 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 All Bars Australian Rally Championship. It's round three of the national championship and round three of the Asia Pacific Regional Championship coming to you from the Sunshine Coast. In today's program, the dogfight continues between Polaris and Can-Am in the Australian Side-by-Side series. The Turbo Maverick certainly has the pace to match the razor, but how important will reliability be this round? Neil Bates will wheel spanners rather than steering this round, pitching in to help Sun Harry and Molly Taylor in the outright category, leaving Clay Battenock to lead the classic battle. The battle, the Tony Quinn for one, intends taking right up to him. And of course, we'll feature the Armoral STP Power Stage, the outright championship and four-wheel drive national series both have a chance to gain early points. So it's our third power stage for the series here in Queensland and it should be very exciting. Four-wheel drive field of course at the Maxi car back of Mark Petter expecting big things from him after his dramas in Canberra. Series leader Mick Patton in the Repco car, what a year he's had so far, but hasn't made a power stage start and lots of locals from Queensland that'll give him a hard time. The outright's what we're excited about though, the battle here should be amazing. A true Forrest run on our power stage and of course the tantalising battle between the Evans brothers. We saw it in Canberra, wasn't quite a fair fight with Simon having some issues, what will happen here? Our championship leader and outright, the same as four-wheel drive, hasn't made a qualifying run here. Molly Taylor hasn't made it through. More points for her campaign would be a real plus. Salons has been on the fringe and been very fast on the last couple of events. Coppins made every single power stage so far, Mackenzie struck out on most of them. So lots going on, lots to talk about and one of the big things that everyone is worried about of course is these road conditions. Lots of rain here in Queensland which is going to make it very tricky on these stages. Very crusty, blind corners and that's what they're going to be worried about as they transverse through this very difficult stage. Outright and four-wheel drive teams have that chance to grab some early points, but with only three places on offer, competition will be tight to make the final and with just one qualifying run there are no second chances. The final face-off will determine who grabs an extra five points. Last round in Canberra, Eli was on the money, edging his brother Simon out for the top spot with Adrian Poppenford. Justin Dowell was eyeing off a win in the new proto, but the unrestricted cars of Marcus Walkham and Richie Dalton would pay to that, the Irishman coming out on top in spectacular style. There's been nothing sunshine about the weather on the coast this week and the power stage had to be hastily changed twice due to road conditions. The last as late as last night after officials finally agreed it had to change. This new track, the reverse of a road used in testing, is still muddy in places and will provide a real mix of road surface and condition for the Armoral STP power stage. It's a drag strip to start up Armoral straight to the first split at Canaan Climb, veering left up through the mud into the trees. Weaving their way uphill and down, cars will emerge out onto a ridge that leads to the second split at Pilaris. The STP Speed Trap will find out just who's fastest down over the coast's higher hump and back to the final zigzag through to the finish. We've led former Australian rally champion Neil Bates behind the wheel of the ECB FJ Cruiser to check it out and tell us what it's really like. So we have our four times Australian champion Neil Bates in here and the east coast bullbars car on the STP and Armoral power stage and Neil, you've been throwing the duties, what is it like out there? It looks pretty slippery from here. Look it's very very slippery, it's really really nice to start with, it's fast flowing, really the sort of roads I like and then you turn into the forest and it's just such a change of character. It's really narrow, really slippery and there's two distinct wheel tracks that you've got to stay in those wheel tracks and you know there's just slop on the outside of that with a you know you go up to the top of the hill and then there's a really tricky right-hander that's once again just two wheel tracks, get out of them and you'll see the seconds tick by. But you know when you get out of there it's really grippy around the top and then really fast downhill and you know that really suits the front-wheel drive cars. You know the only disadvantage front-wheel drive cars will have is going up the hill but my bet is a front-wheel drive car will be faster. That's all we're going to see and of course qualifying to get one pass of qualifying rush you to get in to this STP and Armoral power stage. Before I throw to you Neil, you didn't know part of the gig mate but there's the Armoral product, you went out there, you got it money, you have to wash it. You can sort that when we go to the highlights. In the mix-up of last minute changes in the last 24 