 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. This is the East Coast Bullbars, Australia rally championship. This is the third year of the outright two-wheel drive championship and teams have regrouped in Busselson, three hours south of third in Western Australia. It's the opening round of the series that will be played out over the year in five states. After round one, teams head to Canberra for the National Capital Rally. Round three is the International Rally of Queensland run in conjunction with the Asia Pacific Championship on the Sunshine Coast. Coates Higher Rally Australia is home to a round of the WRC as well as the fourth ARC event. And South Australia hosts the fifth and final round, Scouts Rally SA, to wrap up the season. From the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship has the country covered. That action is found right here. Ross Duncan in a perfect way, in a perfect place to start our 2015 season. It certainly is, and of course the power stage has already been run and won, and they're doing it again tonight. There's a few surprises in there too on our power stage. I couldn't believe it. I thought Mackenzie would be right on the pace, but he was a bit off, eh? And, you know, so was Eli. Eli didn't even make the qualifying run to get a chance at the championship points. Of course we had a couple of sits in there, Poppin and Sulz had a great job to get into the final, but the champ is back and he's got the runs on the board already, so I would have him. But Roscoe, you won this event 40 years ago, you know how to win here? What are they going to do in the forest to try and beat him? Have a lot of courage. Have a lot of courage. But I was talking to the Citroen guys early on, even though they were the match for Simon Evans on the tarmac, they think they can match him in the forest, and I say, good luck. Mackenzie's got a bit of work to do. Of course you've got to remember, we've got Molly Taylor, who's been five years in Europe, and she's back here. And of course four-wheel drive, very spectacular on the power stage, and out in the forest they'll be doing the business as well. They certainly won't. Yeah, so plenty to talk about over a couple of big days of rallying. While the current rally champion Scott Peder has stepped up to WRC level this year, four former champions are here, and that's where the focus will be. Four times Simon Evans has been crowned champion, but always in a four-wheel drive. His younger brother Eli has won two championships, both in outright two-wheel drive. This is the first time they'll go head to head. Simon is joined by the experienced co-pilot Ben Ceasey after spending his career being guided by his wife Sue. Ironically his tank former's G2 Honda Civic Type R is the very car that Eli campaigned when the front two-wheel drive era began. This is what I've been looking forward to for six months now, so let's get out there and see what we're made of. Eli Evans and Glenn Weston are driving for the factory Citroen Outfit. After two dream seasons in the Honda Jazz, switching camps brings all sorts of new problems. I've got to be realistic too, I've got to drive as fast as I can and see where we finish, so I've not been too hard on myself, but a big learning curve for me this weekend. Eli's teammate is Tony Sullins, who finished last season in fourth and returns with a similar DS3 with Julia Barclay once again alongside. Imported from Europe, theirs makes three, with the number of Citroens competing in 2015. Adrian Coppin took the final spot on the podium in 2014 and returns with new co-driver Aaron Kelly, sporting their own livery with engineering coming from Neil Bates Motorsport. Perhaps the dark horse in 2015 is the shining light. Steve McKenzie with younger brother Brent cemented their place as future champions after the blinding introduction of their Opti-Coat Fiesta late last season. All eyes will be on them as the year progresses. Scott Pedder might not be here, but his winning Renault Clio is. Molly Taylor returns after several years successfully breaking into the international scene in Europe. She's joined by Bill Hayes in her first assault on Australia's hottest competition. A resurgence of four-wheel drives competing in the national series has brought out several front runners, including another championship-winning team. The 2011 champs Justin Dowell and Matt Lee hope to campaign a diet-co Hyundai i20, but for now, it's his proven unrestricted Evo X. It's going to be a good four-wheel drive series, good, good. We needed to come back to make sure we've got an event practice for next year, so this year is just all about setting up next year really. Mark Pedder will also soon be in a different machine, a Peugeot 208 Maxi, another of the new generation four-wheel drives that speed-head the transition back to inclusion in the championship. For now, though, he and last year's champion co-driver, Dale Moskot, are in a VW polo. I'm not in the car I wanted to be in, but this is a very good second