RallySport Magazine August 2016

Issue #4 - August 2016 

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AUGUST 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 1

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2 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - AUGUST 2016

CONTENTS - #4 AUGUST 2016 

FEATURES EVENT REPORTS REGULARS 

FOLLOW 

US ON: 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Martin Holmes, Blair Bartels, 

Geoff Ridder, John Doutch, 

Ross Runnalls, Arron Wishart, 

Euan Cameron, Steve Russell 

20 FABIA-LICIOUS 

GLENN INKSTER’S SKODA AP4+ 

LOOKS THE GOODS 

26 MOLLY TAYLOR INTERVIEW 

THREE RALLIES IN, THE SUBARU STAR 

HAS STARTED IMPRESSIVELY 

28 DAVID HOLDER INTERVIEW 

WE CHAT TO THE 2016 NEW 

ZEALAND RALLY CHAMPION 

34 FAMOUS STAGES - MOTU 

NZ’S MOTU IS PERHAPS THE 

TOUGHEST STAGE IN THE WORLD 

44 INTERVIEW: COL TRINDER 

THE ARCOMM CHAIRMAIN EXPLAINS 

HIS COMPLEX ROLE 

56 BANG FOR YOUR BUCK 

HYUNDAI’S EXCEL IS A CHEAP WAY 

TO GET INTO RALLYING 

60 GROUP B STARION 

WE NEVER SAW THE BEST OF 

MITSUBISHI’S GROUP B CAR 

✸DID The passion for rallying .... 

MANAGING EDITOR 

PETER WHITTEN 

peter@rallysportmag.com.au 

SENIOR WRITER 

TOM SMITH 

tom@rallysportmag.com.au 

48 RALLY OF FINLAND 

KRIS-MAS CAME EARLY FOR 

CITROEN IN FINLAND 

54 CATLINS COAST RALLY 

SNOW AND ICE GREETED CREWS IN 

THE SOUTH ISLAND OF NZ 

62 NZ RALLYSPRINT SERIES 

THE SERIES WAS HARD-FOUGHT, 

WITH ‘FEATHERS’ TAKING VICTORY 

64 CHINA RALLY 

THE APRC RETURNED TO CHINA 

WITH AUSSIES DOING WELL 

68 ERC POLAND 

POLAND HAS BEEN A HIVE OF RALLY 

ACTIVITY IN EUROPE LATELY 

69 WALKY 100 RALLY 

DECLAN DWYER WAS THE MAN TO 

CATCH IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA 

PUBLISHED BY: 

Peter Whitten 

RallySport Magazine 

peter@rallysportmag.com.au 

www.rallysportmag.com.au 

ADVERTISING 

Dominic Corkeron, 0499 981 188 

dominic@rallysportmag.com.au 

04 EDITORIAL 

IS THE ARC AT THE CROSSROADS? 

05 LATEST RALLY NEWS 

NEWS FROM AROUND THE SPORT 

16 5 MINUTES WITH ... 

NEW ZEALAND’S EMMA GILMOUR 

18 HAYDEN PADDON COLUMN 

THE KIWI WAS 6TH IN FINLAND 

40 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? 

WAYNE BELL IS ONE OF AUSTRALIAN 

RALLYING’S GREATS 

52 HOLMES COLUMN 

MARTIN HOLMES AND HIS MONTHLY 

RALLY COLUMN 

66 COMING EVENTS 

WHAT’S ON NEAR YOU? 

YOU KNOW? 

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go directly to an advertiser’s website? 

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publishers. RallySport Magazine takes care in compiling 

specifications, prices and details but cannot accept 

responsibility for any errors. The opinions expressed by 

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necessarily those of RallySport Magazine. 

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EDITORIAL 

ARC AT THE CROSSROADS? 

By TOM SMITH 

Is the Australian Rally Championship 

at a crossroads? Recent comments 

made public by a number 

of leading competitors express frustration 

at the current and future direction 

of the national championship, and pose 

the option of a ‘rebel’ series. 

Are we about to see the emergence 

of something akin to ‘World 

Series Rallying’? What is the real 

likelihood of a second series of some 

kind, created in direct competition to 

the CAMS-authorised ARC? 