hours organisers allowed four-wheel drive entrant Kent Lawrence out onto the track earlier to take corporate rides and unfortunately that means he knows the road better than his opposition so he's been deemed ineligible for the five bonus points despite setting the second fastest time. No blistering time being set by the Repco team either after Mick Patton jumped the start, he and Bernie gave up the fight there and then. Mr Fibre Tech medical himself Gerald Scofield pushed hard though to record third fastest time and his first appearance in the Armoral STP power stage along with Michael Bailey in the BP ultimate entry climbing a similar Mitsubishi Evo 9. It was Mark Pedder though who continued to practice hard in the new Pedder's suspension Peugeot Maxi car taking every opportunity to put it through its paces so the final is Gerald Scofield, Michael Bailey and Mark Pedder in the hunt for bonus points in the Armoral STP power stage and a surprise entry catch that right after the break. Back to the East Coast Bulldogs Australian Rally Championship being held on the Sunshine Coast the weather's cleared for our Armoral STP power stage and our four-wheel drive finalists are ready to go. Before we see that decided to award Kent Lawrence a wildcard entry despite being ineligible for points. His time was good enough to qualify so he's on the start line with Dean right now. Kent Lawrence our wildcard here in the four-wheel drives mate a few corporate rides made you ineligible but second fastest going good around here mate. Yeah look we're having a great time so yeah so we did a couple of corporate runs this morning so maybe gave us a little bit of a sighting but yeah no it was good fun it's good to know we've got the pace. What are the conditions like out there tell us we just heard from Neil Bates he reckons pretty greasy you're in there in the hot seat here. Oh look it's always got a bit wet right without a lot of rain so drive to the conditions but it's not as bad if you stay online it gets a bit slippery if you get off. Looking good guys hanging there we can't wait to see you run. Thanks Dean great stuff. This is a bit of a benchmarking process for this team they want to make a full assault on the championship in 2016 he's underway. Straight 80 sticks left up slippy. New co-driver for this event James Wilson who's worked with play bad knock has come on board. James has also serviced for Molly Taylor over time. 80 through depth 50 four left mud. Mission is to get to the end of the rally so they want to keep it tidy through the can and split and that is our benchmark sector time that will refer to our reference point for the coming runs look at it up here on the uphill run how slushy how tough it is. Five left overslide crest 80 braking four right over crest muddy 80. This team on Kumo tyres for the first time they've been running a different brand in the Queensland Championship so they've needed to make a setup adjustment to learn that the nuances of these tyres. Six right up 50 four left over crest keep in drier here you can see the surface a bit more open three over crest then three left keep out. Coming up to that second split Polaris over crest sorry over brown six right Neil Bates talked about it in the lead up the tracks keeping the car on those tram tracks 140 kilometers an hour at the STP radar marker the speed track breaking into three right up over flying finish. Let's try to arrest that speed that left hander so there's the time a 139. Rosie I'm loving this loop stage I can walk from the start to the finish here can how is your run there mate you're back at the other end oh look it was pretty good it was maybe a little bit slippery than the last one actually I don't know whether we got offline or whatever but it was a bit of fun so well that can happen and our lead teams will have to keep that in mind the surface can slip up a little bit you know the water comes to the top doesn't it so you found it pretty slippy on that run yeah no it was a little bit slippery but maybe it was just nerves as well so who knows hey yeah and maybe a little bit of a want to ensure that it was conservative for this run it's important that he gets to the end of this rally that's the mission great that these guys have had a run in the power stage okay the first of our three four-wheel drive finalists are ready to go Dean. Gerald's go for his first run at a power stage here Gerald and how are the nerves going mate oh yeah the nerves are getting going now mate it's uh it's very slippery in there as you know and there's quite a few bumps that I didn't realize in the recce so uh yeah I'm looking forward to it this time so you think a little bit more wild the first part so you're going to be more calm this time what's going on in your head uh I don't know I'll let you know when I get there good luck with it Rusty he's not giving anything away but can't wait to see this car fire through the forest leads you to know he said to us in the lead up that this kind of stage is what he's used to from his time in the UK bit slippery bit wet suits his driving style 50 right over press 100 long left five remember the previous event in Canberra had trouble with the head gasket they've worked on that engine in the break