It completely erased the disappointment of 12 months earlier, when they were leading the event and were forced to retire just 1500 metres from the finish with a gearbox failure.

The AMSAG-run rally was conducted over eight special stages. The morning’s first four were run again after lunch as the second division, and there was a service break at the Black Springs park after each two stages.

It was a successful day for Chapman, who never put a foot wrong behind the wheel, while Westman’s navigational skills were again spot on.

Their Chapman Motorsport Subaru WRX Impreza Subaru Sti, which is now completely prepared in Chapman’s Lambert Street workshop, never faltered. 

Chapman praised the event, as well as his team that prepared the car. 

“It was a good event with a combination of fast-flowing roads and tight technical roads. The wet weather probably made the conditions much better, with no dust and, in most areas, better grip,” he said.

“Greg [Westman] performed without fault, as usual. Our team prepared our car perfectly, and nothing went wrong all day. In fact, we didn’t even change one tyre. 

“We lost 40 seconds on the sixth stage being held up on the start with what I will say was a ‘technical issue’.” 

As they were leaving the SS6 start control, an official stopped the car because the boot lid was not fastened correctly, costing time.

Chapman finished a mammoth one minute, 26 seconds ahead of the Holden Commodore VP driven by Emu Plains driver Shane O’Hara, having his first drive back after a 10-year layoff, while the Blue Mountains’ Jon Flower was third in a Subaru WRX.

Making it a special day for Bathurst was when another Bathurst crew, Ron and Jo Moore, came home in the top 10. The Moores finished eighth in what was a very successful debut for their Reliance Credit Union Mitsubishi Evo 6. 

Chapman grabbed the lead of the rally after the second stage and was never headed as he steadily extended his lead over the 250 kilometres of the event. He held a 45-second lead at the first service point after SS2, which had blown out to 57 seconds at the end of the first division after SS4. 

The Moores, on the other hand, were in third after the second special stage, but their attack came unstuck in the 36km fourth test as they punctured and stopped to change the wheel.

With nine kilometres to run before the end of the stage, they suffered a second flat and had to drive on a flat to the stage end.

However, Moore had been learning the new car, and he was then fastest in SS5 and SS6 straight after the second service, while Chapman was second fastest.

The roles were reversed in the final two stages of the rally.

A third Bathurst entry in Nick Hough and Rob Edwards were performing well in their VR Holden Commodore ute and keeping the spectators on their toes, but were forced to retire late in the event when a stone was thrown up by another competitor and put a hole in their radiator.