 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 Bars Australian Rally Championship. Welcome to round two coming to you from the National Capital Rally in Canberra. In today's program we'll showcase the fight between Polaris and Can-Am in the Australian side-by-side series. The seesaw battle between manufacturers takes another turn with some added boost to the maverick and the razor responds. This is the territory where the Don Capasco and Castrol events of the 70s and 80s helped cement rally in this country. Almost its spiritual home. See how they fare against the current day master on his home soil 40 years later. And of course we'll feature the Armoral STP Power Stage. Both the outright championship and the World Drive national series have a chance to bag some points early. Well Dino, back in Can-Am, that brings back memories for both you and me. It does, we both competed competitively here, various amounts of success. It's actually a great and iconic rally stages around here isn't it? It certainly is, especially these couple of corners behind us are nice and flowing. You can get them in sideways. The big thing is the tunnel over there, through the tunnel and over the top. What's great about having the tunnel in the forest, we've got a true forest stage. We've got the amphitheater feel which is perfect for our power stage. Certainly is and what a power stage it's going to be with those two new cars. The Maxi and the Dicar of course. So Justin Dowell and Mark Pettaday booing those cars and we'll learn more about them this weekend before Mark's going to be basically testing him on the power stage. First time he's going to be in that car, tough for any driver as they debut that car. And you've got to really be on your wits to get into this. They're going to be racing against some of the four-wheel drive locals who are very quick and outright. It was awesome in Perth, going to be the same here. Certainly an outright two-wheel drive. Molly Tarla did a great job in West Australia and she's back in the field again. So is Simon Evans in a Honda Jazz up against Eli, a big punch up there. Love the fights between the brothers. We keep talking about to get in, it's so intense this stage. To get into the final after doing a great job, the feel up and down is so good you've got to be on it. You've got to be on it because this power stage is so important for points going into the main event. That sets your weekend up doesn't it and we're looking forward to a fantastic weekend from our point of view. It'll be a big weekend. In 2015 both outright and four-wheel drive get the opportunity to start the National Capital Rally with points from the Art World STP Power Stage. Just three places are on offer for a maximum of five bonus points and just one qualifying run is allowed so there are no second chances. The fastest three in each class will then face off for a one-time shot at those points. Last round Simon Evans came out on top in the power stage ahead of the two Citrins of Kloppen and Sons. The surprise was Eli who missed the cut altogether in his first outing with the factory Citrins squad. Doug Tosterman was quickest of the four-wheel drives. He and another quick local Dillam King were split by Justin Dowell from Victoria. With the growth of Canberra pushing the suburbs further out, the roads that once were a feature of the old rally of Canberra are now packed with houses. 2014 marked the last time this area would be used for any form of rallying so this year we're off to Cowan Forest to the east of the capital. It's an ideal venue for the Armoral STP Power Stage and promises to be a great run. From the start drivers will dive under the Kumo Tire Tunnel and into the arena that will be home to the Coats Rally Spectator Village over the weekend. Zigzagging between the barrels they make their way down to ECB Bend and onto the straight leading to the first split at Polaris Pitch. Coats Corner is next heading to the second split, Can and Corner. Another square left onto the longest and fastest straight in a power stage this year. The STP Speedtrap leads to the final obstacle, a jump over the tunnel through the flying finish, literally. Dunco's just been around the track so let's find out what he thinks. Ross Duncanen, look at the smile on his face, our five times Australian Rally Champion. Where did you borrow this car from to start with? I don't know, it's just over in the car. What about this STP and Armoral Power Stage? Mate, all I can say in three words is fast, fast and faster. It'll be the fastest power stage that we've ever done. The last part of it as you come down over the final jump, am I going to go over the top of the arch or aren't I? That's how fast it is. But it's a tricky stage, you know, you start off, you go through the tunnel, a couple of lefts and rights down to a square left-hander and a big long straight up over crest, tricky chicane into a very rough approach to a left-hander, get round there, down the straight, bogged down a bit, left-hander again and then... Over a couple of jumps to the finish, fantastic! It seems like if you're going to get the points here, you're going to have to be committed. We're about to Ross back to Rusty for the highlights, but guess what, here's your Armoral product, Justin Dows who you borrowed this car from outside inside, mate, you'll be doing a bit of work, okay? Get the car clean and Rusty is back to you to recap those qualifying highlights. Thank you boys, get to work, Dunco. 