between rounds it's a well sorted Evo 9 this one 100 and it's a good advantage at the canam split over a second that he's up in those tram tracks look at the car it's a left five and a half 50 and actually began life as a tarmac race of this car campaigned by rod salmon to a win at the bath is 12 hour slippery open then tight to five it's a left four 50 they run the six speed sequential holinger box over press 50 which Gerald feels makes life a lot easier they can keep it on the boost through the bends pull another gear left for over press 50 left for longish boys you're listening to Katrina first time for this pairing working together right she's from Queensland and the combo is going well look at the advantage here now at the Polaris split 137 kilometers an hour not quite as fast as Kent but only three kms an hour off it at the trap into right three through finish tidy through the left hander we head to the line here now he's up lost a little time in the final sector that was good i enjoyed that yeah all right detected you're a bit nervous at the start of that one how you feeling at the end i'm even more nervous now it's over though how did it go for you yeah no it's good it's good i'm really looking forward to tomorrow now the car is going awesome and the guys have done a great job since camera so yeah i'm really looking forward to it Katrina kelly making the causes we take a look at the kumo replay and you heard the jolt the jarring landing at this point and he wins didn't he happy with the run so gerald scofield takes his place in the armor all stp staging area michael bailey is now on the start line michael bailey a local guy here mates are in the power stage must be pretty keen to get out there yeah no it's uh after canberra's disappointment where kin get back in the forest and give it a good red hot go everyone's got a little bit quicker jel did a really great time of sub 140 when you think you can match you in through here it's going to be a ding dong battle between the big man and me this weekend so no we're going to give a real real go and also balance it off we don't want to take a hammer bent car to the boys at lunch time today sure enough but i like your first attitude mate go get him no we'll go for it the reference to canberra there they had an incident last round blew an engine new engine for this event very professional outfit let's keep this in balance they're still getting up to speed in some respects nice start rally art car built in australia this one owned by justin dowell at one point the x australian champion up to the canam split bump on exit caution very cautious through that bump there and he's down you can see two seconds off scofield's marker at the first sector seven left over in a caution break for right hug overcrest mud like i said really important to build confidence in this car to get the best out of it he feels you've got to drive it at nine to ten tenths seven left overcrest through there nine right up 55 left overcrest in 50 and see the difference in the surface the weather's cut it up a bit the wet weather in the lead up but once you get over the hill here it clears look at the surface now the second split to pilaris nine right fast nine right 50 not much of a of a gain there he's still down relative to scofield it looks tidy though nine left nothing in it nine left in the comparison at the stp speed trap he's only a kilometer an hour off the speed we saw from scofield oh trying to slow the car down for the left hander tight line through there he actually recovers some time in the final sector but not enough to beat scofield now as you're running there Michael how'd you feel big fellas got us but anyway long weekend to go what a great run though it's a fascinating stage through here it's a really intense and a good little battle very technical very technical so well done to jared well done to him great sporting stuff there and if we look at this overall on the kumo replay he was wise to be cautious in that first part but then extended the legs as the stage went on and continued to improve he wrestled some of that time back but not enough to win gerald scofield safe for the moment but the better suspension perjo 208 is waiting on the line we'll have that in just a few moments watching the east coast ballbars australian rally championship coming to you from the hinterland on queensland sunshine coast the inheritors with our fastest qualifier in the armor all stp power stage so our fastest qualifiers for four-wheel drive is mark petter and dale mosquit unbelievable job in the great sounding maxi car look at the smile on your face it says it all yeah no it was a reasonable first run we took it fairly conservatively but um i think that might be the key do you know i've over the top but it's nice and wet but yeah no it's a nice clean run and how is it after camera course uh debu run for this car nothing but trouble lots of work been done by the crew and it seems to be going great now but yeah look mate we did a really good two-day test last week and then did another test on wednesday here so fingers crossed we've got it all sorted and and now we can just start playing to make a little bit faster well the guys are going quicker 139 too gerald