Pedder said the Lancer had been "fantastic - very, very good".

It was only completed a week earlier at Team Mitsubishi Ralliart's Dandenong headquarters in Melbourne and its only pre-season test was last Tuesday, followed by a few short sprints at Friday's shakedown for the Canberra event.

A front right tyre punctured on Saturday's second stage, while the front left punctured on Sunday's third stage.

"We were about 5 kms before the finish of a long stage (the 20.42 km Poppets) in the second heat and there was a rock right on the left side of the racing line," Pedder said. "The wheel hit it and the tyre disintegrated. We probably lost about 30 seconds driving on the flat."

Saturday's puncture on the 10 km Mineshaft stage cost them more than a minute.

The time lost left Pedder and Weston fourth overall for the weekend, behind the Neal Bates-Coral Taylor and Simon and Sue Evans as well as Dean Herridge and Bill Hayes, which was entered in the Asia-Pacific championship section but remained eligible for ARC classification.

Scott Pedder and co-driver Glen Weston in the new Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Lancer Evo IX during the Capital Rally