11 cars lined up for the four-wheel drive qualifying with all eyes on the new generation cars of Justin Dows and Mark Pedder. Pedder's Maxi Peugeot 208 race engine was fired for the first time 24 hours ago after being finally cleared from customs. I wouldn't believe it, we've got no accelerator. With the computer shutting down the engine, he and Dale Moskut limped through. Matt, we've got to back again. 200, turn flip. Neither Andrew Penny nor Peter Dunn could break the two-minute barrier in their Subaru's and Guy Tyler upset the experienced Michael Bailey in his earlier model Evo 5. Gerald Schofield launched the Fibre Tech Medical Evo 9 into the 1-minute 57s, but the fast guys kept coming. McPatten broke 1-minute 56 and the teeth on second gear in the Repco Evo 10, allowing Rally Rookie JJ Hatton to sniff the top-free berth, but he missed by just half a second. Justin Dows pushed the brand-new LG Diteco Hyundai i20 as hard as he did, sneering the second-fastest qualifying time ahead of Tasmania's Marcus and Scott Walkham. But it was Richie Dalton in the chip shop who was tip-top four seconds quicker than anyone else. So, Marcus Walkham, Justin Dows and Richie Dalton will line up with a second-ever Armor All STP four-wheel drive power stage for that action coming up right after the break. Welcome back to the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship. It's a brilliant day here in the nation's capital. Dean is on the line with the first of our qualifiers in the Armor All STP power stage. So, it's Marcus and Scott Walkham who are the first into our STP and Armor All power stage. Mate, well done. Got in on the qualifying. Good run. Yeah, thanks, Dean Oat. We had a pretty tidy run through there, so just looking to do the same again. I just spoke to Duncan at the start. He said big commitment through here. Do you think you can knock off the couple of guys, the ARC regulars? Oh, look, it'd be nice to, but it's a long rally. You know, we want to be here on Sunday, so we'll just have a crack and see where we end up. That's what I like. Have a crack, guys. Enjoy. Well done for getting in. You're doing a great job. Thank you. Well said, Dean Oat. Well done for the qualifying for this peering from Tasmania. Here we go. Car grips up nicely off the start line. This first section of the course so important to get right as they weave around the balance here. Jolt. Real bone-jarring jolt, in fact. Into chicane, right entry. Mitsubishi stretching its legs here. 120 into chicane, right entry. Car number 13, hopefully not an unlucky charm for this round of the series. They weave through here, through Polaris, very nicely through the pinch, the first slip. That gives us our benchmark for the runners that will follow. On eight, right. Looks like a moonscape doesn't it from up high here, our shot. Nice line through the left-hander. Right, then 50 turn left, three do not cut. Out of coats and heading towards Can-Am corner now. We'll get our second slip shortly. Then 50, two fast brows. Look at the dust being picked up. Two fast brows in GLF 600. One, two, then 600. A bit of air. End of road on right. So important not to nose dive off those. And fast. 193 kilometres an hour at the STP speed trap. That's got his attention. Fast brow, then 200. Caution crest, middle air, then 100. And through the finish. Good work Puff, nice air. The marker laid down by the Walkums are 149-24. Good start by this pairing. Oh, it was good. It's a great little stage. I don't know what sort of time we did, but we kept it pretty tidy, so it should be all right. We take a look at the replay here. And this corner was the execution was superb. Carried great speed through there and got some good air as well. Nice work. Justin Dowling, Matt Lee, former champs. Five seconds faster than the Walken boys, so they've gone pretty quick in there. Yeah, I think second time round it'd be a lot better. You know how hard to hit all the jumps and so on, but we can't get too carried away with that sort of thing. We just got to make sure we have a good clean run and really enjoying the new high-end eye. It's an amazing car to drive and just so rewarding. Everything's smooth, easy, it's very nimble. It's going to be a lot of fun. That's all that matters. Well, you summed it up. I was going to ask you about the new machine. I looked at take-off to start, and went off like a rocket. It must be an absolute joy to drive this thing. Yeah, it's got all the technology, you know, launch control, the sequential shift, all that sort of stuff. So it's got all the bells and whistles and it's a very good car. Well, good luck on the power stage, mate. Thank you. Have a look at this one, Rusty, off the line. New G4 red car, and very, very quick. It's had a great reaction from the fans. Dino hasn't it? Looks aggressive. One, go. Look at the way it bites off the line. Justin Dowell again partnered with Matt Lee. Keshore right into tunnel, and two right in narrow. Into two left edge. His whole feeling after qualifying was he just had to attack this stage from beginning to end, and he plans to do that here. 150. The left-hander carries good speed through there. They've been working on ride heights with this car, trying to set up the back end of it. That looked good there. 