McRae Wins in Tasmania Rally

Lanark’s Alister McRae took advantage of the misfortune of longtime leader Rick Bates to win his class in the four-day Targa Tasmania Rally.

The Scot, driving his 2007 Mazda3 MPS, swept into the lead when his team-mate’s Mazda suffered mechanical problems on the Mount Arrowsmith stage early on the final day.

McRae, co-driven by Queensland’s Iain Stewart, was then able to back-off and cruise to a comfortable victory, 26mins 35secs ahead of second-placed Philip Buggee’s Fiat Punto Sport.

“It’s great to win the two-wheel-drive showroom class,” McRae said yesterday (Sun), “but it was unfortunate for Rick to have the problems he did after leading for so long. But that’s rallying, I guess.”

The overall victory went to South Australian Steve Glenney whose Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 finished 1min 31secs ahead of the Porsche 911 driven by Victoria’s Jim Richards.

JM

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