Kalaru rally driver Ben Barker crashed out of the Alpine Rally recently after he had led the competition.
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Former Australian Rally Champion Nathan Quinn went on to win the iconic event in the same Mazda RX-2 he contested with in the Bega Valley Rally.
Unfortunately for Barker and team-mate Damien Long, his exit from the rally came on Stage 10, amid deteriorating conditions that forced event organisers to cut the competition short at the end of stage 11.
Officials said Quinn had mastered the trying conditions from start to finish in the rotary to claim his first Alpine victory.
"We worked pretty hard for it so pretty stoked," Quinn told media at the finish line.
"It's a shame it got cut short because I am ready to do another 300ks like this." Though he conceded the conditions were taking a toll on the field.
"We just got away and everything went our way this weekend, we've been very fortunate."
Officials said this year's East Gippsland Alpine had been a rally of troubling extremes with some stages cancelled due to bushfires, while others were cut due to flooding or heavy rains.
Meanwhile, Cooma rally driver Chris Stilling and navigator Rae Waterhouse also fell foul of the testing conditions and ended the weekend with a DNF against their name.
Stilling is supported by Kalaru's Leigh Manning with Manning Automotive the team behind the Datsun Stanza the pair contested in.
Former NSW Champion Bryan Van Eck finished seventh overall in his Toyota Altezza.