The inaugural Audi IRC Australian Championship winner, Rod Jones, got what he prayed for today to take out Division 2 of the Audi IRC Series at Skandia Geelong Week this afternoon.
All week long Jones and his Archambault 40 Alegria crew went head to head with Ruth Magic (Peter Hill) and Reverie (Alan Woodward) and while Jones saw Ruth Magic (NSW) as the main threat, it was Reverie that came home to finish the six-race series in second place.
Queenslander, Jones, who won the Audi IRC Australian Championship and a drove away in a brand new Audi Q7 SUV from Hamilton Island in 2007, thought that Ruth Magic, with 2008 Audi Championship winner Peter Sorensen at the helm and Beijing gold medallist Nathan Wilmot calling tactics, would be his downfall.
Thankfully, though, Jones prayers came to fruition when a 10-12 sea breeze kicked in on outer Corio Bay. “We knew if it was light we’d have our best chance of beating Ruth Magic,” Jones said this afternoon.
While the Alegria crew did not win the final race, they did come home second, while Hill and his crew from Sydney scored their worst race result, a 13th place, and used it as their drop.
“It was a great race, really,” a happy Jones said. “We got off the line attached to them and got ahead of them half way up the beat – the conditions didn’t suit them, they go better in windy conditions,” Jones said, adding: “we’ll be in Sydney for the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta – I want to be the first person to win a second Audi car – they’re great cars,” he said.
While Alegria and Ruth Magic duked it out, Alan Woodward and his Royal Brighton Yacht Club crew did their own thing and came home to win the final race and claim second place overall.
Division 2 Provisional top five:
1 ALEGRIA Rod Jones RQYS 11
2 REVERIE Alan Woodward RBYC 14
3 RUTH MAGIC Peter Hill33a MHYC 16
4 TRUE NORTH Andrew Saies CYCSA 22
5 JUST A MINOR HICKUP Peter Coleman RBYC 30
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