Round 3 of the 2011 Bosch Australian Rally Championship, the Scouts Rally SA, took place this weekend and Tasmanian based driver Mark Butcher with local co-driver John Caldicott joined the field of over 70 cars to compete on the fast, flowing roads in the hills of Adelaide.
Driving the Driver Skills Australia / Britz Motorhome backed black Subaru WRX the team came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders setting 7th fastest time on the first stage. This result included an unfortunate incident that distracted the driver and ended up with the car travelling thru a fence.
With the fast, long stages suiting Mark best, the team focused on these and worked hard on the tight twisty stages to record 7th outright at the end of day 1.
Day 2 started with the team keen to build on championship points and the morning started well. Sitting in the top 10 the team elected to push hard after the lunchtime break and fitted a fresh set of Kumho tyres.
The next 2 stages proved to be the most challenging for the team.
“We started stage 13 on the 13th minute – and it wasn’t our lucky number with an early spin costing us some time. In my attempt to make up time we misjudged a high speed corner and nearly landed in one of the famous South Australian trees. Luckily again we escaped with no damage however on the next stage we landed heavily after a jump and broke a front suspension component in half. Driving with only one wheel only half attahced we pushed hard but lost a little time to the top guys before we could fix it going into the final stage of the rally” said Mark.
The service crew rushed into action and had the suspension component replaced and the car back in tip top shape going into the last stage.
On the final stage of the day the team pushed hard and claimed 7th outright for the stage and enough time to regain several positions.
With the combined results, the team finished 4th ARC for the weekend and scored enough points to now be in 4th outright in the 2011 Bosch Australian rally Championship.
“This is our first year competing in the series, we have a 11 year old car with only limited support and a few helpful volunteers who assist with the car maintenance and event servicing so to be sitting in 4th in the championship is a dream come true! We knew that consistency would be the key but now we need to up the pace some more if we want to keep this position or move forward. This will require some substantial upgrades so talks are underway with several sponsors to see what we can put together” said Mark.
Mark also wished to thank his crew, the event organisers, friendly local people who were out spectating and of course his sponsors Driver Skills Australia, Britz Australia and PPPrinting.
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