Consistent day nets podium and solid points hauls

IntelliSpatial Fleetcare Racing has continued its strong form in the Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) netting another third place finish to begin the Forest Rally.

In tricky conditions deep in the forests around Nannup, Alex Rullo and Steve Glenney were the team leaders as they drove consistently to be clear in fourth place at the end of the day’s action. They were then elevated to third late in the day when Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin were handed a two-minute penalty for using an extra soft tyre.

Coming out on top of a battle with fellow West Australians Dylan King and Abbey Hayes, Alex also finished the day with top honours in the Motorsport Australia WA Rally Championship – beating King by 33 seconds.

Peter Rullo and Jimmy Marquet, seeded 11th, also improved upon their starting position and in comparison to last round, were much closer to the leading speed in his similar Hyundai i20 N Rally2.

A decent fight in the afternoon, which included a day-high eighth place on the final stage saw Peter and Jimmy pip Molly Taylor and Andy Sarandis to ninth place by one second at the end of the Heat. 

Beating Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith in the process, Peter and James finished the day third in the state championship battle.

Alex Rullo/Steve Glenney (#5 Hyundai i20 N Rally2)

• Consistency was key for Alex and Steve, with a podium place a great reward for their solid day.

Alex said: “I’m pretty happy with my day to be honest. This morning was pretty shocking but I think a lot of other people had a worse morning, so I can’t complain too much. We learned a lot about the car today and got a good bunch of points.

“This surface hasn’t been my best in the past – there’s nothing like this tricky ball-bearing gravel. We’ve made a lot of changes to the car and it’s almost like a new event for us.

“I really like tomorrow’s stages. I think our notes are pretty aggressive, so let’s hope the car is good and we can have a bit of a push.“

Peter Rullo/Jimmy Marquet (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally2)

• Peter took steps forward with the car and was considerably closer to the speed at the top on a seconds per kilometre basis.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

Forest Rally, Heat 1

1. Pedder/Macneall, Skoda, 1hr0m23.5s

2. Maguire/Brakey, Skoda, +23.4s

3. Rullo/Glenney, Hyundai, +2m03.1s

4. Bates/Taylor, Toyota, +2m23.8s

5. King/Hayes, Toyota, +2m36.8s

6. Maguire/Searcy, Skoda, +2m41.1s

7. Bates/McLoughlin, Toyota, +2m54.7s

8. Luff/Luff, Toyota, +3m58.2s

9. Rullo/Marquet, Hyundai, +4m30.8s

10. Taylor/Sarandis, Subaru, +4m32.0s