option, but really, once we get the Maxi car for Canberra, he's going to have a bit of a showcase to see, hopefully, what those things can do and really try to build towards 2016. Kenry Knot came oh-so close to a national series win last year and, in fact, with better equipment in a serious tilt of the title, Daniel Young will point the way in their first time on WA soil. Delivery is the same, but Mick Patton has jumped from outright to the four-wheel drive series in a bid to make a name for himself. Bernie Webb will once again guide the Canberran who found rallying crew a competition run by his now-sponsor, Repco. Unfortunately, no armour or STP power stage appearance for them this morning. That honour went to WA state champion Doug Trostevin, edging out Justin Dowell with another local, Dylan King, to collect the final bonus points. The surprise in outright, though, was Eli Evans, who missed the cut to three, leaving Big Brother Simon with five bonus points ahead of Tony Symons with three. Adrian Coppin grabbed the final point on offer. The sun was setting on the longest pier in the Southern Hemisphere before the competition proper would get underway back in Buttleton. All that is coming up right after the break. As the sun died away over Geograph Bay, competition in the East Coast Cool Bars Australian rally championship was coming along. In its 31st year, the Quip Forest rally was again underway at Barnard Park. Simon Evans wasted little time going quickest around the square-cut corners and hairpins. The result was a mirror finish of the power stage with the citrons of Coppin and Sullins home next. Turn far short, left three wide. Fourth was the best that Eli Evans could manage, but he improved on the repeat run to displace his teammate for third in stage and outright. After whacking the wall this morning, Molly Taylor was just pleased to get home intact. We're really happy we've had a clean run. We'll do the same again tomorrow, and really just can't wait to get this thing out on the gravel. Doug Tostovan showed his prowess in four-wheel drive on the tarmac repeating his performance in the Armoury STP power stage, winning both super specials under lights. There's a lot of events still to run, and we're talking seconds covering five or six cars, so it's really going to happen tomorrow, I think, but we won't be doing anything too stupid, hopefully. He's surprised himself, ecstatic to be home second in both opening stages in four-wheel drive. It's very helpful having a Tarca Tasmania winning co-driver sitting beside you on tarmac, but yeah, it really kept it clean inside. He worked on our exit speed, slow in, fast out sort of scenario, and it was great. It worked really well for us. As night gave way today, 70 kilometres to the east in the old Timber region of Nanup, the rally proper will soon be underway. For Eli Evans, it's early days in his relationship with the new Citroen DS3. He also knows the car his big brother is driving all too well. We're getting that the Civic he was driving now up to pace at the end of last year. He's made improvements since then. I've jumped in the Citroen, I've done about 100 kilometres now. Feeling confident on gravel, feels really good, so I think it's the car, if someone said pick a car, I'd choose the Citroen, so it feels really good package and hopefully it's enough to knock the old brother off. First gone is one of the trickiest ones in the event, so we'll get through there and then have a crack on Ferndale. That's the most technical stage in the rally and it's the make or break for this heat. Service in the main street is first though, a chance to change the previous evening tarmac setup to something more sympathetic to gravel. For the older Evans, it's not a good start, returning to service almost immediately. There's one wheel drive and I'm driving and I'm going, something wrong here, so I turned around and it came back. At least he started. Steve McKenzie was a no-show for the tarmac stages last night, but is back this morning. Coming out of meteorites, doing some sponsor rides for the championship, we've on our way back to the accommodation and the clutch just slipped real bad. I'm guessing it's been doing it for a little while, which might explain the stage times yesterday morning, so hopefully we can get out there today and show them what the cars are really capable of. McKenzie is 7 off the lead pace through Koala, the first gravel stage, but he is running. Simon Evans sets the benchmark of 4 minutes 17 seconds with a 6-kilometre stage, but a 45-second penalty for being late out of service gives Adrian Coppin his first outright rally lead and early confidence in the notes from his new co-driver, Erin Kelly. Both he and Tony Sullins are close to Eli Evans. As first car on the road, Evans is finding the surface slippery. Ferndale is even worse, and he is the first of many to be caught by the sweeping right-hander soon after the start. Fortunately, the car is unscathed and he and Glenn Weston continue, although a