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| Brendan Reeves and Co-driver Rhianon Smyth [center] celebrate victory over fellow Australians Will Orders and co-driver Toni Feaver [left] who finished second, with Canadian driver Andrew Comrie-Picard and his American co-driver Jeremy Wimpey rounding out the podium in third. Photo: Neil McDaid / RallyWorldNews |
Newry, Maine, July 27th: Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Smyth have won the two-wheel
drive category of the New England Forest Rally in Maine, USA, taking an
incredible fifth outright in the process.
Driving
their Team O'Neil Ford Fiesta R2, it is the Australian pairing's third consecutive
category win from the three events they have contested in the Rally America
series.Heading into the second day, Reeves was second in two-wheel drive, trailing fellow Australian, Will Orders, but ahead of all the Rally America title contenders.
With a
consistent run over the second day's stages, he was able to move into the lead,
and jumped from an overnight 10th outright, to finish fifth."I'm
really stoked to get another win," Reeves said at the finish of the event."The
day was kind to us. We had a great drive through SS8 in the roughest road of
the event, pulling lots of time back, and then Will had some issues and
penalties later on.
"We bent a rear beam and damaged our exhaust, but the car kept pushing on and came out on top once again.
"Rhi did and awesome job and Team O'Neil were fantastic to work with."
Reeves and Smyth have now closed the gap to two-wheel drive championship leader, Andrew Comrie-Picard, with two events still to run in the series.
The next
round of the Rally America series is the Ojibwe Forests Rally in Michigan on
August 23 and 24.
Final 2WD standings - New England Forest Rally1. Brendan Reeves / Rhianon Smyth, Ford Fiesta R2, 1h48m26.2s
2. Will Orders / Toni Feaver, Toyota GT86, +1h50m46.6s
3. Andrew Comrie-Picard / Jeremy Wimpey, Scion xD, 1h52m40.3s
