Subaru driver Cody Crocker has produced a superb come-from-behind drive to take victory in Heat One of the Premier State Rally outside Wyong today.

It was Crocker's fifth straight heat win from five starts this season, bringing his total to 102 points in the driver's championship, 48 points clear of his nearest rivals, Simon Evans and Ed Ordynski, tied on 54 points in second place.

His winning margin today was 4.8 seconds over the Mitsubishi of Ordynski with Scott Pedder, in another Mitsubishi, a further 0.8 seconds back in third place. Crocker had a disastrous start to the rally with a blown gearbox on the opening stage last night. His service crew replaced it in the 20 minutes service, allowing the Impreza WRX STi driver to get back out on the road for the second stage.
But as he started the forest stages this morning he was back in 11th place with plenty of work to do if he was to maintain his unbeaten record.

He lost further time to the leaders on the opening stage but then won the next two stages to move up into second place at the lunch break, just 2.4 seconds behind the consistent Pedder who held the lead.
The morning stages were repeated in the afternoon and Crocker immediately grabbed the lead after the first of them, taking a one second break over Pedder.

On the penultimate stage he stretched that lead to 7.8 seconds, in the end finishing just 4.6 seconds clear of the fast finishing Ordynski who snuck ahead of Pedder on the final stage of the day.
Crocker was relieved to get to the end with another win.

"This was a really tough day because the roads were so variable," Crocker said.

"The recent rains followed by a couple of clear days made the roads really hard to read as the surface was constantly changing from dry to wet and slippery.

"But we got there in the end, which is what matters. It was another step in my development as a driver. It didn't come easily but we just kept plugging away, never panicking, and the results came our way."
Crocker's teammate, Dean Herridge had a difficult day, finishing back in sixth place, 59.4 seconds off the pace.

Simon Evans suffered a 50-second penalty after a late check out from service this morning after a wiring loom problem. He finished fifth, second of the Subarus, 27.4 seconds behind Crocker.

"We didn't have a good morning and after a couple of spins we dropped a bit of confidence I suppose," Herridge said.

"In the afternoon, when we were really out of contention anyway, we gambled on some different tyres but this didn't work either, so we'll put it down as one of those days and look forward to tomorrow."

Results - Heat One - Premier State Rally - July 5th, 2003 (Provisional)
1 C Crocker/G Foletta Subaru Impreza WRX STi 51:46.3

2 E Ordysnksi/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