't there so we sort of backed off a bit so hopefully we can improve on the second half of the stage and these guys in front of me has swept a good line too i was on those rocks this morning so we'll see how we go but i did fire tony up before the stage he said he was going to push which is great for them and you've got a battle on the big news was a course that scott he didn't qualify your five points behind in the championship you can get this done on this stage you'll be tied going into the start of the weekend that's a pretty big carrot for you that'd mean a lot for us and we haven't had a great last couple of power stages so to get a win means everything good start to a big event feeling the pressure of this is like you can see you can't just dawdle through here so there's a little bit of pressure on in this car i'm sure yeah it doesn't really feel like pressure i'm just keen to get out there and and run a clean stage you know it's a lot of fun there's about 15 jumps in here and the mazda's got the zoom zoom factor so it's great i like all the jump jump factor good luck guys go get them this will be a good one rusty hold on to your hat because he's going to have a go love the sound of that car in full flight maximum revs as they launch away from the start line as he said the track's been swept that means that they've swept all the loose stones off so now he's got solid adhesion so he can get plenty of traction from the mazda oh nicely set up and pulls it around in a Scandinavian flick fastest through that corner by far now toward the canam crumbs we'll get our first split soon listen to the revs that's the biggest jump on the third jump we've seen so far thought it might be higher than that it's too tense but they are ahead they've moved to the top spot for now he's ringing its neck as he went past the uh our cameras there spectacular to watch and that is the nature of brendon reeves the rally driver he's always very good at these power stages and good good gain through the second split Ross at Polaris just wild he has got this one i think in the bag because he's only got halfway through but he's got time up now and doing it nicely and doesn't it set up a fascinating prospect for the back end of this championship remember they'll be tied good effort there at the high tech speed trap 125 k is an hour to think that the key guys fighting for the championship will be neck and neck in points terms if these guys can do it they're nearly there he needs it and he'll come through and he has got five points 145 six so in the end three seconds boy they've made some gains over the runs on this stage yeah if i were really good in there the boys had swept the line for us the first run it was the other way around scott and us for cleaning uh for the notes work well considering we didn't really get a test before this event this is our test uh really happy tires work good and plenty of moisture in the road which is great looking at the rally yeah the heart's definitely racing that's for sure i think there's about 15 jumps and we took a lot of them flat which is a lot of fun in this car the g2s do it really well so can't wait to get the cash and the prize so they had to go for points and that's exactly what they did a joy to watch as brendon reeves and ryanan win the armor all power stage now we're going to do the power stage dance no doubt who's on top in the power stage brendon reeves and ryanan jel semino very nice might start a new trend we could do that the armor all power stage dance and they've closed the gap on scott petter yeah it's equal points now so that's great uh we didn't expect that we'd get to start like that so it's good feeling the car feels excellent going into the rally which is always a great positive um so yeah look we've done everything we came from here uh the car set up's good i don't think we need to change anything uh just clean it up for the start tomorrow and see how we go on the stages i think the conditions are going to be quite hard on the tyres look we found that out last year there's quite a few rocks and it's going to be quite hot out there so we've got to play the tyre strategy quite well with the kumos this weekend and do everything we can there's a lot of points on offer we have three separate legs 20 points for each leg uh 40 points for overall rally we've got five points here and you've also got a bonus point for a stage when so there's a lot to come the armor all winners prize presented by the general manager of east coast bullbars paul teresy that's it for another armor all power stage petter and reeves now dead heated in the championship league coming up it's super in versus mr vishi it's round five in the east coast bullbars four-wheel drive national series gets underway in earnest welcome back to the coach higher cops coast rally australia it was the fifth round of the east coast bullbars four-wheel drive national series and a record turnout the best three events from the season win this competition and right now the stakes are in favor of michael bailey and henry not they were the only competitors in the top five campaigning this event so for sure that top five would be a very different makeup at the end of the weekend favorite for the weekend though was eighth place richie dolton his intentions clear we're definitely a podium man i've been nervous at the moment because it's been a long time since i've sat in the car so just just get a feel for the first couple of stages and just would play by ear see what goes dolton with john allen pointing the way didn't look back putting more than a second decay on their opposition through stage one last year henry not crashed out of this event in his two-wheel drive bmw he returned with an extra set of drive wheels front finished business i've got a score to settle up here this is my third crack at this and i'm going to beat it if dolton had not by 17 in ss one and the roles were reversed next stage showing age was no barrier michael bailey fueled up his new vp ultimate evo nine displacing them both to grab the top spot through the first pass of miry in leg one oh you know when you're 10 50 you make sure you're a super fit athlete like myself that was uh that wasn't too bad actually it must be the power steering it's a little less input my age it was the turbo hose on the Mitsubishi that needed inputting after it blew off and dropped them from third to seventh dolton again took on us through the first repeat of the morning stages hide's creek the irish pilot was not frightened to have a go on the new stage for 2014 his reward a 15 second overall lead and rupeni was just pleased to be at the finish even dragging his rear muffler his replacement Subaru wrx hot off the assembly line after his last car was burnt to the ground in a rally just two months ago a tassie devil weighed into the competition through the final gravel stage of the day marcus walkham two seconds quicker than dolton and brother scott repeat the feet through the super special stage in downtown coughs harbour the heat was on in leg two and the dolton allen combination proved too good for both marcus walkham and henry not through nambuckle the longer stage of the event became even longer for mike bailey when the front diff broke and he and matt harriott were forced to crawl through the stage and