little more conservatively. Simon Evans was right about Ferndale. Even he is caught out, but it's the throttle sensor causing the car to stop intermittently that slumps him down the order. Our rally leader, Adrian Coppin, drops the drive wheels of the DS3 in a ditch. An enforced 45-minute struggle eventually gets the car free, but his advantage has long gone. Old teammate Tony Sullins passes the stricken Citroën, the win, tears, with some committed driving through the latter part of the stage. Our third rally leader in as many stages, but Molly Taylor is hot on his heels in the high-tech oils runner. Despite an overshoot, Steve McKenzie brings the OptiCode Fiesta home third on what he believes to be one of the best stages in the ARC. In the four-wheel drive national series, Doug Tostavan continued to dominate. After winning both tarmac stages last night, he was fastest through both the opening stages. Arguably, Mark Pitter might have won the first gravel stage in the Polo S2000. The gearbox selection issue mid-stage cost him dearly, and he dropped down the leaderboard. Next stage, the throttle cable snapped and the VW ground to a halt. Justin Dowell had his issues too. An exhaust leak in SS3 only got worse through Special Stage 4, but not before a near-encounter in the same place that caught Eli Evans. The exhaust leak eventually damaged the turbo and the active rally Sport Evo X started to lose power. Henry Knot's start was slow through Koala. Caution was the order of the morning, having never raced here before. Still, four seconds behind Tostavan was a great start. He began to push through Ferndale, gaining grip and confidence with the car, but misheard a pace note and paid the ultimate and very expensive price. I got the corner wrong, basically. I set up for a seven. I had the speed right, the angle right for a seven, but as soon as we came over that crest, I was just a passenger in that car. I did the best I could to get it back on track, but the back went in, the front came around, and yeah, all over, red rover. The better half says I can't let this get me down and it's not the way I should end the career, so I'll be back out there and try my best again. The East Coast Bullbars' Australian rally championship continues on the other side of the break. Welcome back to the Quit Forest rally coming to you from Western Australia. We've talked about the rivalry between Simon and Eli Evans in the East Coast Bullbars' Australian rally championship, and this round we are finally getting to see them in a family face-off. Here's a bit of an insight into what makes them tick. Simon was a full-time Australian champion and I was a guy who was struggling to find speed and chasing him, so it was difficult at the start, but I've got Dad who's just crazy on rallying and he gave me plenty of opportunities when I'd fallen over to stand back up and try again. Probably me stepping away from the sport was really good for him and he stepped up into that role of becoming a leader and going for the championship wins and things like that. He's always into me, he's playing mind games and he's good fun, he's that kind of guy, he's a friendly character and he loves rallying and he's happy to be here and he gets confidence out of bringing other people down, that's what he tries to do. I can get into his head sometimes and it used to affect his rallying but he's a lot smarter than that now he's grown and he's learned that he's just great and we can now race head to head. I think he's proud of what I've been able to do and now to match stage times with him I'd like to think that he thinks that I'm a serious rally driver as well. He's great, he's matured and he's become, obviously he's a great man so I've got a lot of respect for him that's why I'm here, I want to beat him, I want to race him and it's just that abruptly thing. In my eyes he was my idol when I was a kid I always wanted to be like my big brother and now we're getting the opportunity to be like him and hopefully beat him. 50 care, short right 7 opens, don't on exit. He doesn't beat him through SS5, Ellis. Evans and Weston lose over a minute but do make the end of stage. But Simon Evans is still struggling with throttle position issues and then the clutch collapses. Steve McKenzie also struggles for some reason the Opticode Fiesta is cutting in and out but that's not all. For Molly Taylor it's a history making stage breaking through for her first win and with it the rally leaves. It's the first time a female driver has ever won a stage in an Australian Rally Championship. Short 6 left. Adrian Poppin makes the name for himself as well, same stage but for all the wrong reasons. You alright? You okay? No. No? Yeah, I'm alright. Eli's climate in the sun happens in health way. He's coming to terms with the handling of the DS3 and is getting faster every stage. Then 50 metres. Importantly, he beats Big Brother by 2 seconds in a stage Simon writes as one of his favourites. Regardless of his issues, Eli's taking the win. McKenzie