Together with navigator Holly Kilbride, he was second in the first stage, fourth on the next, fifth on the third, and second overall at the end of the first of three heats.

Stage four, however, was their demise when they went off-road into a ditch.

“I made the mistake and put it in there,” he reported on social media.

“People are quick to jump to a story, no the car did not roll, and nobody was hurt. Both of us are safe and no injuries.

“There really isn’t much damage besides a lower control arm. Even the bumpers are still intact.

“We are all human and yes, we can make mistakes which I did. Before this, I was running second overall so for my first rally, I can’t complain with this.

“I was just hoping to get a top 10 in a stage, so I did better than I thought. Yes, the car is in a creek. I could have been a clown and tried to make the bridge and really do some damage.

“I think I made a better choice in the milliseconds you have to choose.”

The single-day Tyres & More Hemmant Working Dog Rally ran out of Bonalbo on the northern NSW Tablelands.

It was a round of both the NSW and Queensland Rally Championships, run by the Gold Coast Tweed Motorsporting Club.

It also featured a State of Origin theme, inclusive of top finishers in Outright, 2WD, Classic and Special classes.

In their Mitsubishi Evo 6, Clay Hoy and Alan Stean were the outright winners. Of the nine stages, they won eight and were 2:46 ahead of SS6 winners Mal Keough and Pip Bennett in their Audi Quattro that was first of the Classics.

Third place went to Glenn Brinkman and Jacci Hughes (Ford Escort Cosworth Rs) ahead of the first of the Queenslanders, Ryan Williams and Brad Jones (Subaru Impreza WRX STi). They finished ahead of fellow Queenslanders Erik Johnsson/Ryan Preston (WRX Spec C) and Ian Menzies/Robert McGowan (Toyota Yaris).

State of Origin honours went to NSW with Hoy, Keough, Ben Richards/Peter Graham (2WD Escort) and Ed Mulligan/Claire Buccini (Special, Opel Manta).

The best of the Queenslanders in the contest were Williams, Clay Badenoch/James Wilson (Classic, Toyota Celica), Neill Woolley/Liam Hinschen (2WD, Mitsubishi Magna) and Sam Donovan/Scott Ferris (Special, Volkswagen Beetle).