Firstly, the reasons for this outcry 

need to be considered and understood. 

The specification and rules of the ARC 

in recent years has changed often, and 

with much experimentation. 

The current rules are something of 

a compromise again, with changes 

introduced late in 2015 to enable 

increased competitiveness of older 

cars to compete against new models, 

and the newly-conceived G4 category 

that allows 4WD mechanicals to be 

implanted in a mainstream small car 

(and find commonalities with New 

Zealand). 

Comments made by ARC Chairman, 

David Waldon, in last month’s 

RallySport Magazine suggested that 

age limits of cars may be introduced 

and changes may be implemented in 

coming years to move away from the 

current formulae. 

This is when the proverbial hit the 

fan. Current competitors - who have 

invested (in some cases) hundreds of 

thousands of dollars buying, building 

or developing newbreed 

rally cars to 

compete in our highest 

domestic category - 

thought that they were 

being forewarned of 

obsolescence and 

massive financial impacts. 

Reading into the article, 

current leading team 

and car owners thought 

their cars would be 

excluded from competing 

in the medium term, 

and effectively rendered 

un-saleable in the longer 

term. 

Subsequent feedback 

from members of 

the Australian Rally 

Commission (ARCom) - 

“This is when the 

proverbial hit 

the fan. Current 

competitors thought 

that they were 

being forewarned 

of massive financial 

impacts.” 

not CAMS - reminded all parties that 

no decision had been recommended 

nor made, and that any changes 

to any series specification entailed a 

full and consultative process before 

any decisions would be endorsed and 

implemented. 

Such is the sensitivity of this subject, 

competitors with long memories will 

recall that similar changes of rules in 

past years have resulted in frustrations 

with the sport’s regulator, and 

questions as to the sense behind some 

of the changes made. 

The reality is that rallying at the 

national level is cyclic, and over the past 

30 years the modern era of rallying has 

changed often. 

In the early 80s, Group G was the 

standard category, which ironically 

is arguably the specification of many 

of the current crop of ‘Classic’ rally 

cars. Production Rally Cars (PRC) 

took Australia in the direction of more 

standard specification, and evolved 

to include internationally recognised 

Group A and Group N, that remained 

stable for a number of years. 

In an effort to open up competition 

and attract manufacturer interest, 

ARCom introduced Group N (P), which 

resulted in well-built Corollas from 

the Neal Bates stable, and the Fordsupported 

Focus rear-wheel drive of 

Michael Guest. No other manufacturers 

supported the ‘prototype’ class. 

In recent years, another change took 

the top level of the sport to the G2 

category for 2WD, front-wheel drive 

cars. While competitors embraced 

the class change with enthusiasm, a 

number of years of the underwhelming 

2WD championship ended in 2015. 

As the 2016 Australian Rally 

Championship continues to unfold, 

the competition is close and diverse 

with cars from PRC, Group N and G4 

battling for the top five positions ... and 

this may be the crux of the issue. 

The current set of formulae, whilst 

not perfect, is attracting competitor and 

spectator interest - ironically without 

free-to-air TV coverage for the first time 

in a number of years. 

It is far from easy being a volunteer 

administrator in a competitive 

motorsport environment. It is a difficult 

task to keep all stakeholders happy, 

and even when changes are made in 

response to public demand, others will 

not be happy. 

There’s an old saying, “If it ain’t broke, 

then don’t fix it!!” A period of rule 

stability at a time when the sport is 

trying to rebuild, may be the smartest 

decision to be made. 

Cars like JJ Hatton’s Lancer Evo 

IX may be ineligible to win the 

ARC in years to come. 


NEWS@RALLYSPORTMAG.COM.AU 

AP4 BARINAS 

TAKING SHAPE 

IN NZ 

The Holden Barina AP4 

cars are taking shape in New 

Zealand, as the new team 

prepares for the 2017 New 

Zealand Rally Championship. 

Former V8 Super car 

driver, Greg Murphy, admits 

that the progress so far 

is “very exciting”, and as 

the photos show, the new 

Barinas are taking shape. 

