Canberra bites, but points salvaged from season opener

The notorious Kowen Forest lived up to its car-breaking reputation during Sunday’s action at the Rally of Canberra for IntelliSpatial Fleetcare Racing.

After an impressive drive to fourth in Heat 1, Alex Rullo and Steve Glenney had plans to continue their charge to the podium, but they wouldn’t make it far into the final day’s action.

On a tricky left-hand bend during the opening Bald Millpost stage, they collected a rock with the rear of the Hyundai i20 N Rally2, damaging the rear wheel assembly.

The large rock at the edge of the road broke the right rear wheel and brakes within it, forcing the crew to retire from the rally with just one stage completed on Sunday.

It wasn’t a rare incident by any means, with many competitors reporting collisions with rocks throughout both days of action.

Unfortunately for Rullo and Glenney, theirs had the consequence of ending their rally.

“We’ll take a look at the onboard footage and see what happened,” Alex said after the incident.

“We need to check if the pace note was maybe a little bit too aggressive, but I think it was just a slippery, off-camber corner with the unfortunate placement of a rock.”

Rullo and Glenney weren’t the first to fall victim to the elements, though, with the previous day’s winners, Hayden Paddon and John Kennard, collecting a kangaroo just a couple of kilometres earlier. 

The first stage had claimed two Hyundais just as Heat 2 had begun.

That left the #6 car of Peter Rullo and Ben Searcy as the sole remaining i20 N in the field, and they weren’t about to take their foot off the accelerator.

Over the day’s eight stages, they didn’t fall below fifth on the timesheets and recorded many fourth-fastest stage times.

It was a fast run that was reward for effort throughout the off-season and the rally weekend, especially for Peter, who worked hard to make the start line after his injuries last November.

“It’s been a lot better than yesterday, but these Canberra roads are quite challenging,” Peter shared at the end of the rally-ending Power Stage.

“It’s turned out okay for us in the end, it’s been a war of attrition.

“Now I can’t wait for the Forest Rally.”

Thanks to the nature of the Rally of Canberra and the trouble that befell their rivals, both Alex and Peter are still within reach of the series lead, despite their own dramas.

Both IntelliSpatial Fleetcare Racing cars are tied on 31 championship points heading into the second round of the series, the Forest Rally, in Western Australia.

Excitement will be sky-high ahead of the team’s home rally, based out of the towns of Busselton and Nannup, two hours south of Perth.

At the corresponding round last season, Alex Rullo took an overall podium and the West Australian Rally Championship win.

Peter Rullo, too, had a strong rally and arguably his best Australian Rally Championship performance to date, culminating in third place on the Power Stage.

Each will be aiming for similar results on roads and terrain that they enjoy from May 23-25.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

Rally of Canberra, Heat 2

1. Bates/Taylor, Toyota, 1hr09m39.1s

2. Bates/McLoughlin, Toyota, +25.9s

3. Pedder/Macneall, Skoda, 2m17.4s

4. Rullo/Searcy, Hyundai, +6m22.4s

5. Wiedman/Miller, Mitsubishi, +11m08.1s

6. Mill/Ford, Mitsubishi, +11m09.1s

DNF. Rullo/Glenney, Hyundai