scofield set the benchmark you think you can nail that well we'll wait and see mate we'll uh we'll have a crack and see what we can do huge potential in this car and as mark pointed out there they were racing against time at the last round of the championship to get that new engine in so they're constantly developing was into the calm voice of dale mosquit in the co-driver's seat he's spending so much time match fit in co-driving terms at the moment working with scott petter on his international program and mark here in the australian championship against scofield's marker he's up at the first sector and quick through there too caution four right on press slippy car looks tidy on the road doesn't it very stable through kumo and we head toward the pilara split now the second split flap row one surely he's been able to build on the number we saw there before attacking look at petter gritting the teeth he's into this on crest 20 a little wide three left rough using the road oh it's huge it's a huge advantage for mark petter what a drive 138 kilometers an hour the speed it's about on par with what we've seen from the front runners in this day so far we're trying to get back down through the gears sideways through there okay look at the time it's a ripper from mark petter and dale mosquit nice and clean until the end and we nearly stuck it off the road so yeah i don't know sure how much time we drop it would have been a little bit it's great to be able to bring this out after all the dramas in canberra and have a great run and sort of half proof what the car can do it was fantastic this is what he was talking about here all hands on the wheel trying to get the car turned to slow it down and it almost went pear shaped carrying too much speed through that left hander but it did not hurt the time spectacular stuff from mark petter and dale mosquit top spot and five bonus points for the petter suspension team well done mark congratulations make full drive your first power stage win i think too it is right yeah been a long time coming but um look great to get this thing out get it running right and you know starting to prove what the the new maxi car formula can do so no really good run pretty exciting machine to be in isn't there yeah look it's a great package and you know the plus for us is in the drier sections in that stage which we're hoping the rest of the rally will be like the car was fantastic so here looking forward with the event a great start to what is really their first full outing with the new perjo maxi car neil bates we've seen the four-wheel drives go through this very tricky stage good job by all the crews though yeah look it was very good very good to see uh mark petter and dale mosquit in the new maxi car and you know they've had a very tough time obviously in rally camber and see them win the power stage here is just absolutely fantastic you know couldn't be happier for them it looks the part and go sensational now we move on to outright cars we're going to do the qualifying in a second you said earlier on that you thought the outright could do a pretty good job through here yeah look i reckon they can be a match for the four-wheel drive cars i just think that the downhill stuff tough breaking yo it's quite tight you know the the outright cars are more nimble lighter so i think that you know there's some places where they'll have an advantage but obviously the four-wheel drive cars up the hill you know they can rock it up there they'll have to be very aggressive to get these tires won't they they'll be aggressive definitely that's what he said we're going to go to the highlights of outright cars rusty over to you thanks guys clutch dramas for adrian coppin robbed him of a chance of a third straight finals appearance mark molly taylor was consistent once again our championship leader failed to make the final almost two seconds off the pace required to make the cut steve mckenzie was clipping corners and trees in a bid to make his first final but he too fell short one for second split the two work citrons with elie evans ahead tony sullens the final qualifier but it was elie's brother simon who had the fastest time in the tank former's honda jazz another second faster than the citron so tony sullens elie evans and simon evans are about to face off in the armor all stp power stage all that will be returned in just a few moments back to the east coast bullbars australian rally championship coming to you from the sunshine coast in queensland our third fastest qualifier in the armor all stp power stage is on the line with our dean herridge tony sullens and jillian barklay making it into the final well done guys good job through a very tricky stage yeah thank you it's a bit challenging out there but um we had a bit of a go and i just did a few little suspension tweaks so it might be reasonably better next time so you're dialing it in to try and meet the conditions a little bit because you were in the mix on times yeah i i guess what we might need and i guess wrong it's drier it's drier on the top than what i thought it was going to be and it's a bit bouncy so i've put a bit of a rebound in that we talked about in camera right with those go-flasks glasses on you're probably a big