The perfect weather displayed on most other rounds of the 2004 State Rally Championship held out for this year’s Stirling Stages. The final round of the state championship and round three of the WA Clubman Championship was run on the gravel roads around Stirling Dam in the Shire of Harvey. Hosted by the West Australian Car Club, state competitors would contest ten stages with Clubman teams contesting five.

This year all eyes were on the running of the Stirling Stages. Although the route was the same as last year, revisions had been made else where, primarily in the interests of safety.

Competitors lined up two at a time for SS1. Kicking off the Stirling was a Super Special stage run around the South West Touring Car Club’s Autocross track in Benger. "Chucky" John Macara & co-driver Hanna Drury carrying number one on their Lancer Evo III lined against Mike Anderson /Anthony Chudleigh (Lancer Evo VI). The Super special stage was short and the first few competitors all shared similar times. Some though were struggling with the dry, loose gravel which would dictate the roads for the whole event. The first stage win of the day was taken by Matthew Knox/Trent McCullough (Lancer Evo III). Second for the stage was shared amongst three teams: Chucky/Drury, Anderson/Chudleigh & Brad Markovic/Jon Mortimer (Subaru WRX).

SS2 was the first real taste of the forest roads and a high speed taste at that. The first few kilometers were very open and most teams were flat out in top gear. Markovic/Mortimer were the first to come to grief on SS2. On a fast section, the pair heavily rolled their WRX into immediate retirement. Both escaped unharmed thanks to the safety devices fitted to the car. Stephen Oxley/Sally Flintoff (Subaru WRX) also ended their rally prematurely sliding off the road and getting stuck. The Subaru camp was beginning to suffer in SS2 when Lee Mcilroy/Steve Vass (WRX) retired with gearbox failure. Ben Searcy/Daniel Smith (Suzuki Swift) added to the growing list of retirements in SS2 when they retired with a broken drive shaft. The stage win went to Craig Bignell/Joan Percival (Lancer Evo III) with Chucky/Drury in second.

After the hefty rate of attrition in SS2, SS3 ran more smoothly. The fastest four wheel drive cars clearing the stage in less than seven minutes. James Anderson/John Coney running a Nissan Pulsar GTI retired in SS3 of unknown reasons. Knox/McCullough took the stage win with Bignell/Percival in second with a margin of just two seconds. The two teams traded places for SS4, making a right battle for the overall lead. Mark Cameron/Julie Iriks in their Suzuki Swift ended their rally in SS4 when the pair went off the road, crashing the car into a large hole.

SS5 was a long stage with several tricky corners including a hairpin. Chucky/Drury appeared to be suffering a misfire in the stage, although still sharing an equal second fastest time with Knox/McCullough. Justin Kinnear/Adam Pearson retired on the hairpin of SS5. The Ex Works Suzuki Swift suffered transmission failure. The second of the Anderson trio of cars retired in SS5. Chris Anderson/Joel Lithgo (Lancer Evo IV) also suffered transmission failure whilst the third Anderson car of Mike Anderson/Anthony Chudleigh (Evo VI) retired with mechanical failure. Bignell/Percival won SS5.

The second pass of the Super Special Stage made up SS6. The third stage win in as many stages taken by Bignell/Percival. Chucky/Drury taking second and Knox/McCullough in third.

State competitors entered regroup and service, whilst Clubman competitors finished as the last of the light faded. After the retirement of Mark Travers (Toyota Corolla) with engine trouble, Toby Heyring/Peter Turner (Hyundai Lantra) charged off into the lead for the Clubman only battle and won the event.

State teams would be out under lights for the remaining four stages and fortunes were about to change for some. During the afternoon, ominous looking clouds had gathered which threatened rain. As dusk drew closer, the clouds disappeared and the clear skies dropped the temperature rapidly. Simon Lowther/Jeremy Coleman (Subaru Legacy) were again struggling on this event. The pair has had a mechanical jinx all year and it struck them yet again, retiring them in SS7. Despite the darkness, most teams were faster on the second run through the forest stages. Bignell/Percival took yet another stage win with Macara/Drury in second.

SS8 claimed the scalps of one crew who had been battling hard for the lead all day. The Lancer Evo III of Knox/McCullough retired with over heating problems. Chucky/Drury traded places with Bignell/Percival on the stage with Macara first and Bignell second.

Bignell/Percival were to suffer their first major upset for the entire season. Whilst leading the event, the pair suffered a flat tyre in SS9. Stopping to change the tyre in the stage dropped them seven and a half minutes. A huge amount of time to lose. Gavin Morgan/Chris Parish (Evo III) was forced to retire in the same stage with a blown transmission. Running in the top four all day, Ross Mackenzie/Paul Vandermey (Subaru WRX) took second place on SS9 with Macara/Drury taking the stage win by twelve seconds.

Shane Eather/Dave Burton (Subaru RS Legacy) have been flying this year, bringing top ten results in most rounds. On SS10, their good luck left them. The crew left the road 3 km into the stage and beached the car on a stump. Unable to recover the car themselves, the crew was forced to retire. The final stage win went to Macara/Drury with Bignell/Percival recovering slightly from SS9 in second.

After 10 special stages and 14 retirements in the state competition alone, it was certainly a race of attrition.

Some different names filled the top ten. A fast drive in their Honda Civic awarded Kevin Sleep/Alex Kirkhouse with a tenth place. Nigel Anderson/Mike Rowston trying to run over photographers on SS5, brought their Toyota Corolla FX to the finish in ninth. The return of Blair Pugh/Toni Feaver to the state championship saw the pair finish a strong eighth in their Ford Escort RS, despite penalties. After last year’s Stirling Stages, Nic Box/Todd Payne (Toyota Levin) were happy to have finished the rally and awarded a top ten finish in seventh. SS9 dropped Bignell/Percival back to sixth by rally’s end. It wasn’t all bad news for the pair; they have won the 2004 State Rally Championship outright. The Subaru Legacy RS of Doug Tostevin/Alan Cook was inside the top five with a fifth place. The Mitsubishi Galant VR4 of Derek Reddie/Andrew Percival had proved reliable for this event and awarded the pair fourth place. Mick Steele/Lee Tierney (Subaru WRX) made the podium in third place. The fast and consistent performance of Mackenzie/Vandermey rewarded the pair with second place. John "Chucky" Macara & Hanna Drury won this year’s Stirling Stages outright. It has been John’s second outright win in as many rallies.

Special thanks must be given to the WA Car Club this year. The job of organising the Stirling Stages was difficult, with many hurdles to overcome. The 2004 Stirling Stages was proudly supported by: Hot FM, Budget, Coates Hire, Deep Creek Tree Farms, Maximum Motorsport & Geoff Murphy Automotives. Thanks also to all of the officials who gave up their time to make the event a success.

Story: Karl Drummond, Pictures: Paul Kane