Scott Pedder has won the Australian Rally Championship, but it was young driver who took the spoils on the second heat at Rally Victoria.

Already holding a handy points buffer heading into the final heat of the season, Pedder’s title hopes were given an immediate boost when championship rival Brendan Reeves suffered a puncture on the first stage of the day in his Mazda2.

It meant that Pedder could control things and not take any risks to secure his first Australia title after a lifelong ambition to take the national championship.

“Unbelievable!” said Pedder,

“This has been a long time coming and I have a lot of thanks to a lot of people over my long career. There were times (during my career) where I didn’t think I’d ever get to this point, but this year has been pretty much perfect – great, fantastic, I can’t think of more words to explain how happy I am right now.”

Pedder reflected on the massive accident he sustained at Rally SA in 2010 when he seriously fractured his leg. “After that I thought it was all over, that I’d probably never even drive a rally car again. So to be able to come back, fight with guys like Eli (Evans) and Brendan (Reeves) and to win a Championship is an amazing feeling.”

“Rallying is one of those special sports where even the people you’re fighting against are always there to help you, to support you, and I can’t thank everyone over the years enough for everything they have ever done for me.

And he singled out special praise for Walkinshaw Racing who stepped in this season to run Pedder’s Clio. “They took a good car and made it an incredible car. It’s been a terrific season, and yesterday was a classic example of just how hard these guys work to give me a great car.”

“To have me back on the road after crashing out of the Power Stage, and to then win the Heat shows just what a special group of guys they are. Without them none of this would have been possible.”

Reeves, who arrived at the event with a chance of stealing the title away from Pedder’s grasp, was upbeat despite falling short in the Championship race.

“I’m still proud of what we’ve been able to achieve,” said Reeves.

“For sure I was disappointed this morning after the flat, I really wanted to at least get the Heat win today.

“I learnt an incredible lot this year, I always arrived at each rally trying to improve and I think all in all we started the year well and finished it well too.”

With Pedder controlling his pace, Steve Mackenzie stepped-up and by the time the drivers reached the final stage, the 2.28 kilometre blast around the Lardner Park showgrounds, he had easily clinched his maiden Heat victory ahead of second placed Pedder and third placed Tony Sullens in a Citroen.

“When things go right they really all go right!” said Mackenzie.

“After the mishap yesterday (under steering off the road) and the problem we had during the Power Stage, I was really preparing myself for a very long weekend. So to take not only our first stage win but also our first Heat win is incredible!”

After suffering a driveshaft failure and destroyed tyres yesterday, Eli Evans powered quickly back up to full speed today, matching Mackenzie’s pace on the opening pair of stages to. However, disappointment for Evans who once again found himself struggling in his Honda Civic when he noticed the engine temperature had rapidly spiked.

The Junior Challenge eventually fell the way of young Tom Ryan, keeping his Toyota Altezza out of trouble throughout the day despite having rear diff concerns during yesterday’s opening Heat.

A thrilled Ritchie Dalton emerged from his Mitsubishi Lancer to celebrate victory in the National 4WD category, despite finishing today almost two minutes behind a hard charging Justin Dowel and Henry Nott.

Late drama for Neal Bates saw the Classic victory go the way of his archrival Jeff David.

In the Side-by-Sides victory once again to Cody Crocker, the Polaris driver lapping him his hometown support on what marks his tenth Championship victory in a row (three Australian, four Asia-Pacific and three SxS). In the end Crocker finished ahead of fellow Polaris driver Ian Hughes and Can-Am rival Michael Guest.

VIDEO: End of leg interviews