chance i reckon i hope so yeah good luck thank you nice work dean he feels the straight line nature of this course will suit his smooth driving style not as aggressive as simon and elie evans that suspension change you talked about there with dean will be critical will it help him just felt he needed that rebound to settle it down the very experience julia barkley calling there that's our marker some of the four-wheel drive times there before that's a great effort for a front-wheel drive tony sullen's trees are so close to the road in this part of the of the track bit daunting at times right five and a half into don't cut left four and a half over crest four and a half hug as we head to the second split here worth remembering too that this car compared to adrian coppin and elie evans runs a taller diff ratio look at that one minute 13.85 so far 146 kilometers an hour that's the quickest we've seen so far at the stp speed trap good job right for bump over finish tidy for the final run to the finish line a 3598 laid down for the front-wheel drive cars anyway yeah i was having a bit of a go over so you are three seconds fast which is pretty good through here in these conditions julia's not in the head she's happy yeah i was pretty happy much faster than that in this car i'm going to knock it around so do you think it's enough to hold off the evans brothers elie's car is a bit higher and i think you'll push harder on that on the bottom of your stuff and simon's in that case so your short answer is no let's take a look at the kumo replay here and this is what he's saying about he's a tidy driver by nature but just a little offline there as he chases and pushes for time elie evans and glenn wedges our power stage winners at the last round qualified second in here i've got to say tony's put a good time in there three seconds a whole three seconds quicker than his first run so see the grip went up or he's had a big go what do you think yeah i think uh that's pretty impressive so tony's obviously had a real dip through there so he set the bar now so i've got no choice but to go flat out and i know that the big gorilla behind me is going to do the same thing so you're referring to gorilla caution brother you're the only one game enough to say that but uh it is it's worked out that top two qualifiers uh we spoke about it in camry you got on top but you know his car looks pretty strong here doesn't it yeah look he's got they've rebuilt the engine from camber again so um you know it's a fast car i've raced it i raced two years in it we didn't lose one invent in it it was uh it's a phenomenal little car but um on the citron now this is up for the job and we're going to give it everything we've got for here and make sure we get the five points you love this stuff don't you i love talking to you dina you get me excited now i'm going to calm myself down i've got about a minute before we start so get out i'll see you at the end this time too by the way good luck nice work ilay and glenn weston set to go let's watch the way this car launches off the line relative to tony sullens we're saying before about sullens running that taller ratio so evan's car by comparison launches quicker very tidy so far feels as though there's been a big improvement in his driving with this car completely different to what he's been used to in recent time in championship terms a little sideways there he has an advantage albeit a slight one over tony sullens look at that he's in trouble there somehow keeps it out of the greenery wow that got the heart rate going low down torque of this car paddle shift as well and ilay really feels it it suits him suits his style because of the rules they can get about a season and a half out of the engine they can't really touch anything engine wise it's a very good package calara split he's down though he's lost some time in that middle sector relative to sullens this is good for tony sullens and julia barkley what can he do 142 kilometers an hour at the trap trying to maintain that speed through the final left hander let's look at the time he recovers he recovers ilay evans goes back to the top what a stage i think you know something is smiling what's going on in this car we just went flat out and like coming off the fast section in six gear went down to fourth and turned off the main road and went through the first ruts popped out of the second did this big tank slap nearly spun it down the road but i just kept the citron buried climb back onto the road we kept going we're beating tony but i don't know you had a breath mate we were laughing so hard i can't believe we made it through but uh look i gave it absolutely everything i had if i had a pulled off we might have got it into 34 so it's up to Simon now i'm glad we beat tony but it was pretty messy but i had a lot of fun it's his sixth consecutive year in front wheel drive and all that experience kicks in at this marker rear end bottoms out steps out sideways gets on the gas and recovers and somehow keeps it out of the trees well done doesn't even raise a sweat citron out citron in but can they remain in the top spot as ilay left the door open for his brother simon you'll find out in just a few moments welcome back to the armor all