Back-to-back Valley Stages wins for Brendan

Brendan Reeves and Ben Searcy have claimed back-to-back 2WD wins at the Western Victoria Crane Trucks Valley Stages rally with a convincing win.

Reeves, who competed in the Appiontools.com Ford Escort Mk 2, finished first in the 2WD class by 1:47 and also took second place outright in a quality field of 70 cars.

 

Based out of Yarra Glen about an hour from Melbourne’s CBD, the rally was a round of both the Victorian Rally Championship and the Victorian Club Rally Series and comprised ten stages and around 125 kilometres of competitive driving.

 

 

2019 has been a year of ‘bucket list’ events for Reeves and one he has loved so far.  He drove a Hyundai i30 Fastback N in the speed comparison at the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix, competed in the iconic Classic Rally of Otago in New Zealand in April,  achieved a long-held dream to drive a Ford Escort Mk 2 in this weekend’s event and will enter Australia’s most famous rally, the Alpine, in November.

 

After rallying many different cars over the years, Reeves loved the chance to finally get behind the wheel of the Escort and put it through its paces.

 

“We had a ball in the Escort,” he said.  “It was a challenge to learn the car in such a short space of time but it ran perfectly and I was really happy with our stage times.

 

“I love the roads in the Yarra Valley and this event so to back up our 2WD win from last year was fantastic.

 

“We had a really good battle with Justin Walker (Ford Escort) for the 2WD honours and were very happy to come out on top.

 

“It was a real team effort this weekend.  Ben and I couldn’t have done it without the support of Neil Schey and Appiontools.com and our awesome service crew, and of course the Nissan Car Club who always put on a great event.”

 

Check out Brendan's Photo Gallery for more images from the Valley Stages rally.

 

Photo: Isaac Wishart, Wishart Media