150. The marker is welcome. Let's see how he's up. Narrow, but it's an advantage at the moment to Justin Dowell. 100. Rough entry, hugged seven right in on exits. Every outing they have in this car, they feel like they're getting more and more to grips with it quicker with it. I'll put it on a bit of a weight loss program in the months ahead, and hopefully find a little more of an advantage. Bit more speed. 18th, loose entry, two left, abandoned late. 50. Second split now, but he's dropped a bit of time. Relative to Walkham. Flat jump into hump, 100. Doesn't get as much air there. Flat jump, 500. But it does look stable. 186 kilometres an hour. Now remember the Walkhams were into the 190s. They could be telling him. 200. Pinned. Straight over breach. Air maybe. Flying finish break. 50, long three left. Well done. And he's down. Not quite able to match. It does recover a little bit of time in that final sector. Hey, not enough. Nah, it's about as far as I want to go at the moment. Still learning the carburet. That's a lot of fun. And she's not going to have the legs of a restricted car because it's fairly flat out, all that sort of stuff, but I'm happy with that because the car's amazing. Take a look at the replay here and through the Polaris pinch. Nice straight line. Little bit of air at the end as he recovered some time, but not enough to knock the Walkhams off. A reprieve for Marcus and Scott, but the hard charging Irishman is still to run. Back in a moment. You're watching the overall STP power stage coming to you from the national capital rally in Edinburgh, Dean Herridge, with our fastest qualifier taking part in his first ever power stage. Richie Dalton and John Allen are the fastest qualifiers in the Evo, mate. And the boys are going pretty quick on their second pass. Let me give you some time. So we got Justin Dowdy to 150.3, but the Walkhams look like they're in front 149.2. So you guys having a dip? Yeah, we're going to have to have a crack. I think it's literally, I'm just going to hold it flat and hang on for dear life. Most people talk to us about the power stage and we're going to look at the rally and everything else. I love your approach, mate. You're a flat-out guy. And John Allen's light eyes lit up there when you said I'm going to hit everything flat. That's it. We're here to expose our sponsors too. So we need to, we need to perform as well. So we're here to win. We've got some great supporters, mate, as you say. Good luck on this one. We can't wait to see you run through here. Have a look at this one, Rusty. One of the guys who's saying our power stage, we're going to hit everything flat. I have studied the stage intently, Dino. He reckons he knows every inch of it. Alton, here we go. Makes a nice start, grips up well. Their goal was to qualify for the power stage for their sponsors, but to try and win it as well, nicely into the tunnel. Perhaps a little cautious looking through here. Now stretches the legs of the Mitsubishi. Look at him, aggressive. They feel this car's good on the medium rubber and they're running medium compound tyres for the stage. On the harder compounds, they've just experienced being a little nervous in the rear. This is good. Through the Polaris pinch and this will give us the time he is up and it's a good advantage at the moment. Great start. Keep in mind, too, that Richie, compared to his rivals, is still a bit of a newcomer to rallying. This is tremendous. Carries good speed through the left-hander. Second split and he continues to build. Look at it, two seconds. Is the advantage. Richie, Alton, is on fire here. They've overhauled this car in the off-season after a brilliant 2014 new turbo, new diff. Overhauled the suspension and he is attacking 208 kilometres an hour at the STP speed trap. That's off the charts compared to his rivals. Don't worry about it, all right, Richie. You just set a new record on the power stage. 