Adrian Stratford in his Ford Fiesta 2wd & Tim Clark in his Subaru WRX were among the fastest cars out there on the weekend.
The transport to SS1 was the first time Clark had ever driven on Zestino Tyres, then recording the second fastest stage time outright on SS1, only 6 seconds behind champion Darren Windus.
Clark's Zestino Tyre debut was short lived with a driveshaft failure on ss2.
"The speed shown by Tim on SS1 was simply unbelievable. I have never been so excited to get to the end of a stage to see that I was beaten by another competitor. The fact Tim can be this fast out of the box, on an up hill stage is truly incredible" said Stratford.
Photos by Browne Bear Photography
Stratford who is Zestino Tyres Australia's largest gravel tyre dealer started off just as quick, he recorded the fastest 2wd stage time on SS1, only 4 seconds off Clark.
Stratford came unstuck on SS3 when he misjudged a slippery left hand corner and ran wide, getting stuck on the base of a fern tree. Stratford and Co-driver Kain Manning were able to free the car after quite some time, opting to skip SS4 and head straight to SS5 which they then recorded the fastest 2wd stage time as well as second outright behind Windus.
After a shortened midday service to get their road position back, Stratford and Manning headed back out for heat two with some fresh Zestino rubber.
That fresh rubber did the trick, Stratford and Manning won the second heat outright, including finishing 17 seconds clear of the field on the final stage.
Another notable crew on Zestino Tyres was Wayne Stewart & Lucas Zinsstag in a borrowed Hyundai Excel, coming away with 1st place Excel and 18th outright after issues in heat 1.
Results here: https://nissancarclub.org.au/special/VRCResults.aspx
Youtube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDySOWSUyUk
Browne Bear Photography https://www.facebook.com/BrowneBearPhotography