Podium finish and Classic honours for Datzilla at Bega

Brendan Reeves and Kate Catford have had a successful weekend at the Bega Valley Rally, finishing first in class and third overall in their Datsun 1600. Nickhamed ‘Datzilla’, the car ran faultlessly all weekend, completing the perfect weekend for the team.

The event, round 5 of the East Coast Classic Rally Series (ECCRS), started in Bega on the New South Wales south coast on Saturday afternoon with six stages run on Shire roads.  Reeves and Catford started the day as car three on the road and battled with the dry, loose surfaces, finishing the daylight session in ninth overall.

With three night stages to run, Datzilla was fitted with STEDI driving lights and the pair revelled on the forestry roads, clawing their way up the leaderboard to finish day one in fourth place overall.

Strong winds early on Sunday resulted in a number of trees blowing onto the roads, so there was a delayed start and the cancellation of two stages. Nevertheless, Reeves and Catford were feeling extremely comfortable in the car and started the day by recording a time 11 seconds faster than Jack Monkhouse (Datsun 180B SSS) who was sitting in third overall overnight.

An ‘off’ by Monkhouse on the next stage moved Reeves up to third place where he remained for the rest of the event, finishing just 24 seconds in arrears of second placed Riley Walters in a 4WD Subaru.

Reeves and Catford were the only 2WD vehicle in the top six places, and they finished just over one minute ahead of fourth place, making their result even more impressive.

“We’ve had a fantastic weekend,” Reeves commented.  “The car ran faultlessly, Kate did a great job again, and the service crew all enjoyed the weekend.

“The organisers are to be congratulated on a fantastic event.  They had their difficulties when the strong winds brought down some trees but they worked hard to ensure that there was minimal impact to the rally.

“We are absolutely stoked to finish on the podium and to take out the ECCRS honours.”

Image: Wishart Media

See more photos of Brendan and Kate in action at the Bega Valley Rally here.