208 kilometres an hour and just take a look at that jump. The biggest air we've seen so far at that point. Look how violent it was in the cockpit. That's huge. Come over to jump there. I was just trying to pull it up to get around the bend and the clutch is on the floor, so I don't know why. Probably because you went too fast, I reckon. We'll go out here anyway. You sure did, Richie. You and John are the armour all power stage winners for round two. Ross Duncan and the four-wheel drive. Nationals, didn't they have a go in there? Mate, Qantas has just contacted Richie Dalton to see whether he will fly the next 747. They were flying indeed. Very committed by all the three teams in there. Some great cars and good driving through here. They certainly are and of course they are unrestricted. They've got more horsepower than the two-wheel drive so we'll see quite a bit of difference in the speed between the two models of cars. But commitment is a big thing and Richie, what a spectacular jump. I reckon he would have been jumping onto the top of the track. I think he would have been jumping onto the top of the arch there. Well, you said that after your run. But the thing was about that you had to be fast everywhere else and he's a very committed driver and on here that pay dividends. I mean, obviously he's not probably super happy with the fact he's jumped and given the boys a bit of work to do maybe but he's got the points on the board. Well, you know, if you want to win you've got to be committed and he is the most committed so far. Let's see what happens if the two-wheel drive. We're about to go to the outrides now and you can recap the highlights for us, Rusty. Actually, James got his first taste of the power stage after a last-minute dash to WA but he missed round one. Only half a second separated Molly Taylor's high-tech oils Renault from the opticoat Fiesta of Steve McKenzie and Tony Sullen's fibre-tech medical citron. Three makes all neck and neck in the super-fast special stage. Sullen's old teammate Adrian Coppin pipped him for third spot by almost a second to secure rebirth while the Evans brothers fought out for fastest qualifier. This was the first outing for the tank former's Honda Jazz since Eli won the championship in it two years ago but now it was in the hands of older brother Simon. Youth won through, Eli setting a time in the factory citron DS3 almost a second quicker than Simon. So, Adrian Coppin, Simon Evans and Eli Evans face off the Armoural STP power stage coming up in just a few moments. We're watching the Armoural STP power stage here at the National Capital Rally in Canberra. The four-wheel drive competition has been won. Now it's the turn of the two-wheel drive outright competitors. Here's our Dean Herridge on the start line. Adrian Coppin and Aaron Kelly in the DS3. Fantastic job, mate. You're making a habit of getting into these STP and Armoural power stages, aren't you? Yeah, it's a really good start. You know, after the tails and all the hard work from the boys to get us here and get the car sorted again, it's really good to get in with the qualifying and we'll have a crack in here and see how we can go. And you're a local, that of course. So it's good to have you here, home fans and lots of home support for you here. Yeah, it's really good. It's nothing like doing a home rally. As you know, you don't have your fans and family come out and support you. So hopefully we can put on a good show for them and grab a few extra points here to start the weekend. The majority of the straight. But it's cool with a little jump and stuff at the end. So it should be a good sabbatical for the rally village tomorrow as well, I think. The first of our two-wheel drives out there, mate. Good luck, eh? Thanks, Dino. Cheers. Five, four, three, two, two... He's a local, as Dean said. He's got a really active interest in the behind-the-scenes organisation of this event. Makes a good start, Adrian Coppin. Look at the eyes. Four, two, three, two, three, four... He's doing his well, running with Aaron Kelly this season. Five and a half right, please. Two, three, two, three... Through the bollards there before. And now we head through the left-hander. Two, three, two, three... Tiny. This will give us an idea at the Polaris pinch. One, eight, Dino. At the benchmark time. It's a little obscure, just as you arrive there, you've actually got to make sure you get a nice, clean line through there, but don't brake too late on the entry. 17, turn, three left. Neat. Used a bit of the right-hand side of the road there. Puts it tight through the left. About the dust, about the powder at this point through the left-hander. Try and get that traction through the second split. Can Am corner there. And we head now toward the STP speed zone. Let's see what the Citroen's capable of. 175 kilometres an hour. Posts 100. Can't be jumped. 