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Another non-Subaru at the event was the Evo IX of George Plsek and co-driver Nathalie Richard. Friday was spent swapping places with Brenten Kelly for fifth place until they would DNF on the final stage of the day, two miles from the finish due to fuel issues. They would re-enter competition on Saturday under Super Rally rules, trading spots with Brenten and Cameron for the first stages of the day then holding fifth overall through the end of the day.
A bad note on 14 caused the duo of Steeley and Osborn to enter a corner too quickly and understeer off the road into a stump, causing significant damage to the car and ultimately resulting in a DNF for the duo. As of yet they’re uncertain as to the extent of the damage but it appeared to be severe. They plan to strip the car down and assess the necessary repairs before making a decision as to what they’ll do next. With any luck, they’ll be back again next year to try and bump Troy Miller off the championship.
Super Production champions Lauchlin O’Sullivan and Scott Putnam of CPD Racing would finish the event without incident, winning their class, securing second place in the overall season championship, and taking third place overall with a 1:43:19.9.
Racing under the FY Racing banner this year, Brenten Kelly and co-driver Niall Burns were doing quite well on Friday with a fifth place overall finish for the day. They maintained their pace to keep a hold on fifth place until a cruel run of mechanical failures caused them to successively break all four axles on stage 10. I expect they’ll have the car repaired and ready to roll for Sno*Drift next January, which happens to be Brenten’s home event.
These days Brenten’s old car is being piloted by his younger brother Mitchell, although running in the Open Light class. Mitchell was having a good time on Friday but was slightly shaken up when he was the first to come across the rolled Fiesta R1 of Keanna Erickson-Chang and Ole Holter on stage six. Saturday would be his best times of the weekend, holding down first place in class for the first four stages of the day until he was sidelined on stage thirteen due to a blown headgasket. Like his brother Brenten, I’m sure we’ll be seeing him come out with a new engine next year to slide around at Sno*Drift.
