At the halfway mark of the 2003 Australian Rally Championship with six of the twelve heats completed, Subaru driver Cody Crocker holds a handy 32-point buffer over Mitsubishi driver, Ed Ordynski.

Crocker, driving an Impreza WRX STi, sits on top of the table with 102 points, with Ordynski, in a Lancer Evo 7, in second place with 74 points and fellow Impreza WRX STi driver, Simon Evans, back in third with 69 points.

Crocker added just four points to his total today when he finished in eighth place after differential problems left him in two-wheel drive for the first two stages this morning.

He dropped over one minute twenty seconds to the leading group and was back in 20th place, ruining his chances of adding a sixth successive heat win for the season.

Instead the Heat Two honours went to Ordynski who finished six seconds clear of Evans with Juha Kangas, also in a Mitsubishi, back in third place.

It was not a great day for Subaru Rally Team Australia with Dean Herridge, who was sitting in third place at the lunchbreak, forced out of the event with engine problems after the first stage in the afternoon group.


Crocker was philosophical about a weekend that netted him the maximum 20 points on the Saturday but only four today.

"The rear diff failed at the very start of the first stage which lead to the drive shaft becoming disconnected and we were left in two-wheel drive for 30 odd kilometres," Crocker said.

"I just nursed it through rather than risk having further trouble so we lost plenty, but at least we were still in the event and gathering points.


"From thereafter we weren't as fast as we'd have liked, but there really was no huge incentive to take risks as we just wanted to get through.

"We probably could have taken a harder tyre today. While it was sunny out there, it was cold and the roads were quite damp and cold, which normally suits a softer tyre.

"Still, if you said to me at the start of the season that, at the halfway point, I could have a 32 point buffer over the field and have won five of the six heats contested, I certainly would have taken that.
"You are always going to have days where things don't quite work out in this sport and we really can't complain this season.

"I know we have a really good package at the moment and our confidence is high. Now our focus is on Adelaide in four weeks, which is Ed's home rally. Me and Greg (co-driver Greg Foletta) know we will have to be at our very best to beat him in his own back yard."

For Herridge his untimely end was the conclusion to a frustrating weekend.

"Yesterday we just didn't have the car handling very well and we made adjustments for today and things were going nicely and were pretty comfortably in third place.

"But then we just had engine problems near the end of Stage 14. We got through but could go no further. We had a small oil fire, which we quickly put out but then just had to sit and wait for the team to come out and get us and the car.

"Not much more you can say really. It's frustrating, disappointing, but these things happen."
The next round of the Australian Rally Championship is the Festival State Rally to be held in South Australia on August 8, 9 and 10.

The final two rounds are the Rally of Melbourne in October and the Subaru Safari Tasmania in November.

Heat Two - Premier State Rally - July 6, 2003 (Provisional)
1 E Ordynski/I Stewart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 45:43.3
2 S Evans/S Evans Subaru Impreza WRX STi 45:49.3 +6.0
3 J Kangas/J Rabbett Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 46:21.1 +37.8
4 S Lowndes/C Randall Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 46:43.5 +1:00.2
5 M Thompson/R Thompson Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 46:50.6 +1:07.3
6 N Bates/C Taylor Toyota Corolla Sportivo 47:25.7 +1:42.4
7 J Mitchell/J Cadman Mitsubishi Lancer (P5) 47:31.7 +1:48.4
8 C Crocker/G Foletta Subaru Impreza WRX STi 47:36.1 +1:52.8

Heat One - Premier State Rally - July 5, 2003
1 C Crocker/G Foletta Subaru Impreza WRX STi 51:46.3
2 E Ordynski/I Stewart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 51:51.1 +4.8
3 S Pedder/P Humm Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 51:51.9 +5.6
4 J Kangas/J Rabbett Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 51:59.6 +13.3
5 S Evans/S Evans Subaru Impreza WRX STi 52:13.7 +27.4
6 D Herridge/G Macneall Subaru Impreza WRX STi 52:45.7 +59.4

Combined results - Premier State Rally
1 Ed Ordynski
2 Simon Evans
3 Juha Kangas
4 Cody Crocker

ARC Driver's Championship points after round three of six1. C.Crocker/G.Foletta Subaru 106
2. E.Ordynski/I.Stewart Mitsubishi 74
3. S.Evans/S.Evans Subaru 69
4. J.Kangas/J.Rabbett Mitsubishi 58
=5. D.Herridge/G.Macneall Subaru 50
=5.S.Lowndes/C.Randell Mitsubishi 50

6. S.Pedder/P.Humm Mitsubishi 38