The purposeful looking 

Barinas will be fitted with 

engines built in the United 

States. 

Murphy and team-mate, 

Josh Marston, will contest all 

rounds of next year’s NZRC 

in the cars. 

- PETER WHITTEN 

The AP4 phenomenon 

continues in New Zealand, 

with the new Holden 

Barinas under construction. 

UP TO 10 AP4 CARS FOR NZRC 

Four cars have been seen in New 

Zealand in 2016 running the base of 

AP4, but interest has spiked. 

As well as the two Holden Barinas 

being built for Josh Marston and Greg 

Murphy, interest has been shown 

to build as many as three other 

manufacturer of cars. 

On top of this, Andrew Hawkeswood 

will campaign a brand new Mazda 2 in 

2017, complete with 1600cc engine. 

As many as 10 of the cars could 

realistically be on the start line for the 

opening round of 2017. 

Meanwhile, new regulations have 

been confirmed for the next three 

years, particularly surrounding AP4 

cars in the NZRC. 

Cars running under the 1600cc 

formula will have a weight limit of 

1230kg, while a new AP4+ class allows 

for the 1800cc engines currently being 

run, with a 1300kg weight limit. 

Both classes will be required to run 

a 34mm turbo restrictor. Cars up to 

2-litre will run with a 1350kg limit. 

- BLAIR BARTELS 

COFFS COAST, NSW 

17-20 NOVEMBER 2016 

FOLLOW 

THE ACTION 

AS IT HAPPENS 

SEE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE FOR 

FANTASTIC PRIZES AND OFFERS 

#YOUHAVETOBETHERE 



JETTY STAGE FOR RALLY OZ 

The WRC stars will race beside the 

shore of Coffs Harbour on an arenastyle 

Super Special Stage at Kennards 

Hire Rally Australia in November. 

The Destination NSW Super Special 

Stage, to be run on Friday and Saturday 

of the November 17-20 event, is one of 

the entertainment highlights this year. 

Fans at the Super Special Stage will 

see WRC cars complete two runs on a 

1.27 kilometre waterfront course on 

Jordan Esplanade, in the jetty recreation 

precinct of Coffs Harbour. 

Action starts at 5pm each day, 

ensuring excellent daylight viewing 

from grandstands and other elevated 

vantage points. 

Against a backdrop of harbour and 

Pacific Ocean, stars such as World 

Champion Sebastien Ogier, Mads 

Ostberg, Ott Tanak and recent round 

winners Andreas Mikkelsen, Hayden 

Paddon and Thierry Neuville will tackle 

a jump and a motocross-style berm 

corner on the new course. 

Rally Australian Chairman Ben 

Rainsford says the stage promises a 

fun-filled experience for families and 

rally enthusiasts. 

The traditional special stages of 

Kennards Hire Rally Australia will again 

traverse forestry and rural shire roads 

north and south of the Coffs Harbour 

service park and headquarters. 

Friday will feature spectator points 

around Taylors Arm and Urunga in 

Nambucca Shire, and Saturday moves 

slightly farther north to locations at 

Talarm, Bowraville, Argents Hill and 

Newee Creek. 

And there will be a bonus for 

spectators on Friday and Saturday 

mornings with the new Raleigh Super 

6 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - AUGUST 2016 

Special Stage, a 1.37km test run at a 

multi-motorsports facility 20km south 

of Coffs Harbour, and close to the 

Pacific Highway. 

Sunday’s finale, including the 

televised WRC Power Stage, will be 

played out at the Flooded Gum Rally 

Village on the Wedding Bells Stage. 

Food, drink, live commentary, 

entertainment, souvenir stands, other 

attractions and the brilliance of WRC 

drivers in action will make Flooded Gum 

an exciting climax to the Kennards Hire 

Rally Australia weekend. 

Tickets to nine spectator points 

across the rally’s three competition 

days are available. Adult prices range 

from just $29 for a one-day visit to $140 

for a three-day Super Pass, including 

grandstand seating at the Super Special 

Stage. 

