Rally drivers praise forest roads

Picture supplied by Adam Sutton of AGS Photos

Tony Scott
Community Liaison Officer
Bass District

THE fourth and final event of the Tasmanian rally series held on forestry roads in north east Tasmania last weekend proved challenging for the 29 starters in the event, with only 17 finishing the Mountain Stages course.

Rally director Barry Oliver said he had been apprehensive about the wet weather in the lead up to the event, but road conditions had not contributed to the high attrition rate.

“I was up there a couple of weeks before the day and thought I would have to declare some sections only transport legs for entrants,” he said.

“But finally a break in the weather meant that a grader could be used on the roads around Upper Blessington. While the surface was still loose there were no nasty surprises.

“The entries that didn’t finish were down to a combination of things including mechanical, and there were some minor excursions off road, but no serious damage done.”

Four teams were attracted from Victoria, including the outright winners on the day, Nathan Reeves and co-driver Scott Spedding.

“The Victorians were jealous of the roads we get to drive on and wished they could have the sort of co-operation we have with Forestry Tasmania to be able to use the state forest network,” Mr Oliver said.