A WIN in the Experts Cup at Collie last weekend put a big smile on the face of Busselton Subaru Rally Team driver Leigh Hynes.
The second-round victory put Hynes firmly in the running for the WA Rally Championship and didn’t do much harm to the chances of second-placed Doug Tostevin, who managed to keep his WRX ahead of a spirited challenge from veteran John Macara's Lancer.
Pre-rally favourites Nicolas Box (Evo VIII) and Alex Stone (WRX) suffered mechanical failures on stages two and four of the 115km event, leaving the door open for Hynes.
“We started off pretty cautiously because I didn’t like the way the car was handling,” Hynes, a star of the Daihatsu Challenge era of the 1990s, said.
“We made a couple of changes to the car in the service but that caused a bit of a brake problem.
“As a result we left the service 10 minutes late and got a 50-second penalty.”
That caused Hynes to push hard but by then his main competitors, Box and Stone, had retired.
Kiel Douglas in his Holden Commodore VS-SS was the first man home in the 2WD class, followed by Geoff Leatt-Hayter in his Ford Escort.
Andy van Kann brought his 1974 Toyota Levin home first in the Clubman section.
The WA Rally championship moves to Lewana for the third round on July 23.