looks strong but his problems continue and eventually the Opticode Fiesta stops 1 kilometre from end of stage and the safety of a badly needed service somehow out of fuel. Tony Sullen's might have been third but for an overshoot. Raz Vlad picks up his best stage finish. The local competitor is also taking part in the WA State Championship and is rewarded with a fourth in stage. Ashley James on debut in the AJE BW Polo is fifth. His event is about setting up the brand new Vivo so results are the last thing on his mind. We've been driving around some teething problems all day. We've got something going on with the clutch where we keep getting air in the clutch. Service C is also busy for the tankformers team. Their clutch is being sorted so it's gearbox out. For Molly Taylor, it's a moment to savour. Really just trying to keep a head down and really just focus on each stage and learning the car and just getting a good rhythm and it seems to be working. So all we can do is just keep doing what we're doing and at the end of the day you can't control anything outside the car so we're just enjoying the car and enjoying the roads. It's Evans 1-2 through the repeat of Kuala, Eli on top. He stiffened the suspension in the FibreTech Medical Citroen hoping the now swept line will provide more grip. Their time is 1 second a kilometre quicker and their first pass is car 1 on the road. Now with a clutch, Simon is also faster but he concedes this stage to Eli by 0.4 of a second. Tony Sullen's hope of preserving his second outright comes unstuck. That's heat 1 over and out for the number 2 factory Citroen. Simon's skill through the repeat of Burndale demonstrates why he is currently one of the best rally riders in the country. Eli on the other hand has a 1-minute gap to catch Molly Taylor and nearly a minute lead over his brother. The decision is made to push on and extend the distance to third maybe pushing a bit too hard. Can you shoot yourself? Yeah, me too. Fast ride 6. In the four-wheel drive national series, Justin Dau spent the early part of the afternoon in service, repairing a blown turbo. Mark Pedder was back in the Pedder's suspension S2000. The intercom might have stopped but that didn't stop Pedder from posting a stage-winning time in both SS5 and the 6. Good news for Scott McKenzie and Troy McClane who made it past the point of their big crash last year. Without fifth gear, Doug Tostovan slipped down the order but SS8 really turned his rally upside down in the same place as Eli Evans. It's really slippery offline and that crest we just sort of lost the grip. I probably did it about the right speed the first time and maybe we were just trying a bit harder. Dylan King got a bit of time on the last two stages and I thought I'd try and get some back. Young Dylan King had Tostovan's measure and applied enough pressure through five and six to take the four-wheel drive lead. Brad Markovic stepped up to seek into the Auto 1 Subaru as did McPatten to third in the Repco Mitsubishi. Patten was slowed through Ferndale by Mark Pedder whose day had gone from bad to worse. A broken driveshaft earlier in Koala forced him to limp through two stages to service. Dowell and Lee rejoined for SS8 but wouldn't affect the four-wheel drive top order. They later discovered the diff was dying. Nice. That was shocking. How will the four-wheel drive and outright competition wind up? We'll find out after the break. Back to the East Coast bullbars, Australian rally championship the quick forest rally had dealt a difficult hand for the opening heat and with just two short stages around Danup Oval nothing looked set to change. Molly Taylor was holding a one-minute lead over her rival Eli Evans and looked set to score her maiden outright win in the Australian rally championship. But things weren't going all her way as she arrives at control check-in for SS9. It's broken, Stephen, right? Where are we on? You all right, Molly? Do you want me to do it? With all the advice in the world on tap Molly and co-driver Bill Hayes are the only ones allowed to work on the car. They can only use what is in the car to repair it. Fortunately, a tie-down strap off the spear might be enough to hold the broken component in place well enough for the two final short stages. Eli Evans sets a cracking pace in the Citroen leading his brother by two seconds over the one-minute course. But Simon wastes no time either in the tank hauler's tie-bar civic. Molly finally lines up in the knowledge her 60-second buffer won't last as she must nurse the damaged Renault through the 800-metre course. Just when you think it's going all right, you know? It's always something to surprise you. It's no record breaker. The high-tech oil's Renault is 18 seconds a kilometre slower than Evans. She now holds a 45-second lead, but more importantly, hopes the tie-downs hold for one final pass. Bill Hayes re-adjusts the slack and they're set for their final run. Again, Eli has a two-second margin over Simon and a massive 25 seconds over