Springfield couple David and Ingrid McCrow have finished third outright in the classic division in the 2014 Australian Tarmac Rally Championship series, after two days of nail-biting competition in the hills behind the Victorian coastal town of Lakes Entrance.
The Central Coast husband-and-wife team were on a mission in the final round of the 2014 series, and for the series overall, fighting tooth and nail with Geoff Goodwin and Phill Smith (1973 Datsun 240Z) and Victorian brothers Robin and Peter Lowe, also in a 240Z (1971 vintage). The Lowes eventually took the honours for the round and the series with Goodwin/Smith in second and the McCrows, in their 1969 Ford Capri, third. Day one was mainly dry with a touch of drizzle but day two had competitors nervous as they left Lakes Entrance after a night of torrential rain. However, it soon became obvious the Buchan area had not been subject to the same drenching and leading contenders had no real difficulties on the road due to the overnight weather. With the support of the East Gippsland Shire Council, competitors tackled the tarmac back road between Buchan and Orbost, which was closed to the public during competition. Broken down into 20 individual special stages timed against the clock, the route gave entrants a total of 300km of competition across the weekend, challenging them with fast-flowing stretches interspersed with plenty of twists and turns, all set against a backdrop of the forests and farmlands of Snowy River country. The weekend wasn’t just about fun. During a welcome function on Saturday night, competitors dug deep into their pockets to raise nearly $4,000 for Chaplaincy Australia’s work in suicide prevention education.
Media release,
15 Dec 2014
Liz Swanton, Snowy
River Sprint/Australian
Tarmac Rally Championship