Dan Day has claimed a stunning victory at a dramatic 2018 Trident Tyre Centre Legend of the Lakes Hillclimb, waiting until the final stages to surpass rival Kevin Mackrell. 

In an entertaining duel between the Subaru pilot and the Mackrell driven Datsun 250z, it was a weekend of two tales, with Day posting the winning time on his 10th and final run of the weekend. 

With less than three seconds separating the two throughout the whole weekend Mackrell got off to the better start, posting the fastest times in the opening six stages, holding a gap of more than one second.

Day eventually flicked the switch on his seventh run, reducing his time by more than one and half seconds to overtake Mackrell, eventually holding onto the lead for his remaining runs. 

Any chance Mackrell had given himself to pass the leader was ended on Day’s final run of the weekend, when the Queenslander produced a magnificent performance to break the 50-second barrier and post the winning time of 49.98 seconds. 

Click here for full results.

Unable to get close to Day in his final run, Mackrell’s settled with second place thanks to his eighth run time of 50.20 seconds.

Rounding out the podium was another Subaru pilot in Kurt Wilson, Wilson securing third in his final run of the weekend after trailing eventual fourth placed Henry Beasley for a majority of the weekend. 

Like Day, Wilson was unable to keep up with Beasley on their opening runs, only to post a faster time on his eighth run and confirming the podium finish during his final run.

Another tight battle occurred one position lower as three drivers battled it out for a top-five finish, each leading the at different points of the weekend, Mirko Grbic eventually beating Luke Bosman and Damien Brand in his final run of the weekend.

Brand started the strongest out of the three, his first run putting him third place overall, only for Bosman to overtake him on the next run of the weekend and staying in front of the pack for the next seven runs.

With Grbic trailing the duo for a majority of the weekend, the big change didn’t happen until Wilson and Beasley eventually made their charge during the final three stages, Grbic also posting his fastest time on the final run. 

In an unfortunate turn of events, eighth placed Scott Limbert spent time as high as third, recording a time of 55 seconds after four runs, only to stop running and face the inevitable fall down the field.

Despite not taking part in the second half of the weekend, Limbert still ended ahead of Anthony Wallis and Oscar Matthews who rounded out the top 10.

In what was a hugely successful weekend for the South Eastern Automobile Club Of SA, more than 130 cars took part in the Mount Gambier based event which saw Day claim his third consecutive title. 

For more information on the Trident Tyre Centre Legend of the Lakes Hillclimb, click here.