Calder and Glenney claim thrilling Adelaide Rally

Sunday 28 March, 2021

Photos: Shannons Adelaide Rally

Ben Calder and Steve Glenney have won the 2021 Shannons Adelaide Rally after a commanding performance in the four-day tarmac rally.

More than 130 crews completed hundreds of competitive kilometres over 34 picturesque stages around Adelaide, but it was the Tommi Makinen Edition Mitsubishi Evo of Calder and Glenney who proved too strong throughout the event.

Heading into the final day with a comfortable buffer between them and the next fastest crew, the leading duo eventually claimed outright top honours by almost one minute – despite not winning any stages on the final day.

Finishing outright second and in the Modern Competition were Jeff Morton and Daymon Nicoli after the Porsche GT2 RS driver inherited the position when Julian Newton and Nicholas Wotton retired in the final leg.

The second placed duo weren’t the only ones to benefit from the premature ending of Newton and Wotton with Dean Lillie and John Lilleyman guiding their Mitsubishi Evo to the final podium place.

It was a far closer battle in the Classic Competition as 1985 Hartge pilots Matthew Selley and Hamish McKendrick just managed to edge out Roger Paterson and Richard Geue in the Porsche 911 RS.

Both crews traded stage wins throughout the four days, taking the lead at multiple points but it was Selley and McKendrick who eventually wrestled their way back in front by the end of the first stage and never looked like losing it either.

The duo eventually enjoyed a 23 second victory over Paterson and Geue, while the Roger Lomman and Anne Bainbridge 1972 Datsun 240z came in third almost a minute and half behind.

In the hotly contested Modern Challenge, Gordon Christie and Nigel McGaffin managed to subdue a thrilling eleventh hour charge from Nathan Robbins and Alex Johnson to win the class.

Very little separated the Volvo S60 of Christie and McGaffin and the Audi S3 of Robbins and Johnson on the final day as the latter fell just three seconds short of what would have been an incredible comeback.

Rounding out the class a further 55 seconds behind was Robert Bryden and Alex Bryden.

In the event’s final class, the Classic Challenge, Lachlan Cox and Sam Martin were dominant on the final day to claim all five stages and comfortably win the class.

Their closest rivals in Will Coulter and Andrew Colliver were unable to close the gap of the final day, settling for second by 55 seconds, while more than four minutes behind the class winners were Ross and Emma Smith in third.