The Honda Jazz of Mark Pedder secured second outright two-wheel drive in the 2012 Bosch Australian Rally Championship at this weekend’s Rally Victoria.
The win makes it 1-2 for Honda and Evans Motorsport, with teammate Eli Evans securing first place in the two-wheel drive championship at the previous round of the Bosch ARC in Coffs Harbour.
“Second for the weekend and second for the championship is a fantastic result,” Pedder said. “The team, Honda and the cars have been fantastic.”
Rally Victoria started with Heat One on Friday, where Pedder came out on top. This secured him second outright for the two-wheel drive category. Heat Two also saw him on the pace, but missed out on the heat win by one point, pipped by teammates Evans and Weston.
Evans demonstrated consistency and focus, winning yet another rally to cap off what has been an amazing year.
“I’m a bit shocked I guess, to win this rally was a surprise,” Evans said. “I honestly didn’t think it was possible to win it, as we had a flat tyre early on. But we stuck to our plan, played with a few things early and tried to drive as fast as we could. Consistency is the winning formula.”
Next year, the ARC will be two-wheel drive, meaning the Hondas are in a great position. The team is excited.
“I was really lucky to be able to drive the Jazz this year and get a head start on everyone for next year,” said Pedder. “2013 will be great!”
Will Orders celebrated his return to Australian rally with back to back heat wins and the last ever four wheel drive ARC round win. Orders in the Evo V finished ahead of champion Michael Boaden in the more modern Evo IX by 47.6 sec to take the win.
Rallyschool Australia Junior Challenge winner Dane Berry in an Evo IV put in a notable drive to finish third 1 min 25.7 sec behind Boaden and third outright for the round.
Fellow RAJC winner Adam Casmiri was in the top three until the third last stage when he stopped midway with mechanical failue.
John Mitchell had a short day behind the wheel of his Evo VII. He and his co-driver wife Jo Cadman had only travelled 300 metres before being caught out by the slippery surface on a fast bend, sliding off the road backwards and rolling down an 10 metre embankment. Both Mitchell and Cadman were unharmed in the accident.
Leg 2 Highlights