stp power stage from the east coast all bars australian rally championship in queen's land the heritage is on the start line with our quickest qualifier in outright two-wheel drive fastest qualifier the simon evans have been so easy in the Honda mate great job in qualifier this is the one that counts yeah exactly it's time to uh get my job on now and have some fun but i'll tell you what the little Honda jazz is fantastic car now the thing is you have to beat your brother you're 35 one so it's a pretty good time now tony salons when he got to the end called your lunatic and on the start line your brother called your gorilla now that my words does that fire up all you just as a water off a duck's back from the sands of it they're pretty apt descriptions so it's time to get my crazy on guys on it's one of those stages though it's a bit of all or nothing isn't it yeah absolutely and look the road's really coming to the to the car so every every run it's getting grippier and grippier and i'm looking forward to getting out there and just doing the best i can mate i normally ask people how they're going to attack it i know how you're going to do it we can't wait to watch mate good luck thanks very much love the personality love the fact that our dean herridge is steering the drivers up to it the start line nice work listen to the jazz rev brand new motor after camber this team have built it in house they've been searching for more torque and evans is really happy based on the run so far is attacking simon evans past left to slippery rough doubles cc guiding him through he's down by a fraction relative to his brother almost steps out in the same fashion not quite as violent and he keeps that foot buried one and a half long then they turn fast right to sharp on press stay in stay in 50 of course the testing was so wet he feels that this run over the power stage in some respects is the first proper one he said we are going to attack this so much experience that he brings to the table in this sport he said you've got to keep it tidy keep it on the island where the grip is don't go wide well you'd be the judge he's up at the Polaris split but he's using every ounce of the road it's great to watch 144 kilometers an hour that is very telling at the stp speed track it looks fast and he's carrying the speed no he misses out just by two tenths of a second all in the final sector it sure was serious now it's close Eli here wants to see the official times to to find out who the winner is 35.3 you've missed it on the board by point two you've been robbed absolutely robbed of the line buddy tried so hard so pretty exciting from that point of view with these stages now rallying is about being quick all the time but over a period of time over a long day here two kilometers give it your best you and your brother point two apart it's awesome yeah that's what rallying is about we have to get him in the forest now so we take a look down by a fraction at the end of the first sector powers up the hill keeps the accelerator mashed to the floor at that point not quite as full on the tank slapper as his brother gets ahead in the middle sector and then drops a little at the end there you have it the Evans fight ends with Eli on top for a second time that's as good as it gets in a power stage final I can't believe it I want to see Simon's run I think it would have been fairly interesting but it's um super pumped I gave it everything everything we had absolutely everything and this time it paid off so we've got to continue this run for the weekend champions indeed right now it's time for those champions of the past and rear wheel drive classics will Tony Quinn clean up with Neil Bates and Cloral Taylor concentrating on servicing for their respective kids this weekend Clay Badenock was left to fly the flag for Toyota but it wasn't a cakewalk the pet food turned chocolate baron was on his hammer from SS1 I think you'll find Quinn he had chocolate for breakfast because he's um he got me by point two in that one it was game on for the game over BMW Tony Quinn was on it all right and he took time out of the CELICA RA40 through the first two stages the other CELICA of Chris Harbeck was not in that fight keeping clear of the flak between the two front runners the longer stage speedy contractors was where Badenock extracted revenge pulling out the stops to beat Quinn by a second kilometer over the 22ks Quinn was back on top for the first repeat he pushed too hard through SS6 and broke a driveshaft he pushed on and broke the other driveshaft brilliant no matter how bad a weekend your oven is better than visiting Harvey Norman again we've lost Tony on the stage before this one and uh there's only Clay in front of us so we'll keep the old girl plugging along hopefully but Harbeck found himself in water wars through the repeat of speedy at the creek crossing flooding the car and ending his weekend early Quinn was back in the fight with Badenock in heat two the lead sea soaring between the pair again the longest stage fell in favour of the Toyota but in frustration Quinn decided he should concentrate for the repeat stage the result saw him take four seconds out of his opponent over the 22ks it was all a little too late though