Rally / 02 August 2011

Eli Evans and co-driver Glen Weston have scored another podium finish in the Australian Rally Championship

In the beautiful area of the Barossa Valley, nearby Adelaide, Evans-Weston finished 5th in the first heat, 4th in the second heat and first in the 2WD category.
After counting the points, the Honda Civic Type R from Evans Motorsport took a 3rd place overall in the 3rd round of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship, in front of meany powerful and turbo-charged cars!

Eli Evans is now 3rd in the 2WD Australian Championship, while Honda reforces the lead in the Australian manufacturers? championship standings.

Let see better how went the race..

The weekend began with some changes to the Honda as a result of testing, with a different diff set-up and new suspension, making the car faster and easier to drive. Driver Eli Evans commented: ?The new set-up made the Civic Type R more stable and gave me the confidence to drive a lot harder.? 

Saturday?s stages threw up the usual challenges, with the Honda suffering a punctured front left tyre on Special Stage 1 that eventually went completely flat around three kilometres from the finish. Another bump in the road presented itself on Special Stage 2, with an engine misfire that was repaired by the experienced Evans Motorsport team at service. 

As a result, the team decided to continue the pace, ensuring they remained in a good position in the field. They finished fifth outright in Heat One and first in the two-wheel drive category, further proof of the great combination of drivers and team as well as a stellar performance by the Honda Civic Type R. 

Heat Two provided some more fun for Evans and Weston, with an electrical connector on the alternator breaking on the first stage, meaning the battery would not charge. Time for some bush mechanics then! Quick-thinking Glen Weston cut a piece of wire out of the power supply from the in-car camera, stripped the copper core out and then placed it into the connector to make an electrical contact... and the car was back on the road. ?Westo was pretty inventive, which is always good to see!? Evans said.  

The team?s strategy was to again keep up the pace to make sure they kept their position. ?We wanted to apply some pressure to Michael Boaden and Ryan Smart. We were twenty or so seconds behind them. If we maintained our speed and either made a mistake, we were in a good position to take advantage of the opportunity,? Evans said. 

In Heat Two, the team placed fourth outright and first for the two-wheel drive category again. A tally of the points meant the Evans Motorsport Team finished third outright, a magnificent achievement for a two-wheel drive car amongst the unrestricted turbo-charged field. 

?I was really pleased with how the weekend panned out. We had some dramas but the team pulled together as always, to make sure we got the Honda back on track.  

?Once again we proved how the Civic Type R can take it up to the rest of the four-wheel drive field. We?re all really happy with the result,? Evans said.  

The next round of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship is the Coffs Coast Rally, that will take place, September 8th and 11th in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, at the same time than the 10th round of the World Rally Championship!