123 left loop. Through to the finish, little bit of air. But you might say just erring on the side of caution, there is a long way to go in this event. Great, but he qualified for the power stage. Couple seconds faster than the qualifying run, so it was faster, which is good. I guess we'll just see what the boys behind do. As you know, they do tend to step it up while qualifying in the main run. So we take a look at the effort through that left-hander and the run toward the finish. Little bit of air, but no high jumps. Simon Evans and Ben Ceasey in the new Honda mate, the tank-former's car. Great to have you here and got your brother behind you, won't we look on that? Yeah, definitely not. It's great to be in the race, you know. I've got the little jazz of it debuting it, so I'm still adjusting, come to terms with it. But Jesus, I love driving this car. It's so aggressive. And that suits your style, mate, that's exactly what you like. So you feel this sort of is better than the Civic you ran in Perth. Oh, mate, it's fantastic. I don't know if it's better, the Civic was pretty cool too. It's just different. Yeah, it's just different. But this thing's a bit shorter, it's a bit lighter, so it stops better. If I can drive it to the car's ability, it'll be a good day. Well, if there's someone who's going to do that, it's going to be you, mate. And it's about a second between you both, so there's nothing in it that's going to come down and make no mistakes. Eyes on, mate. Go for it. That's it, mate. Cheers. We'll be waiting for Rusty, the Evans brothers, both the fastest qualifiers, and here's their chance on the Canberra STP and Armoural Power Station. This will be exciting, Dino. Three, two, one, go. They've tuned the engine on this car themselves. Really pleased with it, Simon Evans too. Good talk. That was his main objective, but they haven't compromised top-end power. He's marked in the notes that the lines through these ballards are super important. Don't wait too late for the chicane either. He felt he did that in qualifying and that compromised his exit. Listen to it revving. As he's said to do there, it's lighter this car, and he can feel the difference that makes compared to the Civic. What he was talking about, but slightly in qualifying that hurt his exit, he's up at the Polaris split. That goes long 150. Fast fight two, late over press. 100. Turn, fast left three. Fast left three, 150. It's through the left-hander nicely. They have found this car in some of the testing to be a little twitchier compared to the Civic, so they've dialed, made some significant changes to it, but point turns easily, doesn't it? Now up the second split. This is Can-Am corner. Unbelievable the way he attacks through there. And he has the advantage. He'd also marked that corner. Had to get it right. Power early out of that turn for the run to the finish. 177 kilometres an hour. It's a gain relative to Adrian Coppin in speed turns. Listen to the Honda. Get a bit of air. Simon Evans will move to the top of the board here on the Armoral STP power stage. 156.2. There you go. Jumped out a second gear in there too, so he lost a second, I reckon, but I was trying hard. I wanted to beat Eli. It's a fantastic car. It responds so well. When I'm making mistakes, the car's making up for me, so it's fantastic. Being the little jazz, it's just a little bit better than the Civic. Civic can try and isolate some of the things he's talking about here. Look at this. Just brushes the bollard. The line was near perfect, and here's the... There you are. So it did pop out of gear, as Simon suggested. Didn't hurt the end result though. Citroen out, and Honda in, but there's another Citroen to come. Right after the break. Welcome back to the Armoral STP power stage from the East Coast Ball Bars Australian Rally Championship in Canberra. Dean Herridge is on the start line with our fastest qualifier in outright two-wheel drive, Eli Evans. We didn't qualify at the last one, did we? We had it bustled, and so just had to make sure we got into the top three to give ourselves a chance at those five championship points. We're going to need them. It's going to be a tight year all year, and Citroen ran faultlessly on the run, and it was a nice little surprise to be the fastest qualifier. Now, one thing you won't be surprised about is Simon's pushing there pretty hard. He's done a 156.2. So that's a pretty strong time in there. You can't make a mistake, can you? Yeah, look, it's pretty close to our first run through, and we didn't do much wrong. So, you know, one little mistake, and Simon will take the five points, so we can't have that. So it's just going to be absolutely flat out from here. I want those five points. I don't want Simon to get them. I know in previous years you've sort of talked more about your strategy and not being a bit careful, but does it make any difference to your brother or anyone you'd be going for the five points? I always want the five points, Dino. I think you got the wrong guy. I'm always wanting it. It's the power stage. It's what we're here to do. So, yeah, to beat Simon, because I know he'll have a big smile on his face if he beats me, so I want to be the one with the smile on my face. We can't wait to see who does have the big smile, mate. Go for it. Nice work, Dean. Gave us a good sense of the rivalry and did it by maybe not quite as well as Simon's. Eli said to us in the build-up to this, he plans to tackle this stage a bit like a circuit racer because of the nature of the corners. You've got to maximise your entry and exit speeds. Watch for him to use as much of the road as possible here. A little bit of news coming through from Dean as well. He's