Nathan Quinn has finished off his 2022 season on a high after winning the 100th anniversary of the famous Alpine Rally of East Gippsland.
 
Just one week after he won the final round of the 2022 RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC), Quinn was again in the thick of the action as he claimed his second win at the rally.  
 
Switching his Supercheap Auto Coffs Coast Rally-winning Hyundai i20 for a 1970 Mazda RX2, Quinn and co-driver Ray Winwood-Smith took out the 23-stage event by almost three minutes.
 
Finishing in second place was Andrew and David Travis in a 1984 Nissan Gazelle, while Claude Murray and Lizzy Ferme rounded out the podium in a 1972 Datsun P510, five and half minutes off the winners.


 
The four-day event proved quite challenging for many of more than 100 crews entered, with plenty of notable names unable to make it to the finish, opening the door for a number of unexpected crews to offer a challenge.
 
Right from the start, Quinn and Winwood-Smith were towards the top of the timesheets and were handed a boost when one of the event favourites in Jack Monkhouse and Dale Moscatt broke a driveshaft on the second stage.
 
Although they managed to fix their crowd favourite 1973 Datsun 180B SSS, the damage had been done as they were handed a 30-minute penalty for overusing their late running time.

Once they did get back out on stages though, Monkhouse and Moscatt put on a show for fans as they quick on every stage for the rest of the event.
 
However, it wouldn’t make a difference on the result, as Quinn never fell from the top two positions on the standings,  seeing off a number of challengers.
 
Quinn’s most long-standing rivals over the course of the event were Adrian Stratford Kain Manning – the duo guiding their 1985 Toyota Corolla to faster stages and the lead midway through the event, until their premature retirement.


 
Another fan favourite in contention for the outright lead was Tristan Carrigan and Neill Woolley in the 1999 Mitsubishi Magna, however their charge for victory lasted even less time than Stratford and Manning.
 
Brendan Reeves and Kate Catford were another high-profile contender in the running at one point, having steered their 1972 Datsun P510 to third by the third section.
 
But like many crews, there were a few instances within the ever-challenging event that prevented them from getting a podium, forcing them to settle for ninth.
 
Click here to view the full results.
 
Ahead of them were a number of highly impressive state-level stars as Victorians Luke Sytema and Tracey Dewhurst in the 1975 Ford Escort RS1800 won the battle for fourth, knocking off Queenslanders Ryan Smart and Brad Jones by just 20 seconds.
 
Former New South Wales champion Tony Sullens and Andrew Crowley in the 1986 Toyota Sprinter finished in sixth place ahead of ARC regulars Ryan Williams and Larisa Biggar, while the 1975 Ford Mk2 of Phil Thomas and Alex Gelsomino ended up just 10 seconds off Williams’ 1981 Datsun Stanza.
 
Despite the drama for some of the contenders, Quinn was thrilled to come with consecutive Alpine rally victories and was thrilled with the event.

Once they did get back out on stages though, Monkhouse and Moscatt put on a show for fans as they won almost every stage for the rest of the event.
 
However, it wouldn’t make a difference on the result, as Quinn never fell from the top two positions on the standings, seeing off a number of challengers.
 
Quinn’s most long-standing rivals over the course of the event were Adrian Stratford Kain Manning – the duo guiding their 1985 Toyota Corolla to faster stages and the lead midway through the event, until their premature retirement.


 
"A big thank you to my crew and Ray for his help, we worked really hard all year to make sure we had the correct prep in and out of the car and it showed with our good start.
 
"Our goal was to go out fast on Thursday and set the race pace. To then manage four days and stay up the front and not let the red mist take over and race once I had the lead, well that was one of the hardest things to do.
 
"It was a very interesting rally and I have never been so exposed to road slipping, but we really experienced it on day two and three of the Alpine Rally and it blows my mind how much of a difference it was.
 
“I would have preferred it to rain, that’s how slippery it was - a lot of people succumb to lack of grip. I strategised my way through it and that's what got me the win."
 
Click here to view the stage-by-stage results.
 
The next edition of the Alpine Rally of East Gippsland will be confirmed in the coming months.