Molly. She holds on for a heat win by 15 seconds. Now, just the formality of reaching service and transporting back to Busselton for the final check-in. For her co-driver mum Coral, this has been something she's dreamed about. Certainly, an overwhelming moment for someone so passionate about her chosen sport. So I'm just... could not be prouder, could not be more thrilled. As long as she can just book in there and hold the win and I'll be the proudest woman in Australia. Justin Dahl was back in for the two sprint stages in the four-wheel drive national series winning both passes. The heat lead was with Dylan King, but Dahl was too far out of contention to change that. Rob Weber pushed the DK Earthworks in preser back to third on the second pass with Mick Patton and Brad Markovic hold on his heels. It was King on top, though, at the end of the day after Doug Tosterman flew it away in SS8. We had to push, we stayed three all the way through this afternoon and we had to beat him every single stage and that we did. Unfortunately for him he ended up rolling on third-life stage. So it was a shame, but we came out of the heat win so I'm very happy. Boys have got their head under the bonnet. What's happening there now? The car's breathing a bit at the moment, it's pumping a bit of smoke out so I'm trying to sort it out, not a very good thing so see what we can do. In a cruel blow, though, the engine wouldn't run and he couldn't make the final control at Busselton, robbing King of his first ARC heat win. Markovic took that honour, followed closely by Patton. Consistency handed Rob Weber third while Petter had struggled through to fourth. Scott McKenzie might have been the day's tortoise, but fifth on the Petter's leaderboard was rightfully his. A first for Molly Taylor, ahead of past champions Eli Evans second, while Raz Vlad is third. Simon Evans scrambled the Civic to the finish for fourth while Ashley James collected some valuable experience and championship points. It's Molly Taylor, though, who's taking maximum points and with it, a history-making first-ever win by a female driver. It's not at all what I was expecting coming into this rally. I didn't know what to expect and we just very much said from the outset we're going to go and drive every stage as well as we can and whatever happens around us happens. Back in Busselton, the second heat was getting underway at Barnard Park, one longer run over the special tarmac stage. Despite the two-hour service, the Renault is unable to be properly repaired. The bent and broken steering arms will need to be rebuilt overnight so makeshift repairs are made to get the car through the first-night special stage that you need. Taylor is 18 seconds off Simon Evans' winning time. Eli is next, a second decay behind with the other citrons of Tony Sullins and Adrian Coppin next. The real battle begins in earnest on the gravel roads around Nannup, first thing in the morning. When the sun rises, the heat, too, of the East Coast bullbars Australian Rally Championship from the Quit Forest Rally in Busselton. Welcome back to the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship coming to you from the Quit Forest Rally in Western Australia. Service crews are readying themselves for the arrival of the competition cars in historic Nannup, where yesterday the ARC added to its own history. Five times Australian Rally Champion Ross Duncan has seen a lot of action in the ARC since its inception several decades ago, but yesterday is another first for the sport. Well, another beautiful day in Western Australia for the running of Heat 2. But let's recap on yesterday's Heat 1. I thought it was probably one of the toughest days I've seen. Many cars succumbed to mechanical damage and three crews actually got caught out in the tricky Western Australian road conditions and rolled their cars. I'm happy to say those cars have been repaired and they are back in to Heat 2. But the star of the show was Mollie Taylor. Those years competing in Europe honing her skills paid off with a brilliant win. But the big question is, can she do it today? Keep that consistent past pace. Well, I think she can. We'll have to wait and see. Mollie starts well in Brockman, the opening gravel stage. Without the experience on these roads of either of the Evans boys, she accounts for herself well. Her time to the halfway point of the stage is equal to Eli, and quicker than Simon. But she hits a rock, bending the control arm again and puncturing a kumo. Eli's time takes the stage by five from Simon. It's enough to rest back the overnight advantage she had on the tarmac stage in Brusselton by 0.2 of a second. Steve McKenzie is a massive 80 seconds off the pace. They haven't resolved their smoke issue from Heat 1. Is that the brakes? I don't know. And six left down. The distraction leads to mistakes. No overshoots for Adrian Coppin, but the innate motorsport Citroen is languishing underpowered in the lower half of the field. Being upside down for a couple of hours yesterday I