The 2023 Adelaide Hills Rally has officially been run and won with two crews sharing top honours in a highly successful event that saw more than 300 crews participating across competition and tour components.
 
Taking out the victory after three days around the picturesque roads of South Australia were Oscar Matthews/Naomi Tillet and Matthew Selley/Hamish McKendrick with nothing separating the two crews at the conclusion of the 29 special stages.
 
With both crews behind the wheel of Mitsubishi Lancers, it was Selley and McKendrick who got off to the better start having led at the end of day one. 

Gaining top spot midway through the day after early leaders Mark Laucke and Aaron Steer had issues, which resulted in the duo failing to finish the day, Selley and McKendrick managed charged out to a 22 second lead after 11 stages.


Matthews and Tillet finished the day in third place, a further six seconds off Geoff Olholm and John Doble in P2, while the next best crew in Jack Monkhouse and Neill Woolley a further 11 seconds off.
 
The next day saw Matthew and Tillet produce a spirited comeback where they chipped away at the leaders stage-by-stage before eventually surpassing them on the penultimate stage.
 
Having posted the fastest time on eight of the day’s 11 stages, Matthew and Tillet’s comeback was built on the back of a six-stage winning streak in the middle of the day, with only Steer and Laucke in their Porsche and Class Competition leaders Monkhouse and Woolley the only other crews to win a stage for the day.
 
While they didn’t win one stage on Saturday, Sunday morning proved quite successful for Selley and McKendrick, as they won the morning’s three stages to snatch back a four second lead, which became five seconds after finishing second to Steer and Laucke on the day’s fourth stage.


Matthews and Tillet wrestled their way back into contention with a vital five-second win on the penultimate stage to get back on level terms with Selley and McKendrick, before both crews posted the same time on the final stage to end the event all square.
 
Rounding out the outright podium a further 48 seconds off the two winners were Monkhouse and Woolley in their Datsun 180B SSS, having comfortably beaten the next best Classic crew of Nick and Jacob Streckeisen by almost five minutes.
 
Finishing third in the Modern Competition behind the two Lancers of Matthews and Selley was Cameron and Tania Wearing, who ended the weekend in fourth place overall and just under two minutes behind Monkhouse and Woolley.
 
Other cup winners for the event saw Monkhouse and Woolley also win the Heritage Trophy at the expense of the Streckeisens, while Nigel Joyce and Justin Perkins claimed the Challenge victory behind the wheel of their Subaru WRX, beating Jordan Badcock and Brody Mincham by a minute and a half.
 
View the full results here.
 
In addition to the competition, the rally was a major success for many of the visited townships – most notably in the Strathalbyn Town Stage, where a massive crowd turned out watch the cars in action and for the lunch stop, with South Australian Treasurer Stephen Mullighan MP part of the thousands attending Strathalbyn.