chosen a different tyre to the other competitors for this one. The 900 closed tyre thinks it might work a little better on the rockier style of surface here in Canberra. Really enjoying his time in the Citroen, very different car to others that he's campaigned in recent time like the Honda and he's up. Versus Simon, he is up at the first slit, the Polaris pinch. A lot of low-down torque in this car, very good in the tight stuff, but at the moment we're stretching the legs through coach's higher, coach's corner very wide off the exit. That's exactly what he said he was going to do. Maximise use all of the road possible. Second split, looks like he's continued to build on and it's significant. Two seconds over Simon Evans. They've opted for a map setting in this car too that gives it a bit more linear boost rather than an aggressive setting. He's finding it quite user-friendly. 179 kilometres an hour for this class. That's the best we've seen so far at the STP Speedtrap. Well done Eli Evans and Glenn Western. They have smashed it. That is a power stage to perfection. I don't think I took one breath in there. I thought about it so much. I worked myself up so much. I'm so happy that we were able to take the five points and after I spoke to Dino I was so excited. I closed the door and I just had to calm down and relax and take some breath so it's nice to be the big brother. You could sense that intensity couldn't you as we take a look at the replay. Didn't look like it. Pulled all that strongly off the line but the rest of it was superb. Through Polaris pinch. Stays away from the dust off to the right of this corner by taking a nice tight inside line. So out with the old in with the newer. Great win to Eli despite that slow start off the line. It wouldn't take off. We used the launch control and it's just making too much grip and it bogged down so I slipped the clutch again and it still didn't want to go so from that point I thought I could feel it. That was probably half a second I lost so I thought we've got to try and make this up now. Let's just go for it. There you have it. A power stage apiece to the Evans brothers and you can see how the full rally panned out same time next week. Right now though it's time for those classics. It was a special event for Neil Bates and Coral Taylor. Sure it was Bates home event but both their careers were competing as well. Molly Taylor at the wheel of the high-tech oils Renault and Harry Bates in only his third ever rally in a standard front-wheel drive Corolla. The distraction was evident from the start but already Mr. Never Put a Foot Wrong spun in the very first stage. Again in the second and yet again in the third. Still he headed the field by nearly two minutes so the distraction hadn't affected him too much. Seven different models were represented in the classics this round. Brett Stevens was next fastest in the missing bluebird with Clay Batonok's Salika R.A. 40 replica of Neil Bates replica third. Batonok and Tony Quinn played seesaw for third. Quinn in the BMW eventually edging the fellow Queenslander for the third. Game over for that heat. And it was game over for Josh Hilton when two broken control arms stopped his rally short in SS2. Two miles had come more than a few thousand kilometres to tick off their bucket list. Yeah well I've gone 60 now so I reckon I've probably got about 20 good years left in me and I'm going to keep living. He and wife Cathy were living alright on the edge throwing the V8 Commodore around in some of the ACT's finest dust. They're different to what I expected them to be. Really different to what I expected them to be. No classic event would be a classic without the sound of a screaming BDA engine. Max Roberts was doing his bit for that cause. I suppose one of my major disappointments with this car I never get to hear it out in the bush but that's the reason I built it was to have fun with it. I tried to retire and after 20 years of retirement the disease took over and I built the thing with a lot of help from a lot of people. An off-road excursion for the Stevens bluebird made life a touch easier for Batonok who cemented second place for the event. Trevor Stilling plugged away in his Datsun stanza resigned to the best position he might get in his home round. I'd like to think we could come third behind the two Salikas again that's probably the best we can with this car it's not the fastest car around but it's pretty reliable. First non-Salika. Tony Quinn had other ideas. The pet food come chocolate barren edging Stilling out for the final spot on the weekend podium. Bates and Batonok took the two top spots as Stilling predicted. No doubt the former Aussie champ will be relishing the chance to tackle the Queenslanders next month on their home turf. At its turf wars next when Kanam and Polaris go head to head in the Australian side by side challenge all part of the East Coast Ball Vars a striking battle championship. Petal in the side by side challenge got underway at this round the national capital rally in