Glenney triumphs in 30th Rally Tasmania
South Australian horse trainer, Steve Glenney, has mastered horsepower of
a different kind with a 23.6 second victory in the 30th anniversary
running of Rally Tasmania in the state's north west.
Driving a Subaru Impreza WRX STI, Glenney and co-driver, Alan Stean,
moved into the lead early on day three when overnight leader Jim Richards
withdrew his Porsche 911 GT2 with major steering problems.
Queensland husband and wife Keith and Mary Anne Callinan took out the
Classic competition in their fire-breathing DeTomaso Pantera, nearly
three and a half minutes ahead of the Porsche 911 RS of Roger Paterson
and Richard Geue.
The Australian Rally Championship component was taken out by Victorian
Scott Pedder in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, well clear of reigning
champion, Simon Evans, in a Subaru Impreza WRX.
The third day of Rally Tasmania took crews over six stages to the south
east of Burnie, before the rally concluded with two spectator stages
around the streets of the coastal city, in front of thousands of
spectators.
Jim Richards began the day with a lead of over 20 seconds in his Porsche
and appeared to have the rally well within his grasp, but a mysterious
steering problem would soon change that.
"I was having trouble keeping the car in a straight line even on straight
roads," Richards said. "The car was even more nervous over the bumpy
sections and we just weren't prepared to take the risk at rally speeds."
That allowed Glenney to move into first place, and it was a position he
wasn't to relinquish, slowly increasing his lead over second placed
Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Smyth in another Subaru.
"It's great to win Rally Tasmania for the second time in three years,"
Glenney said.
"It was unfortunate when Jim (Richards) had to retire this morning, but
we were still under a lot of pressure from Brendan (Reeves) and couldn't
ease up.
"To win after a really tough battle is always a very satisfying feeling,"
he added.
Reeves was ecstatic with his runner-up finish, just seven months after a
massive crash that nearly ended the careers of he and his co-driving
sister, Rhianon.
"We've had another great day," Reeves said. "To just finish the event was
the main goal, but to take second place and be on the pace again so
quickly is really satisfying."
Burnie favourites Jamie and Simon Vandenberg brought their Mitsubishi
Lancer Evo IX home in third place, matching their result from the 2009
rally, much to the delight of local fans.
Simon Gillett was fourth in his Subaru Impreza WRX, ahead of West
Australian Ben Searcy in a Mitsubishi. For Searcy, who normally sits on
the other side of the car reading the pacenotes, it was a tremendous
drive.
Callinan started the day with a lead of over a minute on Paterson's
Porsche in the Classics, allowing him to conserve his pace – and his
rapidly deteriorating rear tyres – in order to get to the finish of
the event and take a well deserved victory.
"We've had plenty of bad luck with the Pantera, so it's fantastic to
finally make it to the end of an event," Callinan said. "I'm not used to
putting my driving suit on for the third day of a rally, so it was quite
a unique experience today."
Behind Paterson, local driver Mitch Roberts and co-driver Tony Cooper
grabbed third place in their Mazda RX7, followed by Mark Dobson (Triumph
TR7) and Ross Steuart (Triumph TR8).
Rally Tasmania also included the first round of the Australian Rally
Championship, with Scott Pedder returning to the championship in style
with a convincing win.
The Victorian wasn't expected to win the event, but his tyres lasted
better than some of his rivals and he was able to celebrate a 49.9 second
win in his Mitsubishi Lancer.
Three-time champion, Simon Evans, was fast and consistent over all of the
rally's 19 stages and picked up a good points haul in his Subaru.
In third place was another Victorian team, Justin Dowel and Matt Lee,
giving them their first ever podium finish at a national level. Scott
Pedder's brother, Mark, was fourth in another Lancer, while
Queenslander Ryan Smart took fifth in his Toyota Corolla.
-source: rally tasmania