and the two horse race fell in favour of Clay Badenock no Neil Bates on the podium this round but still a Salika RA40 continued the reign on the top step of that classic podium there's another two horse race coming up right after the break the Australian side-by-side challenge and the battle between Polaris can and that's next two of the side-by-side challenge brought renewed enthusiasm from Michael Guest whose new turbocharged Maverick XDS was a shot in the arm for him and Canair former rally champion Cody Crocker was in trouble from the start the Polaris pilot had been struggling as it was to keep pace with the new power of the Maverick a flat through the opening stage dropped him to fourth Michael Guest claiming the opening bout. Nathan Shivers didn't have the speed of the system Maverick the recent think desert race had taken its toll on all those who'd entered the Anglomoyle machine was suffering from grooves worn into the clutch preventing it getting full speed through Candanga Crocker responded with a win Guest had suffered a broken exhaust another hangover from the grueling think experience that leak meant a loss of power and with that a loss of lead but for this little off Ian Hughes would likely have beaten both Guest and his teammate Crocker midday service fixed the exhaust issue for Canam and Guest David Greene were out again in the afternoon claiming the checkered flag every stage the disadvantage of no windscreen becomes obvious through creek crossings but the increase in water flow between the repeat stages catches the side-by-side field well a decisive win to Michael Guest no tyre issues for Crocker second run but water was an issue for some reason it's it's wetter than this morning so we hit the water splash which was just a dip rocky dip earlier and today it's now it's wet so so we copped a bit of that I don't know how Greg's notes went his co-driver's pace notes might have copped a drenching but teammate Ian Hughes co-pilot David Piper was thinking ahead the number two Polaris home and host in second a little bit of a miss in the engine right it's bad deal left over from Fink so it's slowly starting to work out and it's coming good so it wasn't good though Hughes and Piper pulled the pin next stage electing not to risk damaging their engine with Canam up heat too brought quiet optimism in the maverick camp but the exhaust issue of heat one still lingered every crack meant lost exhaust flow and the turbo requires that flow to make its exceptional power Guest and David Greene came out of the blocks with a clear win in the long speedy north stage same as heat one just reversed the exhaust broke next stage and the XTS Maverick was once again off song now started off grandly we had a great win on the first stage this morning confident and then bang the exhaust broke which is a left over issue I reckon from Fink Desert Race so it was only a boys had a two-day turnaround to get from Alice Springs all the way back down to South Australia into Canberra turn this car around and get it up here for the rally and I reckon that's what's costing us a little bit at the moment Nathan Shivers and the other Mavericks had a broken exhaust in the same spot and I reckon it's just the sheer punishment of Fink that's got it New Million is an old favorite for Cody Crocker it's a rough track skirting up and around the edge of the forest with some big drops this year there was an even bigger drop that would reward the brave Crocker from Guest by 15 seconds by the end of the next stage Woodlands Nathan Shivers exhaust was out in sympathy with guests both Mavericks lagging behind the razor service and a welder couldn't come soon enough we are 35 seconds behind four stages to go can I get there I don't know we'll have to wait and see armor all glass cleaner Crocker might have been wishing for a windscreen to clean but he was now showing his opposition a clean pair of heels yeah today's a good day guest he's actually having a slight problem with his exhaust or something so we're going to capitalize on that we've got a 35 second lead I think so now we're going back into the stages again to repeat them we're going to try and hold on to that so I think he's going to be coming back fiercely so we'll do what we can but it's full attack for the rest of the rest of the day and attack he did but so too did Guest with the exhaust prepared he was eight seconds up on Crocker at the halfway point but the pressure was too much the clutch belt let go and their horsepower advantage over the Pilaris was slashed to only manpower two in fact as guest and green had to push to the stage finish ending their round early Nathan Shivers had returned but he was never a threat to Crocker suffering the same lack of power issues Shivers was happy just to make the podium leaving Crocker the victor round two stay tuned next week for all the action from the main competition in the east coast pool bars Australian rally championship you can join us in the meantime keep up with all the latest news at rally.com.au till next time I'm Greg Rust bye for now today's coverage is very possible by Kumo Tire at a suspension Armour, STP, Co-Tire, Kanan, Pilaris and our supporting partner East Coast Bullbars World's Best Alloy Bullbars