The 2024 Border Oils & Batteries Mitta Mountain Rally was held on March 16th and was organised by the North Eastern Car Club in conjunction with the Albury Wodonga and District Car Club.
Victorian Rally Championship Round 1
Victorian Club Rally Series Round 1
East Coast Classic Rally Series Round 1
The Mitta Mountain Rally is a blind event, i.e. no recce and no pace notes.
The event was convincingly won by Adrian Stratford and Anthony Staltari in a Ford Fiesta G4, by 4 minutes from Warren Lee and David Lethlean in their Evo9. This was a great comeback for Adrian after the horrific accident in the previous year’s Mitta Mountain Rally. Staltari replaced co-driver Kain Manning who was still recovering from that accident.
Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith (Lancer GSR) placed second on Heat 1, less than a minute behind Stratford, having taken wins on SS1 and SS3 but they slowed on Heat 2, finishing 8th in the heat and fourth overall.
Tom Clarke and Ryan Preston (Stanza) took the 2WD win on Heat 1 but slipped off the road on SS6 to end their day. Michael O’Hagan and Eoin Moynihan (Escort) took Heat 2 and the overall 2WD win ahead of Ross Stapleton and Peter Ellis (Nissan 200SX) with a third and fourth on the two heats. Stapleton and Ellis also too the win in the Clubman category. Lucas Reed and Will Murphy (Excel) were clear winners in the Novice category.
Joel Wald and Cathy Elliott (Stanza) took the VCRS round win by 48 seconds from Brian Semmens and Dan Parry (Nissan 200SX).
The organisers’ full event story is here.
