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Subaru wins third straight ARC Manufacturers' title

Telstra Rally Australia
Australian Rally Championship round 9
October 31 - November 3, 2002

With the conclusion of Rally Australia in Perth, Subaru Rally Team Australia has ended the year by adding the 2002 Australian Rally Championship Manufacturers' title to the Driver's Championship title its leader, Possum Bourne, won back in September.
The clean-sweep of major titles is a triumph for the team, but the battle for the Manufacturers' title went down to the wire today, literally.
With Possum Bourne's demise from Rally Australia on Friday, the task of scoring the required points in the Manufacturers' championship fell to Cody Crocker and fellow Victorian Impreza WRX driver, Simon Evans.

Crocker shouldered the responsibility superbly as he held down second place outright and kept his Mitsubishi rivals, Ed Ordynski and Spencer Lowndes, totally at bay.
Until Stage 23 at least! Then midway through the penultimate stage disaster struck, fuse problems forcing Crocker's car to stop around half way through the 34 kilometre stage.

He and co-driver, Greg Foletta got out and tried to fix the problem, eventually replacing the fuse by using a bolt and a lot of tape. Frustratingly, the bolt kept dropping out and they had to stop regularly and make further repairs. Eventually the sheer weight of tape kept the bolt in place and the two made it out of the stage in time to be allowed to continue in the rally.
Crocker had dropped 17 minutes, ruining his dream of individual glory, but at least the quest for the manufacturers' title was still alive. Now both he and Simon Evans had to make it to the end to secure the final Championship of the 2002 season. They did!

The result pushed Subaru to 392 points leaving Mitsubishi six points short on 386. It is the third consecutive year, and the fifth time in six years, that Subaru has claimed the prestigious title.
"It is a really bitter, sweet feeling for us at the moment," Crocker said at the end of the rally.
"Obviously we're delighted to bring home the prize for Subaru, but it's pretty frustrating that our luck deserted us so close to the end of the rally.
"We came here wanting a strong performance and for over three days we'd done just that.
"Still, the Manufacturers' prize is a huge consolation and it's a tribute to everyone in the team who started three brand new cars at start of the year and, against the odds, got them to be competitive so quickly."

After starting the season poorly in Sydney, with Possum Bourne failing to finish either heat and Dean Herridge making it through only one, things steadily improved for the Subaru team.
Bourne won the next five rounds of the ARC Super Series, to win the Driver's Championship for a seventh consecutive time and Crocker was the runner-up. Now in Perth the team has added the 2002 Manufacturers' title to the trophy cabinet, along with those it won in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001.

FINAL CLASSIFICATIONS - Results table is Group N only

Pos	Driver	Machine	Class	Total Time
1(10)	Manfred STOHL	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6	N4	3:55:17.2
2(11)	Ed ORDYNSKI	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7	N4	3:56:48.3
3(13)	Spencer LOWNDES	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7	N4	3:57:58.1
4(14)	Toshihiro ARAI	Subaru Impreza WRX	N4	3:58:09.5
5(15)	Jussi VALIMAKI	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6	N4	3:58:32.1
6(16)	Scott PEDDER	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6	N4	3:59:01.5
7(17)	Alessandro FIORIO	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7	N4	3:59:52.7
8(18)	Karamjit SINGH	Proton PERT	N4	4:00:06.4
9(19)	Simon EVANS	Subaru Impreza WRX	N4	4:00:14.3
10(20)	Ramon FERREYROS	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7	N4	4:00:23.9
15(25)	Cody CROCKER	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	N4	4:12:30.5
DNF	Possum BOURNE	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	N4	---
DNF	Dean HERRIDGE	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	N4	---

Latest Result

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Australian Rally Championship - Telstra Rally Australia

Date: 31/10/2002 to 3/11/2002
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Surface: Gravel
Description:
The Telstra Rally Australia is the final round in the Australian Championships and the penultimate round of the World Rally Championships.
Set in the forests south and east of Perth, roads are fast and narrow. Tyre companies must develop special tread patterns to cope with the layer of spherical particle gravel particular to the region. Newcomers find the rally particularly demanding. Tommi Makinen commented, "Kangaroos and ball bearings on the surface. Very slippery - there's nowhere else like it."
In its short history the event has earned the reputation of being the best-organised rally on the circuit and has twice been voted "Rally of the Year" by the worlds' five top teams. Organisers have been innovators in adapting the rally to suit the tastes of an audience new to rallying. The Super Special Stage at Perth's Langley Park is run over a purpose-built twin track on the banks of the Swan River. There, spectators can see the world's best drivers competing side-by-side from their grandstand seats. TV audiences can also catch the podium ceremonies immediately after the stage finish.

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