Paul and Craig take on the Bega Valley Rally

Paul Batten Racing has performed well in the third round of the Victorian Rally Championship with a win in the Victorian Rallydrive Excel Series and Class P2 whilst maintaining their lead in the 2WD Championship.

Held around the township of Bega, the event is renowned for its fast and flowing shire roads. “Its always great making the trip to Bega, the roads are some of the best in the country, definitely worth the drive!” Craig Jones said during the lead up to the event.

Bega was the first opportunity for Paul and Craig to compete in the Hyundai Motor Company supported entry. The “works car” had some extra go fast bits over the previous car campaigned, and all team members could not wait until the event to see what the cars potential was.

The first part of the event saw all crews contest the shire roads. A highlight of the Australian Rally calendar, these fast flowing roads left a smile on every teams face. Short stage distances meant you could not win the rally on these roads but you could definitely lose it as several crews were unlucky to find out.

After a central service it was back to the more familiar surroundings of forest stages. Though the Dunlop tyres were a big advantage the cars handling took some getting used to. “I disconnected the rear sway bar heading into the forest stages which was an improvement, but the handling of the car coupled with the slower steering rack made the car daunting to drive on the fast roads”. Said Paul.

Heading into the night stages the crew trailed the NSW Hyundai Series team of Glenn Farrant and Anna Ritson, but a big push and more confidence in the car saw Paul and Craig come out on top with the result going down to the wire. “It was great fun competing with Glenn and Anna all day, and I think we have both pushed the Excel envelope a bit further because of it. Going into the last stage Glenn told me I was 11 seconds behind him and it definitely helped motivate me to close the gap. We managed to take around 20 seconds off Glenn so we get to say we knocked off the man who beat Ed!” said Paul at the conclusion of the event. Glenn took home the prize for the State of Origin Hyundai Excel Challenge which didn’t include the final two stages.

At the conclusion of the event Paul, Craig and the team from Hyundai and Kangan Batman TAFE were wrapped to be placed 22 nd outright, 1 st P2 (1400-1600cc class), and 4 th 2WD.

Paul and Craig would like to thank Greg Moulden and the Students from Kangan Batman TAFE and Mick Gillett and all from the Hyundai Motor Company for giving them the chance to race. Along with the teams valued personal sponsors; Stuckey Tyre Service, Dunlop Motorsport, Pitman Trucks, DMS Shock Absorbers, Link Engine Management Systems, AVO Turbo, SBARU Parts, WURTH, HubblePhotografix.com.au, Coxy's Motorsport Parts, Rallydrive.com.au and Japanese Wholesale Spares.

Be sure to watch the Rally of Canberra event highlights on Channel 10 this Saturday at 12pm. Where Paul, Craig and the team will be in action from the recent Rally of Canberra. And check out http://www.thedogbox.info  for a live interview with Paul.

All photographs © www.hubblephotografix.com