valour back to service it was weekend over for the bp ultimate team the walkham snuck in by two seconds for a stage win of cross valour on the limit the return to the 49 kilometer nambucker stage was the undoing for andrew penny the mercury rising in the engine forcing a go slow henry not might have been preserving his chances at his south australian championship but the gnarly private road resembling a goat track that joined the two sweeping shire roads was doing all it could to stop him richie dolton though had thrown caution to the wind fastest again the final day brought henry not unstuck at the creek crossings in shipments his third outright was quickly watered down to eighth stopping at both hazards no problems for dolton though who powered on to first in stage ahead of marcus walkham richie dolton wasn't the only irishman in the four-wheel drive pack he convinced his mate chaston hatman to try his hand at rallying so he brought a left hand drive E09 a week before the event and stepped up to the plate remarkably a stage win last night at the super special was accomplished because it was short enough he didn't need pace notes but through bucker he claimed a remarkable fourth fastest despite the rookie being in his first rally not yet really understanding pace notes the fibre tech medical machine of gerald scofield clattered and clung through bucker and back to service holding on to his third position despite a broken bolt in the dip housing something's gone wrong in the rear end the guys say it's fairly simple and hoping it's going to be because the guy behind me is catching me fairly quickly so we get this fixed and we'll be on that podium the guy chasing him down was paul newman who was ticking off his bucket list waiting 20 years to go rallying in the arc and doing it with his son and mate shore steering the auto pro evo six were ron and joe more moving up from club rallying meant learning pace notes for this event a test for any relationship but the husband and wife were good fifth outright and the subway sponsored subi was piloted by mark beard stepping from his dad's and 1200 coup into the long turbo rs model beard's reward came from beating any turbo car in the field his nemesis was the shipment time clock that seemed eager to penalize him for jumping both starts there was no stopping richie dalton though despite oil leaking into the transfer case making controlling the front wheels almost impossible he nursed his shamrock entry to victory and the top of the east coast four bars four-wheel drive national series kenry not was left to lament his watery finish that meant second in the series while gerrard scofield grabbed points and fourth outright ahead of michael bailey to round out the five coming up next will the australian classic royalty knocked off their thrones at coats higher rally australia we'll find out right after the break come back to the east coast bullbars arc without doubt the coats higher coughs coast rally was a draw card for crews and crowded like and that extended to the classics topping the bill as usual when neil bates and coral taylor in their toyota silica dominating the event from the start despite some big jumps that took their toll you know obviously for a wild rally car they handle it no problems at all but tough work on other cars the event was tough on other cars all right none more so than claude murray the datson p5 10 pilot had previously taken the fight up to this time to stop short all over clay badenock challenged the master early on with the new baits built engine pushing this silica into second it was ground down with a howling weird death in the second stage there it got worse and we just startled but we just short shifted and then um yeah something something like go there till casper spirited his way into second bates the ghost rally sport team appeared from nowhere and held on to the toyota coattail until early in leg three when the pinto coughed and spluttered at shipments creek crossing ed mulligan broke a tail shaft early in his escort returning for leg two only to suffer from a loss of power in the bda engine mulligan was not perturbed by the setback it's not much better today we've only got a little bit of a power loss today and when you're in a wait for age over 60s handicap i'm still in front troubles plague troy o doady right from the outset sidelined after hitting a bridge early in ss1 the car began stopping without explanation only to restart just as inexplicably still he and wife penny did manhandle the v8 triumph to the end even if it was as tail in charlie no struggle for matt ruggles in the other tr seven a spot of consistency rewarding him with second for the weekend and with the luck of the irish michael ohagan in only his fourth rally and second on pace notes on the improve all weekend fifth day one fourth day two finally crossing the line for third despite a failing diff that was doing everything to stop jeff david wasn't his usual consistent self something was keeping the Porsche driver away from the top of the field not far enough away from the bank i thought i was going to have a half spin and i was actually getting ready to pull reverse to back up and then continue on just thinking oh well i've lost a few seconds there and then the car just moved forward a bit and grabbed the bank and tipped us over the smallest car in the field couldn't match neil bates in the forest but on the tight super special steve arnold was just 0.2 of a second behind the classic chap both passers and holding down the fort for rotaries mark and coral fittings rx2 provided plenty of highs and lows for a family affair eventually placed sixth after a hundred three days of rallying outside the classification three cars strutted their stuff with varying degrees of success as invitational entries bill chromati's low shearing an axle his lancer provided his high spectating the wrc cars in full flight the bulldust from the very same world rally cars sideline wret stevens but even a failing clutch couldn't dampen the bluebird driver's enthusiasm so we are down but we've completed every stage so that's pretty good it's not often you get to mix with the big boys i mean we're not mixing with them but you know in the same parks and all that so you can't do that formula one or anything after two years in the build malchio's outing quattro was finally in action i've only been driving it for basically two days so i'm learning fast fast was an understatement the quattro living up to its reputation for speed and entertainment the the acceleration and the launch on this is as fast as the quattro was though it was neil bates and coral taylor who drove another faultless rally demonstrating why they are the king and queen of the classics that wraps up the first part of our coverage from the coats hire coughs coast rally australia watch out for all the action from the east coast bullbars australian rally championship in our program coming up same time next week just check your local guides for details and as we always say to keep up to date just head to the website rally dot com dot au i'm greg russ we'll catch you next time bye for now today's coverage is made possible by destination yusuf wales kumo tire pettus suspension arm wall coats hire can and 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