think it's done any favours. There's so many sensors and stuff on these cars that it's sort of a process of elimination basically. Look, we just want to make sure we get to the finish and get some points. It's a long way to come to get nothing. Tony Sullins is two seconds behind Molly, but he's struggling to hear the calls from his co-driver. Raz Vlad would have beaten both Coppin and Sullins, but the drive shaft in his fiesta lets go three kilometres from the end. He skips 13 and opts for an early service. Sullins is fourth through Folly, but Molly Taylor is chasing down third outright. She and Bill Hayes have changed the flat from Brockman, but there's little they can do about the bent control arm. They trail the two Evans cars by five seconds. Simon is beaten again by his younger brother, but there's nothing in it. Eli has the Citroen's nose in front by just 1.1 seconds. Typical of his do or die attitude, Simon is playing down the mid-range throttle that seems to have disappeared in the tank former's Honda. In service, Evans and CSE search for anything that might give them some advantage. Over in the high-tech oils cab, Molly Taylor has a secret weapon in the form of WRC Hyundai test driver, Kevin Abring. The Dutchman is out here on a little R&R and offering advice about everything from car setup to which way the spare wheel should be stowed. If you put the heaviest part of the rim up, then it's bad for the weight distribution, etc. He's got a lot of experience in setting up cars and driven these cars before, so it's really good to have his input. Through SS 14, the Evans brothers are still locked in battle. And Eli, by 0.9 of a second. The Mackenzie brothers are smoking as well, but for all the wrong reasons. Good job. Amongst everything that can make or break a rally team weekend, tyres play an important part. The Inheridge is at the start of SS 15. Ellis checking the difference in tyre wear between two and four-wheel drive. Here's Mick Patton, he's leading four-wheel drive. See the lead edge here as all the work. What we want to do is now compare to a leading front-wheel drive car. So a four-wheel drive car, more efficient driving through all four wheels less wear than a high-revving two-wheel drive. Let's have a look at Molly Taylor, who won yesterday and see what her car looks like. So unlike Mick Patton, this is Molly Taylor's Renault front-wheel drive only. Look at the extra wear, particularly in the centre. So the drive and the brake part of the blocks here is way more worn. The edge on both tyres is turning. So this car, all the work is being done by the front. The rear is effectively following. Not quite an efficient way to work the tyres through. The difficulty for the teams both four-wheel drive and two-wheel drive in this category is you've got 16 for this round. How to manage them and get the most efficiency work out of them all comes down to strategy. Molly's decision to run harder compound kumos plays off, just 1.7 second shy of Simon Evans. Tony Sullins on the other hand is on mediums and the wider 205s for that matter but 17 off the pace. Steve McKenzie is quicker by 5 seconds. The smoke in the cabin by now becoming an accepted part of the rally. It's Evans 1-2 again for Ellis. Eli beats Simon this time by 2.4 seconds. But the older Evans big problem is on route to SS16. We had a little drama with the old battery wire coming off and snapping off the alternator so we killed the car and now I'm just trying to convince it that it's not over. Eli is 6 clear of Molly through SS16 the lead beat of this morning's first stage. In their first rally in the Citroën Evans and Glenn Weston secure a 5th straight stage win from the bonus championship point and a 1-minute lead for E2. Molly Taylor isn't giving up she is 6 behind Eli faster than Simon Evans. Evans and Cece do make the start of SS16 but their electrical issue means they are 7 minutes late and that means a 35-second penalty. Molly Taylor jumps Simon Evans to trail Eli by 7 seconds outright. Just when things are coming right for Steve McKenzie, he breaks the steering rack out of the subframe. His rally will be in cruise mode from here to preserve championship points. Mechanicals 2 for Tony Sullens the gearbox in the FiberTec Citroën is getting noisier. The 4WD National Series drivers didn't have it all their own way either. Yesterday's heat winner on the road came out with a blown engine while Mark Pitter took to the WA surf after running out of drive shafts for the Polo. Doug Tostovan had repaired the S-Technic Subaru overnight and was good for 3rd in the opening stage. Justin Dahl had been first on the road but found a rock. Dahl had broken the sway bar and was paid to any stage challenges till after service. It was an overshoot though that stopped Brad Markovic early on. Unable to restart the Auto 1 entry for more than 10 minutes the remainder of his day was in safety mode protecting whatever points he could. McPatten in the Repco Evo 10 was left to take the lead in opening two stages. Jon