There was good and bad news for competitors after the first round of the McRae Rallysprint Series was completed at Perth Motorplex in Kwinana last week (Thurs Nov 7).

The good news is that the overall winner of the first round, Paul Lowry, won’t be racing in round two because he will be attending a wedding in Queensland.

Lowry has been competing in the series for the past three seasons and has been a consistent place getter in his 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.

After finishing second overall last year he started the new season cautiously before posting the fastest lap of the night on his last run.

He finished just ahead of good friend and rival Mark Greenham who won the series last year.

The bad news is that when he returns in January, it will be with a completely rebuilt car.

Lowry, who has been racing in one form or other since he was old enough to hold a car licence, has had his Evo for four years and believes it is time to give it a new lease of life.

“I would expect it to be at least a couple of seconds quicker when we are finished,” Lowry said.

While Scott MacKenzie may have finished down the leaderboard, he took out the award for the most spectacular run pushing his 1999 Subaru WRX to its limits and barely retaining control.

The Tarmac 2WD up to 2000cc class was won by Duane Joubert in a 1983 Toyota Sprinter with Cameron Pewsey taking out the over 2000cc category in his SS Commodore.

The 4WD under 3000cc category was won by Jamie Lister in a 2000 Subaru WRX STi.

The Rallysprint Series is a tarmac rally contested over five rounds between November and March.  Round Two will be run on Thursday, December 5. 

To enter, all you need is a road registered car,  that meets all the required safety standards, helmets for the driver and co-driver and a fire extinguisher. One day licences are available and multiple co-drivers can be nominated enabling the driver to share the experience with family or friends.