This year’s VRC was closely fought with five different winners across the six rounds. Going into the final round Craig Morris and Jenny Cole (Galant) held a slender lead over Phil Messer and Rachel Bruty (Lancer), with Novice driver Scott Pedder (also Lancer) mathematically still in the running. Morris and Cole took the Begonia win by 24 seconds from Messer and Bruty to secure the championship. Pedder placed third on the final round, and third in the championship, a sign of things to come the next year. He would go on to win the next two Victorian Championships and eventually an Australian Rally Championship.
The Novice award was dominated by Steve Poore in his Subaru Legacy, taking three wins and two seconds. He had two different co-drivers who subsequently finished first and second in the award with Matt Birchall coming out on top. Interestingly, Scott Pedder was Novice driver this year and potentially would have won the Novice award but for his choice to team up with a couple of non-Novice classified co-drivers.
To see what else happened during 1998 in Victorian rallying, go to the 1998 year page.
To see other years of the Victorian Rally Championship, go to the VRC page.