Mixed Saturday for Rullos at Rally Queensland

It was a mixed day for the IntelliSpatial Fleetcare Racing team, with the third round of the Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) getting underway in Queensland.

Alex Rullo and Steve Glenney had a stellar start in Gympie – the pair enjoying a strong morning to end the day’s first loop of stages in a podium placing – third quickest overall.

Meanwhile, teammates Peter Rullo and Jimmy Marquet sat in seventh after the first loop of stages well and truly entrenched inside the top 10 of what has been one of the most competitive seasons in recent years.

That momentum continued for both Hyundai i20 N Rally2 crews on stage five – Alex finishing only 10 seconds behind Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland leaders Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall, while Peter was enjoying a battle with 2016 ARC Champion Molly Taylor, just 0.8 seconds adrift of seventh.

And after a solid run through most of stage six, Alex’s good run of form came to an end due to an unfortunate clash with a tree stump – the Hyundai coming off worse from the impact.

That incident cost Alex more than nine minutes on the day’s last two stages – a cruel blow for the rising rally star – but importantly they were able to get the car home in 18th to ensure some consolation championship points.

“We were going pretty well, made some changes at the midday service and the car was feeling really good,” Alex explained.

“Then on SS6, we were on for a good time but towards the end I just clipped a stump on the entry to a corner.

“It was a big hit, and we broke the lower control arm and had to limp through the rest of the stages and try and get whatever points we can.”

For Peter and James, the run home was much smoother. The pair finding a groove as the day went on despite some early hiccups.

They ended in eighth, with their consistency important in claiming another top ten finish.

“It was pretty sketchy on the first couple of stages,” Peter said.

“We also hit one of the culverts pretty hard and smashed the windscreen so that made it pretty hard to see for the rest of the day.

“It’s a really enjoyable event, the weather has been great and we had a really good day.

“Now we’ve got our head in the game, I’m definitely feeling a lot more focused and I think we’ll probably go up the field tomorrow.”

With the event running in a sprint format, the leaderboard resets overnight allowing both Rullos a clean run at Sunday’s stages and a chance for more valuable Championship points.

The Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland continues on Sunday, with the first stage of the day beginning at 8.55am AEST.