Adrian Stratford and Kain Manning have taken out another victory in the Motorsport Australia Till Hino Victorian Rally Championship (VRC), this time claiming the JapSport Special Vehicles Valley Stages.
 
With 33 crews taking part in the 11-stage event held across the Yarra Glen and Healesville regions in Victoria, Stratford and Manning proved too good throughout the 176 competitive kilometres of rallying.  
 
Their dominant day saw them finish the event almost two minutes clear of Tim and Leonie Clark, who produced a strong run themselves, as they held off third place finishers Glen Raymond and Kate Catford by just 10 seconds. 


The fifth round of the VRC season saw three new stages added to give drivers a new challenge, but the winners were unaffected as they picked up nine stage wins.

Stratford performed strongly throughout the whole event, having built a healthy one-minute lead over Raymond and Catford by the end of the first heat. 

In the second heat Stratford drew with the Clarks in stage seven before dropping 16 seconds behind them on the following stage. The times between the two remained e close with the Clarks finishing only three and six seconds behind on stage nine and ten respectively.


However, in the final stage Stratford and Manning were able to clear the pair and earn back the 16 seconds they lost earlier. 

In the second half of the event, the Clarks found pace to make up 17 seconds to snatch second place from Raymond and Catford. They also managed to secure a stage win on stage eight, with a gap of seven seconds to the next competitors Raymond and Catford. 


In fourth place was Richard Galley and Claire Buccini, while Warren Lee and David Lethlean rounded out the top five a further 54 seconds behind.   
 
Click here for full results.
 
The next round of the Motorsport Australia Till Hino Victorian Rally Championship is Akademos on 16 October.