Rullo poised for podium battle

Alex Rullo and Steve Glenney have made a confident start to their Middle of Everywhere Gippsland Rally campaign, finishing the afternoon in fourth outright after eight stages. 

Meanwhile, IntelliSpatial Fleetcare Racing teammates Peter Rullo and James Marquet sit just outside the top 10 in 11th after a mixed day in the sister Hyundai i20 N.

With Alex coming into the round fourth in the Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship standings, they will be eager to bank even more valuable Championship points with a podium well and truly still up for grabs.

With all times carried into Sunday to finish the weekend’s endurance event, only seven seconds separate the leading Hyundai pilots from the third-placed duo of Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin. 

If Alex can close the deficit in the remaining eight stages tomorrow, it will be a welcome return to the podium for the Western Australian. 

“Bit of a whirlwind of a day,” Alex said.

“We chose to run the soft tyre today which we knew was going to be difficult, but it was a bit strange in the first two stages. We really overheated them and struggled a bit. Then the second two stages it felt really good, with a bit more moisture on the road.

“It was a tricky day, but our set ups we have definitely taken a step forward. It’s closer, but it’s not polished yet, so we’ve got a little bit of work to do there.

“Overall, pretty happy with how the day went. We’re a couple of seconds off Lewis heading into tomorrow, so can’t complain really. 

“If all goes well tomorrow, then I definitely think we’re a shot at a podium.”

Peter, meanwhile, was fighting inside the top 10 for most of Saturday’s action but had a difficult day with co-driver James under the weather with illness impacting their speed.

“It wasn’t the best of days, but at least we got through to the end,” Peter said.

“The name of the game of these endurance events is to stay in it – and we’re still in it.

“I made some fairly significant changes to my car heading into this event, but it feels great on some of these long, fast stages.”

The action will resume at 10am tomorrow, with eight stages to run, starting at the Boisdale Hillclimb.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER DAY ONE

Gippsland Rally

1. Bates/Taylor, Toyota

2. Pedder/Macneall, Skoda, +12.3s

3. Bates/McLoughlin, Toyota, +1m35.9s

4. Rullo/Glenney, Hyundai, +1m42.3s

5. Maguire/Brakey, Skoda, +2m38.0s

6. Luff/Luff, Toyota, +3m30.5s

7. Taylor/Sarandis, Subaru, +3m59.0s

8. Reading/Young, Subaru, +4m42.4s