The second year of the bold experiment to limit the outright ARC to 2WD cars saw the direct involvement of Citroen, and the support of Renault for a Clio to be run by Scott Pedder and the Walkinshaw team. Brendan Reeves ran the Mazda 2 that was launched by Simon Evans the previous year while Mick Patton and Michael Boaden both ran VW Polos. Steven MacKenzie continued with the Ford Fiesta. With the withdrawal of Honda, reigning champion Eli Evans ran in only two rounds, leasing Justin Dowel’s Polo for Canberra and entering the “old” Civic in Rally Victoria, side-lined with mechanical issues in both events.
The 2WD mostly Group G2 cars were generally the fastest, with only one heat in WA being won by a 4WD Subaru WRX. Evan at Rally Queensland, an APRC round, Pedder’s Clio finished second to the S2000 Škoda of Jan Kopecký.
Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Gelsomino took first blood in Canberra then won a heat in WA and two of the three heats at Rally Australia. But it was Scott Pedder and Dale Moscatt in the Renault Clio that dominated the series winning the rounds in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. Reeves kept the series alive until the final round and finished a strong second to Pedder for the championship. Steven MacKenzie finished the year on ahigh by winning the final heat at Rally Victoria.
The Citroen Team of Tony Sullens and Adrian Coppin scored consistently to give Citroen their first Australian Rally Manufacturers Championship.
The 4WD Series saw a number of different heat and round winners, but it was Richie Dalton and John Allen who came out on top. Allen teamed up with Michael Bailey in Queensland after missing Canberra.
Neal Bates and Coral Taylor easily won the Classic Challenge again in the RA40 Celica.
To see other years of the ARC, go to the series page.
