WEDDERBURN brother-sister rally team, Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Smyth, have made a sensational American debut at the Oregon Trail Rally held around Portland at the weekend.
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Driving a Ford Fiesta R2 for Team O’Neil, the pair set a cracking pace in the 2WD class.
They won every stage on Friday and Saturday and finished the event more than three minutes clear of their nearest class rivals.
The event, round three of the Rally America series, started in Portland on Friday night with four Super Special stages held on the access roads of the Portland International Raceway.
Reeves took an 18.6 second class lead into the first full day’s action which consisted of eight forest stages on tight, twisty roads.
Reeves and Smyth won every stage and extended their lead to more than two minutes.
With five stages to run on Sunday, this time over fast forest straights, Reeves again impressed, finishing the rally over three minutes ahead of the second-placed 2WD competitor and fifth outright.
“What an amazing feeling it is to come to America for the first time and win two wheel drive convincingly,” Reeves said.
“We had a trouble-free run thanks to Team O’Neil and the effort they put in. The Ford Fiesta was brilliant even on today’s blindingly fast stages, and Rhianon did a great job calling the notes.”
The Oregon Trail Rally was won by David Higgins in a Subaru, with Ken Block (Ford Fiesta) second, and Rifat Sungkar third.
Reeves and Smyth will now return to Australia to prepare for their next event, Scouts Rally South Australia on May 24 to 26, which is round three in the Australian Rally Championship.
