The CAMS Hino Geelong Victorian Rally Championship has seen a thrilling contest in the Ada River Rally with some emphatic performances re-writing the record books.

In an event that was dominated by 2WD cars, Justin Walker and Blaise McNamara shared top honours with Grant Walker Motorsport teammates Luke Sytema and Adam Wright.

Nothing could separate the two Ford Escort RS1800s as they finished with an identical time of one hour, 27 minutes and nine seconds. Both crews made history by not only finishing equal first, but also being the first two-wheel drivers since 2014 to win outright at a CAMS Victorian Rally Championship event

Rounding out the podium a further three minutes behind the two winners and claiming the 4WD class was Warren Lee and David Lethlean, the duo behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9. 

Throughout the weekend, the wet weather proved highly difficult for competitors to handle forcing the cancellation of the opening two stages. As a result of the weather, the event’s first high profile victim was Championship leader Ivan Regester and Paul Humm, gearbox issues forcing the pair to retire on the first stage.

After setting the fastest time on the first stage, Arron Windus and Daniel Brkic were the next to fall as they lost a wheel due to wheel stud issues on the second stage.

Following Windus’ exit, the Grant Walker Motorsport crews capitalised on the loss of the top end drivers and continued their dominant performance to claim a historic victory.

Finishing outside the podium was another 2WD crew in Steven Porter and Tony Robinson. The duo steering their Mazda RX7 to a comfortable fourth, two minutes ahead of Stephen Raymond and Lucas Zinsstag in their 2WD Ford Fiesta.

The Mazda’s finish saw them end up third in the class ahead of the Fiesta, with Datsun 910 pilots Ross O’Reilly and Aaron Blacksell, Adrian Stratford and Kain Manning in the Daihatsu Charade and Barney Hogan and Stuart Burgess in another Ford rounding out the class and inside the outright top 10.

The battle for second place in the 4WD class came down to two crews as Brad Till and Mitch Garrard beat fellow Subaru WRX pilots Ian Martin and Scott Middleton. Both crews were the remaining cars in the outright top 10.

Click here for full results. 

The next round of the CAMS Hino Geelong Victorian Rally Championship takes place at the Marysville Stages on Saturday, 4 May.