The Shannons Adelaide Rally was decided in the most spectacular circumstances with a thrilling final day of action for competitors.

Saturday’s all-important final five stages took place on some incredible roads with the field tackling Mount Lofty (SS28), Basket Range (SS29), Carey Gully (SS30), Mount George (SS31), and lastly Summit Road (SS32) before returning to North Adelaide for the formalities.

A damp morning greeted competitors before 22.43km were completed to round out the fourth and final day of the event.

Just as everyone anticipated, nothing was over until the final stage was completed with some major leaderboard changes.

Formalities took place on a glorious Saturday afternoon in North Adelaide where the podiums were held and trophies given out in front of fans and competitors.

Modern Competition

Ben Calder and Steve Glenney took a commanding overall victory in a dramatic Shannons Adelaide Rally.

Driving their Tommi Makinen Edition Mitsubishi Evo, Calder and Glenney romped to the top step of the podium in Modern Competition, beating their rally rivals by almost a minute.

Calder and Glenney didn’t win a stage on the final day but that wasn’t a problem as they still won by 52s at the end of Summit Road (SS32).

The battle for second position was close, but the last leg of the rally turned dramatic when Julian Newton and Nicholas Wotton, who held second in their Mitsubishi Evo 9, dropped off the leaderboard.

Newton and Wotton failed to finish the penultimate competitive stage, Mt George (SS31), which resulted in a major shift to the order.

Jeff Morton and Daymon Nicoli inherited second position sharing a Porsche GT2 RS and held firm to the chequered flag to claim the runner-up position.

Completing the podium was the Mitsubishi Evo 10 of Dean Lillie and John Lilleyman, who were a further 31s behind, benefiting from Newton and Wotton’s misfortune to clinch third.

The 2020 SSC Lotus of Peter Rullo and Dennis Sims took fourth position, while Daniel Traverso and Matt Dillon completed the top five aboard their Evo 9.

Classic Competition 

Matthew Selley and Hamish Mckendrick won the Classic Competition class with a spirited effort on the final day to re-capture the lead.

Selley and Mckendrick in a 1985 Hartge duelled with the Porsche 911 RS of Roger Paterson and Richard Geue for much of the event, trading stage wins.

Paterson and Geue overhauled their rival for the class lead on Friday afternoon but the Selley/Mckendrick combo started Day 4 out strong on Mt Lofty (SS28) and re-captured the top spot.

They were able to consolidate that lead, with Selley/Mckendrick winning by 23s at the end of SS32 over Paterson/Geue.

Driving a 1972 Datsun 240z, Roger Lomman and Anne Bainbridge took home third, a further 1min 17s back.

Fourth place went the way of Tim Pryzibilla/Rick Powell in a 1983 Porsche 911 as Jai Raymond/Jen Mathwin‐Raymond completed the top five.

Modern Challenge

Gordon Christie and Nigel Mcgaffin edged out Nathan Robbins/Alex Johnson for the rally victory in a hotly contested Modern Challenge.

The Modern Challenge battle went right down to the wire as Robbins and Johnson put on a last-minute charge for the win, taking out Mt Lofty (SS28) and Mt George (SS31).

However, the Volvo S60 of Christie and Mcgaffin had enough time up its sleeve to claim a nail-biting rally victory.

The Audi S3 of Robbins and Johnson fell 3.1s short at the end of the final stage having cut the lead from 14s at the start of the day.

Coming home in third was the Lotus Exige of Robert Bryden and Alex Bryden, 55s off the top spot having cemented themselves on the podium.

Ben Auld and Lucy Barker’s Porsche 911 997.2 GT3 CS was fourth, a further 11s back, while the Mercedes-AMG A45 of Jason Bartsch and Jacob Richards claimed a solid fifth place in the final rally results.

Classic Challenge 

Lachlan Cox and Sam Martin dominated the final day of competition in their #635 1970s Ford to claim top honours in Classic Challenge.

Winning all five stages on the final day, the Cox/Martin pair refused to give up any time to their rivals and dominated right to the end.

The duo stretched what was a 30s overall lead at the start of the day to 55s by the end of Summit Road (SS32), a final stamp of authority.

Will Coulter and Andrew Colliver were the ones to finish second overall driving a Toyota Sprinter having challenged Cox and Martin for much of the event.

Coulter and Colliver’s hard work wasn’t enough to stop the class-winning combination, while Ross Smith and Emma Smith claimed third in their Nissan 300ZX, 4mins off the winner.

Dean Cook and Simon Richards made up a chunk of time on the final day to climb from sixth to fourth on the overall leaderboard by the end of SS32.

Mike Lowe and Kerry Chevis placed fifth in their 1983 Volvo 240 Turbo.

FINAL RESULTS

Modern Competition

1st – #762 Ben Calder and Steve Glenney (Mistubishi Evo TME) 
2nd – #764 Jeff Morton and Daymon Nicoli (Porsche GT2 RS)
3rd – #710 Dean Lillie and John Lilleyman (Mitsubishi Evo 10)

Classic Competition 

1st – #746 Matthew Selley and Hamish Mckendrick (1985 Hartge)
2nd – #738 Roger Paterson and Richard Geue (Porsche 911 RS)
3rd – #733 Roger Lomman and Anne Bainbridge (Datsun 240z)

Modern Challenge

1st – #621 Gordon Christie and Nigel Mcgaffin (Volvo S60)
2nd – #627 Nathan Robbins/Alex Johnson (Audi S3)
3rd – #641 Robert Bryden and Alex Bryden (Lotus Exige)

Classic Challenge 

1st – #635 Lachlan Cox and Sam Martin (Ford)
2nd – #619 Will Coulter and Andrew Colliver (Toyota Sprinter)
3rd – #626 Ross Smith and Emma Smith (Nissan 300ZX)

Heritage Trophy

1st – #746 Matthew Selley and Hamish McKendrick (Hartge HG35)
2nd – #733 Roger Lomann and Anne Bainbridge (Datsun 240Z)
3rd – #715 Mark Griffith and Jim Forrest (Nissan 280SX)

U2L Trophy

1st – #717 Nick Lenthall and Neil Gibson (Ford Escort)
2nd – #702 David Currow and Colin Carati (Fiat 124)
3rd – #701 Peter Bogatec and Kevin Jones (Peugeot 405)

Modern 2WD Trophy

1st – #764 Jeff Morton and Daymon Nicoli (Porsche 911 GT2RS)
2nd – #756 Peter Rullo and Dennis Sims (Lotus SSC)
3rd – #759 John Ireland and Janet Ireland (Dodge Viper ACR Extreme)

G-Shock Endurance Trophy

1st – Oscar Matthews and Tristian Catford

G-Shock 2WD Turbo

1st – Andre Lukaz and Chris Bucknell

Teams Award – ‘The Blow ins’.