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Classic Adelaide Rally - Day Four

RICK BATES AND JENNY BRITTAN WIN 1999 CLASSIC ADELAIDE Canberra driver, Rick Bates and Navigator, Jenny Brittan have taken victory in the 199 Classic Adelaide Rally. The duo took the win aboard their faithful 911 Porsche, 1 minute, 11 seconds ...

RICK BATES AND JENNY BRITTAN WIN 1999 CLASSIC ADELAIDE

Canberra driver, Rick Bates and Navigator, Jenny Brittan have taken victory in the 199 Classic Adelaide Rally.

The duo took the win aboard their faithful 911 Porsche, 1 minute, 11 seconds ahead of Victorian RS1600 Escort driver, Peter Kyriakidis who consistently level pegged the leader over the four days.

Bates came close to winning the first Classic Adelaide in 1997 and returned this year as favourite to take out the third Classic Adelaide Rally.

Starting on old tyres on the first day, the 1997 Panama- Alaska Porsche struggled to stay with the leaders.

Andrew Cavalli and Michael Dale set the pace early and held a strong lead before sliding off the road late on day three.

Bates inherited the lead and in a steady calculating drive held off a fierce attack from Kyraikidis and the two Queensland drivers Richard Anderson (Car 4)and the Datsun 1600 of John Spencer in Car 20.

Twin Brother of Toyota Works Team driver, Neal Bates, Rick and Jenny won the horrific Panama-Alaska Rally in 1997 and missed last year¹s Classic Adelaide to compete in the rugged Shield of Africa Rally.

Their win today is a sweet victory after crashing on the last day of the 1997 Classic Adelaide.

"I¹m delighted to win this event, particularly after we made the wrong choice on tyres on the opening day," Bates said.

"It is especially tough on a sprint event like this because our car is built for longer events like the Panama-to-Alaska.

"It didn¹t look like we had the outright pace at the start but you have to make sure you keep the thing on the road for the whole four days."

Disappointingly for local South Australian driver David McDonough in his Ford Capri Perana V8, ignition module problems this morning forced him to relinquish his strong overnight position in second outright.

Continuing their event-long battle, Queenslanders Anderson and Spencer fought tooth-and-nail to the last stage of the day, finishing just 4 seconds apart after an arduous 285 competitive kilometres of racing.

Kyriakidis admitted at the lunch break today at Strathalbyn that the Escort crew would be unlikely to catch the experienced Bates.

"We¹re happy in second place", said the team. "We¹ll consolidate over the final four stages today, after some problems yesterday."

Despite finishing nine minutes behind the winners, the crew of Ken Roscrow and Richard Hansen drove their supercharged Bentley S1 Special brilliantly all day to round out the top ten.

FINAL PROVISIONAL RESULTS (after 31 stages) - Sunday 21/11/99

1. Rick Bates/Jenny Brittan - Porsche 911 2. Peter Kyriakidis/John Caldicott - Ford Escort RS1600 - 01:11 3. Richard Anderson/Bruno Fulcher - Alfa Romeo Montreal - 01:32 4. John Spencer/Tony Best - Datsun 1600 - 01:36 5. Scott Kent/Leigh Kent - Ford Mustang - 03:31 6. Jeff Beaumont/Jim Caudle - Porsche 911 - 05:12 7. Mark Whisson/Mim Pargheter - Lotus Europa - 06:20 8. Brian Dermott/Linda Dermott - Austin Healy - 06:47 9. Greg Burrowes/Rhonda Burrowes - Holden Torana XU-1 - 08:19 10. Ken Roscrow/Richard Hansen - Bentley S1 Special - 09:12

-Paul Ryan-

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