When Ron and Lachlan Moore took out the John Giddings Memorial Rally of Orange last Saturday afternoon not only did they enjoy a podium, but they also did a fellow Bathurst driver a big favour in terms of the Pipe King AMSAG Southern Cross Rally Series.
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The father-and-son pairing topped the ultra competitive field after 150 kilometres of racing on gravel roads through Canobolas State Forest, in an event which doubled as the fifth round of the Southern Cross Series.
Behind the wheel of their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI, the Moores won by 12 seconds from Sydney-based Phillip Pluck and Peter Hellwig (Subaru WRX), with Chris and Kate Jaques (Lancer EVO IX) third.
The effort boosted the Moores’ overall series standings, while at the same time their win worked in favour of fellow Bathurst driver Ian Plenderleith.
He and navigator Mel McMinn went into the Orange event with a narrow nine-point lead over Peter Neal, but failed to finish with a broken gearbox in the first stage.
Though Neal was amongst the finishers, that the Moores won and he ran fifth limited the damage for Plenderleith with one round remaining.
Plenderleith and McMinn have enjoyed a stellar campaign so far, never finishing outside the top two on one occasion.
That was in the fourth round at Bulahdelah, where a 41st finish only netted the duo one point.
Prior to that Plenderleith and McMinn had finished second at Oberon’s first leg before winning the second in Rosewood and finishing second at Bega as well.
“Of the 36 cars which started, there were seven crews from Bathurst, two more with Bathurst navigators and one crew from Orange,” Ron Moore said.
“Ian wasn’t the only Bathurst crew to suffer [a] demise with Joe Chapman and son Jack Mobbs along with Steve Hill and Jo Moore also out with gearbox issues.
“Toby Ivanovic and David Catt withdrew with a blown engine in their Subaru Liberty, while Andrew and David Travis from Bathurst also failed to finish after leading the event only to succumb to electrical issues causing their car to stop mid-stage.
“John Hills with Bathurst co-driver Mick Tuckey had a nasty rollover late in the day with both crew members relatively unscathed.
“Another Bathurst navigator, Danielle Gotch, was stricken with motion sickness and had to pull out.
“The only other Bathurst crew to finish was father-and-son Mark and Harrison Hudson in their Subaru WRX in ninth place.”
Orange husband and wife John and Anne Fraser (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IV) finished sixth outright. The sixth and final leg of the series is at John’s River in late October.