As usual, the majority of the interest was focused on Group AB: consisting of Roger "His Hottness" Mayers (Ford Focus WRC), Paul "The Surfer" Bourne (Subaru Impreza WRC), Roger "The Sheriff" Skeete (Ford Escort Cosworth WRC), Roger " The Ninja" Hill (Toyota Celica) and Cliff Roett (Toyota Celica). This group was keenly contested, with Paul Bourne taking both group and overall honours. Second was Roger Mayers and Roger Hill was 3rd . Cliff Roett took the final group spot. Roger Skeete was ineligible, as a result of his DNF (he only completed one official run).

In group NB, Geoff Noel (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI) (right) won the group. Peter "Duct Tape" Thompson in his Proton Wira was 2nd, Barry Gale (sharing Geoff Noel's Evo) was 3rd, with Brian "The Iceman" Gill and Harold Morley, both driving Subaru Imprezas took the final 2 positions. This was despite Morley having a DNF. His Impreza bore the battle scars of a confrontation with the scenery (namely some canes). Barry Gale was without his Evo VI, this is because it has been sent to Mexico where Barry will be reunited with it to compete in the Corona Rally Mexico. Brian Gill seems have to sorted the problems with his Impreza which caused him to retire at the Cherry Tree Hill event.

In Group F4 crowd favourite Sammy Cumberbatch (BMW-powered Ford Escort) (right) took the honours, with his father, St.Elmo Cumberbatch (BMW E36) in 3rd. Jonathan Still in his BMW M3, which is already a crowd favourite placed 2nd with Edward Corbin (Toyota Corolla SR) and Ronald Gilkes (Ford Escort Cosworth) taking the final positions. Gilkes broke his driveshaft on the 2nd run. He had a slight "offroad excursion", or should we say "canefield exploration" upon exiting the sweeping left-hander upon the approach of the right-hand hairpin just before then stage finish.

Group F3 was also a fiercely contested group, with Barry Mayers (Toyota Starlet) (right) being victorious. Sean Gill in the Suzuki Ignis was 2nd with Jason Parkinson, Neil Armstrong and Roger Jordan (all in Toyota Starlets) taking the next 3 positions. The final place in the group went to sliding ace Geoffrey Ullyett in his Datsun 200 Y. Geoff was up to his usual antics, more on this will be given later.

In Group A3, Chris Parkinson (Toyota Starlet) (right) took 1st place with Nick Gill (Mazda Lantis) in 2nd and John Corbin (Toyota Corolla) took 3rd position. All drivers in this group drove well, with Corbin even taking the time out to entertain the crowd by the hairpin. This was a moment which the crowd enjoyed immensely. James Betts (Toyota Starlet) was the lone competitor in Group A1.

Every event has excitement, and this speed event was no exception. There were thrills and spills all around the stage. In the practice run, St.Elmo Cumberbatch in his beast of a BMW went off road. This was repeated in the final run of the day, with the BMW heading towards a canefield, but was stopped by the banking. Cumberbatch coolly selected reverse, then put his machine in 1st gear. He then rocketed away to complete the stage, probably murdering the English language with a generous helping of those words your mother warned you not to use. Harold Morley (right) in his Impreza was probably trying to assist the sugar workers by giving the mechanical harvesters a little less work to do. On the first run, can blades could be seen protruding from the top of the car and the front section of the Impreza's bodykit. A cracked windscreen was also evidence of his agricultural endeavours. Morley, however was done one better by Ronald Gilkes (Escort Cosworth). On his second run Gilkes suffered drive shaft failure, causing handling impairment. The car could be seen "fish tailing" as it approached the end of the stage. Just before the right-hand uphill hairpin at the end of the stage, the Escort pulled to the left sharply and plummeted into a canefield. Gilkes didn't lose his nerve or give up. Not too long afterward, his Escort emerged from the canes and onto the finish. That would be the last the crowd would be seeing of the Escort. The biggest shunt of what was a relatively incident-free event would have to be that of Roger Jordan (left) rolling his Starlet. Upon exiting the hairpin which leads to the end of the stage, Jordan hit the left side of the car, the impact causing the car to roll. Jordan was unhurt, and the car not being seriously damaged. Roger "The Sheriff" Skeete suffered driveshaft failure on his 2nd run, and this forced him to retire from the event.

There wasn't only excitement of the incident kind, there was also that of the sliding kind. Who were the culprits? Well the first perpetrator was none other than Geoff Ullyett in his Datsun 200 Y. In typical crowd-pleasing style, Ullyett was sideways in every corner (below).

The crowd by the pond, however was in for a special treat. After setting up the car to slide through the bend, Ullyett waved to the crowd. It is needless to say, the crowd were engulfed by euphoria. Making the "S" bends look straight, Ullyett was just having fun and ensuring that the crowd shared in his happiness. On every run, T10 aka Yellow Fever was tossed through the hairpin with nonchalance, leaving the spectators in awe and making the Redland area resonate with their screams of approval. Geoff was not alone when it came to pleasing the crowd. John Corbin in his Toyota Corolla gave the crowd at the hairpin some eye candy as well. His second run, however was the one which the crowd appreciated the most. Upon exiting the hairpin, after a brilliant slide, Corbin spun. Rather than trying to reverse the car in the hill, he drove back down the hill, made a spectacular handbrake turn and proceeded to scandi through the hairpin yet again. Once again, the crowd was ecstatic and voiced their approval. Although not as spectacular or dramatic as Ullyett or Corbin, on his 2nd and 3rd runs Roger Mayers slid his Ford Focus through the hairpin. Such ease was displayed by Mayers that one had to wonder if he was out for a typical Sunday drive. Barry Mayers was driving on the limit…as usual. The notes from his Starlet were a treat to the ears, and seeing how he handled it was even more a treat to the eyes. On each of his runs, Barry approached the hairpin with incredible velocity. With the same ease as the aforementioned crowd pleasers, he scandied his car through the hairpin, with instantaneous cheers from the spectators.

All in all, the event was relatively incident and problem-free. Apart from the seemingly lengthy breaks and the delays in letting vehicles pass through the stage, it all ran like clock-work. One great improvement spacing of the cars passing through the stage. They all ran close together (with a reasonable time space between them), hence making the event more enjoyable for the fans and reducing the overall time taken to complete the event. Kudos for this must be given to Rally Timing: a new organisation which was formed in order to provide even more accurate timing during events. It was a good event and congratulations are in order for Paul "The Surfer" Bourne. It's good to seem him back to his winning form, and one can only hope that he will continue to improve and regain his impeccable form which endeared him to the hearts of the many racing fans out there.