Dwyer wins wet Copyworld Walky 100
Dwyer gets the tail out on Roast.
Admiraal on Smith Road south of Eudunda.
Declan Dwyer and Craig Adams have had their third straight win in the Copyworld Walky 100 Rally, their fifth in total.
This also means that there have been three different winners in three rounds in this year’s MRF Tyres South Australian Rally Championship.
Held on August 11, the rally shifted 21 km south from its traditional Robertstown base to Eudunda for the 34th running of the event.
Some of its tried and traditional stages were used, as well some new ones further south.
Unfortunately the two runs of Frankston, featuring the famous Dutton Bridge, an old ARC favourite, had to be cancelled due to wet conditions.
Crews and officials were greeted by rain, hail, high winds and freezing temperatures on the day, in contrast to S.A.’s dry winter so far.
Selley’s Escort sends up a spray on Roast.
Alker had a steady run to 4th place.
Dwyer and Adams (Mitsubishi EVO VI) finished 48 seconds ahead of round 1 winners Zayne Admiraal and Matthew Heywood (Subaru WRX) with Matt Selley and Hamish McKendrick, a further 19 seconds back in their Connaught Warrior-powered Ford Escort Mk II, also first 2WD.
It was the Escort’s first trouble-free event for the year.
Reigning S.A. Champions Aaron Bowering and Heath Weedon (Subaru WRX) were fastest on the opening One Big Hill before Dwyer went quickest on the following Roast Reverse and Julia.
On the second time through the same stages, Admiraal was quickest, moving within 2 seconds of Dwyer.
On One Big Hill 2, Craig Haysman and Julie Boorman’s Triumph TR7 V8 lost around 6 minutes with an ignition problem, which came back intermittently for the rest of the event.
Round 2 winners Schey and Catford still lead the championship with one round to go.
6th-placed Cagney runs a little wide on Roast.
Julia 2 saw fourth-placed Jamie Pohlner and Ken Moore’s Subaru WRX get an airbox full of mud and losing all power. They lost 14 minutes searching for what they thought was water in the electrics. After solving the problem in the following service, they set rapid times, but eventually finished a 19th.
Bowering, who had been second in the SARC pointscore, retired on the following Leakes Pass with a cracked sump, putting him out of contention for the title, whilst Admiraal’s quick time brought him up to share the lead with Dwyer.
Dwyer then went a second quicker on the following Smith Road, with the pair tying for fastest on Tableland.
Admiraal incurred a 40 second penalty for booking late out of service, putting Dwyer out of his reach, the latter marginally fastest on the first two reruns of the three stages before the pair tied on the final Tableland 2.
Finishing fourth, 40 seconds behind Selley, was the WRX STi of Shane Alker and Karien Heimsohn, with round 2 winners Peter Schey and Kate Catford (WRX STi) 27 seconds behind in fifth.
Bowering is now out of contention for back-to-back S.A. titles.
Provisional pointscore: 1. Peter Schey/Kate Catford 143, 2. Zayne Admiraal/Matthew Heywood 114, 3. Stuart Bowes/Mark Nelson 92, 4. Dale Cagney/Mark Dycer 90.5, 5. Paul Heenan/Andrew Kriesl 87, 6. Shane Alker/Karien Heimsohn 82.5.
The final round of the MRF Tyres S.A. Rally Championship is the BOTT Adelaide Hills Rally on September 21-23, also the fifth round of the Australian Rally Championship.
John Lemm
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