This year’s ARC had a new sponsor – Bosch. And some new ARC cars with less restrictions, more power and more spectacular rallying. Among those campaigning Lancers and Subarus under the new regulations were Matt Lee, Mark Pedder, Steven Shepheard, Michael Boaden and John Goasdoue. Nevertheless, the absence of any manufacturer teams meant that the series would be fought out among a brace of private teams.
Rally Tasmania was dropped and the Coffs Coast Rally was usurped by Rally Australia, for the first time being run out of Coffs Harbour.
The season was closely fought between the Evo9 Lancer of Justin Dowel and Matt Lee, and Ryan Smart, with John Allen as co-driver, in a Corolla Sportivo, now running as a PRC car. Over the first four rounds, Smart/Allen had taken four heat wins to Dowel/Lee’s three. Going into the final round in Victoria, Smart held a slender 3 point lead over Dowel, then proceeded to win Heat 1. But just two stages from the end of Heat 2 the Corolla lost drive on one front wheel. They limped to the finish in 9th while Dowel came through first ARC to take the championship.
The 2WD Championship saw welcome support from Honda for the Civic of Eli Evans, the only manufacturer involvement in the series. However, Razvan Vlad and Daymon Nicoli in Ford Fiesta, just edged out Eli Evans and Glen Weston for the 2WD Championship.
Charlie Drake won the Premier League and Privateers Cup in a Lancer Evo8 (Ray Baker won the co-driver’s awards with Derek Reynolds) . The Showroom Series and Eco Rally Challenge was won by Tony and Nikki Moore in a Hyundai Excel.
Honda is listed as winning the Manufacturers title but we’re not sure how it was scored.
To see other years of the ARC, go to the series page.
