The 2022 Alpine Rally of East Gippsland, organised by the Historic Rally Association, was held on December 1 – 4. Originally to be run in 2021 as the 100th anniversary of the first Alpine Rally in 1921, the event was postponed due to Covid restrictions. The Clerk of Course was Owen Polanski, ably assisted by Steve Hollowood.
Quinn takes second Alpine win
The Alpine Rally of East Gippsland cemented its place as Australia’s premier rally for classic cars, attracted an oversubscribed field with eventually 116 starters. Crews tackled 24 special stages totalling 420 km of competition. In contrast to the previous edition in 2019, this historic event was run in fine, mild and dry conditions.
Nathan Quinn and Co-driver Ray Winwood-Smith ran out clear winners in their Mazda RX2 by more than 2 minutes from Classic Outback Trial winners, Andrew and David Travis in their Nissan Gazelle. Third were Claude Murray and Lizzy Ferme in a Datsun.
Quinn took the lead on the short first day by just 4 seconds from Victorian champions Adrian Stratford and Kain Manning in their Honda powered Corolla, matched to the second by the spectacular front-wheel drive Magna punted by Queenslander, Tristan Carrigan with co-driver Neill Woolley. Brendan Reeves and Kate Catford were in fourth just a few seconds ahead of the eventual second and third placed Travis and Murray. Previous winner, Jack Monkhouse, struck tail shaft issue in the 180B and fell from contention but continued to entertain the spectators for the remainder of the event,
The long day two mostly on the super fast roads east of Orbost saw the Quinn versus Stratford battle intensify with each taking stage wins but the Victorian took a narrow 11 second lead by the end of the day. Reeves was having brake issues and fell to 10th. The spectacular Carrigan left the road on the long Bullwinkle stage and fell from contention.
The unique third day started at Ensay and comprised a series of stages around Omeo before returning to the Bairnsdale speedway to finish off the day. Stratford damaged the Corolla on a sharp ford on the first stage and was forced to drop the next stage and fall from contention. While Quinn moved into an unassailable lead, Reeves brough the Datto back up into third placed behind the Travis Gazelle.
Taking a 2 minute lead into the final day might have suggested that Quinn would back off, but he proceeded to win most of the stages, only slowing a little on the final stage through Colquhoun. Reeves broke a drive shaft on the day’s third stage and dropped to ninth.
