With only one day of the inaugural Suncoast Classic Rally left to run, Team VIP Petfoods’ father and son have well and truly made their presence known – with rally master Tony Quinn solidifying his place in the top five while son Klark broke into the Suncoast Classic top ten for the first time.
When the team of Jim Richards and Barry Oliver protested the provisional results posted at the close of yesterday’s leg two, and were proved correct, they were elevated from sixth to fourth, bumping Tony and co-driver Keith Wenn to fifth position before today’s opening stages.
From there, Tony and co-driver Keith Wenn have solidified their standing over the stages by putting down consistent results which will now see them to head into their final day, as they did in Targa, in the top five.
“This is a new circuit, an untested entity, and so we just wanted to come out here and do our best, try to stay on the track and put down the best times we could, ” said Tony.
“We have been able to do that so far, and to be sitting on the top five spot with only one day remaining feels pretty good.
“Keith (who also joins Tony for his Targa ventures) and I will just dig in tomorrow and keep going, and do our best to bring it home. ”
The real coup for the team however comes in the form of Tony’s son Klark, who as somewhat of a rally apprentice has been able to break into the highly competitive top ten at the close of today’s event.
“To find we are in the top ten with only seven stages to run tomorrow is just fantastic, ” enthused Klark.
“With this only my third ever rally, combined with the issues with the car’s active diff we have been experiencing over the past few days, to finish in the top ten today far surpasses the expectations we had heading in.
“Obviously I am really happy with how Adrian (Bolton – Klark’s co-driver and mechanic) and I are going, and we will just be looking to keep it steady and consistent for tomorrow and hope to bring the car home successfully. ”
Tomorrow’s final leg three will see the dynamic father and son duo and their co-drivers pass through seven special stages before bringing it home to Noosa for the official close of the event. The first car is scheduled to be away at 8.00am from Noosa Heads.
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