The CAMS Australian Rally Championship came down to the wire and it was the MRF Tyres Skoda Fabia R5 of Eli Evans and Ben Searcy who took the crown at Kennards Hire Rally Australia.
After dramatic days on Friday and Saturday, two of the Championship contenders were out after Molly Taylor and Malcolm Reid crashed and Harry Bates and John McCarthy had terminal engine issues.
This left Evans/Searcy and Steve Glenney and Andy Sarandis in another Skoda Fabia R5 to battle it out on Sunday.
The Sunday stages were very wet and challenging and MRF Tyres as the control tyre supplier to the CAMS Australian Rally Championship provided a tyre that was able to handle the conditions.
MRF Tyres provided the Championship contenders with a tyre that could handle the hot and dry conditions on Friday and Saturday and the wet conditions that beset the WRC roads on Sunday.
For Evans and Searcy, they held a handy points gap over Glenney/Sarandis coming into Rally Australia. They had drama after a jump on Friday and had to resume under Rally2 rules.
However, they were able to fight their way back into a position to take the Championship while controlling their Sunday pace.
Their excitement for their Championship crown saw them complete a MRF donut on live television during the WRC Powerstage.Glenney and Sarandis were rallying the Skoda Fabia R5 for the first time and suffered a spin and broken wheel in their push for the Championship.
They proved their pace by winning the CAMS Australian Rally Championship event at Rally Australia, taking sixth outright on SS18 on Saturday and took a number of stage wins on the Sunday. However, it was not enough to overhaul Evans/Searcy in the Championship battle.
Luke Anear and Jon Mitchell would take second and the win in the R6 Digital Cup in their Subaru Impreza WRX Sti.
Andrew Penny and Rhys Llewellyn would take third and the win in ARC2 also in a Subaru Impreza WRX Sti.
The Classic Cup was won by Tony Quinn and Kate Catford in their BMW E30 M3.
The MRF Tyres supported Toyota Corolla S2000 of Wayne Morton and Kirra Penny had been sitting in third coming into Sunday but were forced to retire after hitting a tree.
