The rally was Round 3 of the NSW Rally Championship and its status as one of the premier events in the series was shown by the full field of 70 entrants.

The rally hasn't run over the last couple of years because of COVID and weather, and even this year changes had to be made to the route only two weeks before the start because of road conditions. Everyone was glad to see it back.

What was truly remarkable about this year's event was that there was a tie for outright first place. This was after more than 200 kilometres of competitive driving, but as these two crews shared fastest times on nine of the ten stages the results were always going to be close.

The rally consisted of ten stages (five stages run twice) on roads that were as good as you can get for rallying. No bogs, no rough stuff, just roads that tested the ability of cars and crews to go as fast as possible.

Unfortunately, there was a high attrition rate, with only 33 of the 70 starters being classed as finishers. There was no particular reason for the high dropout rate as the roads weren't rough and the instructions provided to the crews had few problems. Maybe it was because many of the teams had not had much chance to test their cars over the last year or so, with many rallies being cancelled, and championship rounds aren't the place to take things easy.

Special commiserations have to go to Leigh Gotch and David Green, whose beautifully prepared Fiat 131 Arbarth had a transmission failure immediately after the start of the first stage. It was a long way to tow a car for no result, but that's one of the perils of the game.

Outright winners were Richie Dalton and Mac Kierans in a Toyota Yaris, tied with Clayton Hoy and John Allen in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO6. Minor placings were Tony Sullens and Kaylie Newell (Subaru WRX), Nathan Quinn and Ray Winwood-Smith (Hyundai I20) and Timothy Wilkins and Jim Gleeson (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9).

Even the non-finishers had a good time. The organising committee from North Shore Sporting Car Club did their usual excellent job of running the event, and we will all be back next year for more action on some of the best rally roads in the country.