The Nissan Nightmoves, organised by the the Nissan Car Club of Australia and sponsored by Fast Track Towing and Transport, was held on 22 June in the forests near Heathcote..
Following the postponement of the Moonlight Meander, the Nightmoves was the third round of the VRCS for 2024. Unlike some other VCRS rounds, the event permitted Grade A competitors even though they would be excluded from VCRS results. The outright winners were Tim Wilkins, a Grade A driver, and Ray Winwood-Smith in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo3. Second outright and first VCRS were Brad Luff and James Brown in a Subaru WRX, an outstanding result for a Grade E crew. Third were Tim and Leonie Clark in their Subaru WRX.
The preamble to the event published on the NCCA website is available here.
The following event report is courtesy of RallySport Magazine:
Wilkins masters his Nightmoves
24th June 2024, 2:51pm
by RallySport Magazine
Photos by John Doutch
Nissan Nightmoves debutant Tim Wilkins has taken an impressive win in the 2024 running of the event.
With multiple-winner Ray Winwood-Smith by his side, Wilkins battled engine dramas in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3 with the car constantly going into ‘limp’ mode.
Despite this, they finished 39 seconds ahead of another New South Wales pairing, that of Brad Luff and James Brown in a Subaru Impreza WRX.
Third place went to former Tim and Leonie Clark in another Subaru, ahead of the WRX of Sam Thomas and Tristan Crowe.
Darkie Barr-Smith and Andrew Travis brought their Holden Commodore home in fifth place as the first two-wheel drive vehicle to finish.
Nathan Quinn’s hopes of a third straight Nissan Nightmoves victory were dashed when his Mazda RX2 suffered holes in the exhaust manifold early in the event.
Repairs after the first three stages saw him drop down the running order, but any hope of a strong result disappeared when he had electrical failure on the penultimate stage.
Quinn and co-driver, Brett Kerr, had all the lights go out while accelerating in fourth gear, providing a very scary moment. They eventually finished 33rd.
Brad Luff was second in his Subaru Impreza WRX.
As always, the event’s seven stages and 140 competitive kilometres saw a high attrition rate with mechanical problems and accidents decimating the field.
This included the Hyundai i20-engined Excel of Adrian Stratford with sheared wheel studs on stage three.
The rally was held in perfect conditions with clear skies and no wind, although dust was a problem for many crews throughout the seven stages.
Nathan Quinn’s hopes of a third straight victory were dashed.