Canberra. Four rounds will be contested between Kanam and Polaris. As has been the case it's almost a handing over of the baton from one manufacturer to another as they increase the power and reliability of their respective machines. Last year Polaris had the upper hand with the new Razor 1000. Bigger wheels, wider track and a higher top speed meant Cody Crocker would dominate. With the announcement of a new Kanam machine late last year Michael Guest was rubbing his hands together knowing the 2015 season might well swing back in his favour thanks to the turbocharged Maverick XDS. It's delivering the good so far we were quicker than Cody at the test yesterday or at the media day by a little bit more than I thought actually so that's already well done. The difference is not huge but turbocharging does give you that extra bit of torque and punch. We've got new rear suspension geometry as well so we've improved our grip a little bit more so the whole package is going really well. But Michael Guest wasn't here to do battle on his own. We're both pretty excited we've just done a little bit of testing and it's noticeably quicker than last year's machine and they've really improved. Power steering along the wheelbase and it's very exciting. It didn't take long for the turbo XDS to show its colours Guestie taking the honours through the two opening morning stages. It wasn't much Cody Crocker could do in the Polaris. We've lost maybe 20 or so seconds I think in two stages so it's not too bad but we've given everything we've got so we're sort of hoping that the other side might be the one that runs into trouble we'll keep going, never give up. I sort of don't change my approach I'm always about 100% flat out so if the beatiness is good on them we'll just keep going on what we're doing and see where we get to at the end of the day. Crocker and fellow Polaris pilot Ian Hughes stayed in touch with the super quick Cannams but they needed a break from the boosted Maverick. That break came when Shivers was a no-show at the end of SS3 the wheels falling off his rally when a split pin broke on the axle and one parted company Oh no! He and co-driver Peter Harris forced two drastic recovery measures but their race was run for Heat 1. Got the Navi hanging out the side for a bit of a counterbalance and yeah, just had to drive it out on three wheels. Michael Guest spearheaded the afternoon attack for Cannam but a drive belt broke in SS4 and he was left sidelined to watch Polaris race away to a Heat win. As an oft-quoted saying and rallying to finish first first you must finish and Crocker would certainly do that for Polaris. It was game on again in Heat 2 Guest out to avenge the loss of Cannam's first competitive appearance of the season. You know, it's one of those things there's lots of crest where the car gets a little bit light or airborne out in that Coen Forest there's a little bit of an over rev there somewhere to stretch the belt and that happens maybe I can take a bit of blame for that but today is very technical, twisty you know, their real drivers are out there today and I'm really looking forward to it. He led from the front as well a second decay quicker through the first two stages but it was Crocker who stumbled not Guest a right rear brake line snapped. Zero brakes, that's it. Hard to drive without brakes it's amazing how much you're relying them. We'll see if we can crimp the line or something and fix it up. Not surprisingly, Ian Hughes beat Crocker through the final morning stage taking advantage of his teammate's brake issue but the former rally champions bounce back after service for a repeat of the East West stage to close the gap to the quick Cannam. It's good to have it all back going hard, we're flat out we took about eight seconds off our previous time in that stage so pretty happy with that I guess he's got some pace there so we'll see what we can do for the next round. The Anglo-Moyal Turbo Maverick was back in the game with all four wheels firmly attached for Heat 2 but Nathan Chibbers is not at all dealing with the increased power the blower was delivering Michael Guest was delivering though every stage a winner for the final day giving Cannam and Polaris a heat of peace but after the belt problems of yesterday it was Cody Crocker and Greg Belletta who took the weekend glory on the top step of the podium with Ian Hughes and David Piper II third was the best Michael Guest and David Green could do for Cannam but the gauntlet had been laid for next round North of the Border International Rally of Queensland Stay tuned next week for all the action from the main game in the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship as we bring you all the highlights of our Rally Championship and see just how good these new generation four wheel drives really are hope you can join us in the meantime keep up to date for all the news at rally.com.au Till next time, I'm Greg Ruck's Michael Today's coverage is made possible by Kumo Tire Pettis Suspension Armour STP Kotire Cannam North of the Border