Alex Rullo survives drama-filled day for fourth overall

Luke Whitten
Mar 21, 2025
2 min read

IntelliSpatial Fleetcare Racing driver, Alex Rullo, has started the 2025 EROAD Australian Rally Championship in positive fashion, finishing fourth outright in the opening Heat of the Rally of Canberra.

Along with co-driver Steve Glenney, Rullo drove his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 into fourth place on the first of the day’s eight stages, a position he would hold for the remainder of the day.

Attrition was rampant and just staying on the road was key.

Rullo and Glenney were one of only four crews from the top ten seeds who made it through without a significant issue, and were always fast.many competitors reporting collisions with rocks throughout both days of action.

It certainly wasn’t the perfect day, but they achieved their goal of banking a solid haul of championship points on the opening day of the season.

They chose medium compound tyres for the first group of stages, which proved to be the wrong decision, however, they pushed through the afternoon’s stages on softer compound tyres that gave them more grip on the slippery roads.

“It was a bit of a tricky day but we got through it in fourth position,” Alex shared at the end of the day after just missing out on the podium place.

“We made the wrong tyre choice this morning and that hurt us a little bit and there was a few silly mistakes in the afternoon. We probably had only one clean stage in the afternoon.

“There’s definitely more pace in the car than what we showed today and we will reset and go again tomorrow.”

The sister car, under the guise of Peter Rullo and Ben Searcy, encountered brake problems in the morning.

Following that, their recovery mission was fast and impressive. They were up to fifth overall before the penultimate stage, but an exhaust issue put an end to their storming comeback drive.

At the front of the field, it was fellow Race Torque and Hyundai crew, Hayden Paddon and John Kennard, who took a clear win.

Paddon, who has linked up with IntelliSpatial Fleetcare Racing this season, survived the drama, while others, including reigning champion, Harry Bates, fell victim to the tough stages.