AFTER the event was postponed last December due to bad weather, the coordinators of the Bombala Car Rally scheduled for February 14 looked on nervously as the rain started to come down on Friday.
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Saturday morning was looking more promising, with beautiful blue skies breaking through for the beginning of what was going to be a very busy day.
Stretched throughout the beautiful Bombala forestry roads lay 125km of competitive stages waiting to test the limits of both the Modern and Classic rally cars that had entered the event.
With a total of 24 competitive cars, 48 drivers and navigators, and 100 plus service crew and rally officials, the day was about to bring some very challenging conditions for all involved.
As the drivers’ briefing finalised at Apex Park and the teams made their way to the first stage, the clouds rolled in and the rain slowly started to fall, ensuring the event was wet and wild from start to finish.
As the day progressed the field of 24 vehicles slowly dropped down to a field of 18 cars, with some competitors struggling with mechanical failures while others made minor judgement errors during some high speed corners.
The wet conditions ensured that spectators definitely weren’t disappointed with the action, with plenty of thrills and spills on offer to those who came out to watch before the coordinators were eventually forced to cancel the last four stages.
In the finish it was Trevor Stilling and his navigator, Nick Vardos in their Datsun Stanza that won outright in the Classic class, while Mark and Paul Bramble took the honours in the Modern class with their Mitsubishi Galant.
Local to the region, Max Roberts and Kim Boyd got the Best Presented Vehicle Award for their very clean little Ford Escort, while Eion Moynihan and Adam Meaney received the Ray Griffin Encouragement Award for conquering their gearbox problems in the service area and getting back out into the action.
Event Director, Chris Jones now offers his thanks to all of the people that put their hands up to stand out in the rain and man the stages.
“Without the help of the volunteers, events like this would not be able to happen,” Mr Jones said.
“I would also like to thank the community and Council of Bombala and Cathcart, as well as the NSW Forestry, for allowing us to hold such an exciting event in this beautiful area, and hope that the people that did brave the weather enjoyed the sounds and the speed of rallying.
“We hope to be able to make the next one bigger and better.”