O'Dowd cooked his second engine in as many days after repairing the damage from his off in Heat 1 so it was game over for him at the end of the aptly named folly. After a massive effort in the 30 minute service to replace his failed gearbox Doug Tostovan probably won the next healthway loop stage. Dahl and Lee returned and the stage wins Seasaw back in favourite Mitsubishi. They were heading on to the overall four wheel drive lead in the Repco machine. Doug Tostovan did his best to change that winning the final three stages of the day and cementing a heat second. Justin Dahl had to be content with third after a flat tyre in SS18 destroyed the front guard and knocked out fuses to the electric fuel pumps. Despite nursing and oil Brad Markovic claimed a second in SS18 and second for the weekend and after a disastrous rally here last year Scott McKenzie started and finished every stage rewarding him with a podium place for the weekend. In series points, McPatton has a clear lead over Brad Markovic heading into his home rally in Canberra but it is the best three of five rounds so it's very early days. With a prospect of two new generation four wheel drives appearing at round two the national series will set to be hotly contested. Only three stages and one service to go for the outright championship that's coming up one after the break. The final service of the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship in Country Manup, Western Australia. Tony Sullivan's DS3 Citroen needs a gearbox change and he's about to join the crew I know it can be done in under an hour but we've never done it so 30 minute service and 30 minute slate time. In the other Citroen tent rally leader Eli Evans watches on as his brother drives by knowing he can't afford to relax. He's at a rough weekend so he'll keep fighting he'll go out flat out these next three stages so I've got to start on the ball lock it's 30 seconds it's a second in Kilimanet it is doable so I've got to stay sharp don't expect anything less from Simon. And that's exactly what happens the mid-range throttle foot is isolated and fixed the fully functioning Honda in the hands of Simon Evans means anything is now possible he grabs 10 seconds on the first of three final stages healthway loop he's also on new 900 kumos after banking tyres from his less than perfect heap one Taylor is next fastest 10.3 behind she and Simon Evans are now second equal outright Eli is just 0.1 behind but still has a healthy overall lead Tony Sullen's gearbox chains brings him forth through the final stages but in the mad rush somehow a non-marked tyre has been fitted despite the fact he still has two new mark tyres up his sleeve he's been redeemed to have used 17 tyres instead of his allocated 16 and is slapped with a 2 minute penalty after all his effort he drops two positions outright Evans senior takes another five of his brother through the repeat of Folly and another two of Taylor he cements second outright that'll do awesome it's not enough for a heat win though the final stage uranium and a 50 second margin is all Eli Evans needs on debut in the Citroen Eli Evans and Glenn western make a triumphant finish to the second heat of their return to the championship first outright in our first event with Citroen absolutely pumped so thank you Citroen thanks Glenn so he too to Eli Evans from Simon Evans and Molly Taylor Steve McKenzie and Adrian Coppin hang on for fourth and fifth despite a frustrating weekend of niggling issues a new award this season is Duncos doing the business so let's get the thoughts of our multiple Australian rally champion giving due consideration I think it should be Molly Taylor that wins the award not only because of her brilliant driving performance over the weekend but getting here she had to drive to the coast by herself car on board of course it broke down a couple of times Molly Taylor doing the business the Kumo Tire spirit of the rally award goes to Ashley James for a mammoth effort against all the odds both in building and just getting the VW Apollo here to WA to the start line no world beating times this weekend but he and Kate Calford started and finished every stage guys a great effort for Eli Evans after a year away from the championship but equally for Molly Taylor on debut in the outright championship here in Australia no doubt Simon Evans will want to change all that next round and Steve McKenzie and Tony Sullins will be looking to improve their standing as well tonight the sun sets on the quick forest rally the opening round of the East Coast bullbars Australian rally championship will rise again in Canberra for the National Capital Rally May 15 and 16 preceded by the third annual Australian Rally Hall of Fame dinner with special guest four times world champion Yuha Kankanan it's guaranteed to be a very special night indeed go to rally.com.au to book your tickets and everything you need to keep up to date on the world of rally until then I'm Greg Raust bye for now and I'll see you next time