Spectator tickets are available at 

www.ticketek.com 

SKODA R5 FOR 

MARK PEDDER 

AT RALLY OZ? 

Australian Rally Championship 

(ARC) regular, Mark Pedder, is 

currently working on a deal that 

would see him driving a Skoda 

Fabia R5 in WRC2 at this year’s 

Rally Australia. 

Although discussions are 

currently in the early stages, 

Pedder’s plan is to bring the car 

to Australia later this year, with 

the goal of then running the car 

in next year’s ARC. 

The Skoda would be run and 

maintained by Perth-based Race 

Torque Engineering. 

While Pedder has driven his 

Peugeot 208 Maxi in the ARC 

over the past two seasons, 

the car has suffered reliability 

problems on a regular basis, 

robbing him of the chance of 

good results. 

The addition of a Skoda Fabia 

R5 into the championship would 

be a huge coup for the series, 

which is enjoying a resurgence in 

2016. 

Pedder’s brother, Scott, has 

driven a European-prepared 

Fabia in several rounds of this 

year’s World Rally Championship, 

showing impressive speed. 

- PETER WHITTEN

OFFICIAL 2016 

SPECTATOR TOUR 

BROUGHT TO YOU BY 

Rally Show, 

Shakedown, Super 

Special, all 3 days and 

podium presentation 

November 16 - 21, 2016 

CLICK HERE to download 

the 2016 Rally Australia 

Tour brochure 

The tour includes: 

➜ Five nights twin share hotel room at Aanuka Beach Resort 

➜ Cooked breakfast each day ➜ Boxed lunches on 3 rally days 

➜ Tours and transfers by private coach with driver 

➜ Exclusive tour activity pre-event 

➜ Welcome dinner function on Wednesday evening 

➜ 3 day rally super pass with grandstand seating Friday night 

➜ Official RallySport Magazine tour merchandise 

➜ Priority viewing at Ceremonial Finish and/or Power Stage 

➜ Pre-event Shakedown, Rally Show and Ceremonial Start 

➜ Farewell dinner on Sunday night 

Official Rally Australia Tour hosted by RallySport Magazine 



2017 WRC 

LOOKING 

STRONG 

Anticipation is already at fever pitch ahead of the 2017 

World Rally Championship, even though the first round is still 

over five months away. 

Citroen, Ford and Toyota (pictured) have all been busy 

testing their 2017 spec cars recently, as have Volkswagen and 

Hyundai. 

If the photos and videos release so far are anything to go by, 

2017 is going to be one not to be missed. 


QUINN’S WRC CAR PLANS FALL SHORT 

By PETER WHITTEN 

Plans for Coffs Harbour’s Nathan Quinn to drive a factory-supported 

World Rally Car in November’s Rally 

Australia have hit a dead-end. 

The local favourite drove a Mini World Rally Car in the 

2013 WRC qualifier, finishing in the top 10, and was hoping 

to repeat the performance. 

“We’ve been conversing for a few months to drive a 

factory car here, and it was surprisingly close,” Quinn said. 

“Unfortunately, just before Rally Finland, the plans fell 

through.” 

Quinn is now targeting a drive in the WRC2 category 

at Rally Australia, but admits that his team have lost a 

lot of planning time because of their World Rally Car 

negotiations. 

“I expect we will have to find a large budget, but we are 

hopeful that a team may choose not to run Rally Australia, 

and that we come across a deal similar to that which 

allowed us to drive the Mini in 2013,” Quinn told RallySport 

Magazine. 

MOLLY’S DEBUT SUBARU WIN 

Molly Taylor and Bill Hayes 

recorded their debut win for the 

new Subaru team in the Southern 

Safari Tasmania on August 6. 

Their Group N production class 

WRX STI NR4 swept to victory in 

the 98.86 kilometre round of the 

Eastern Autobody Tasmanian Rally 

Series. 

Molly’s win is believed to be 

the first by a female driver in 

the history of the Tasmanian 

championship. 

The team was a consistent 

second across the first eight stages, 

then pounced on stage nine – 

ending with best times across the 

last three stages. 

It was a tight tussle across the 

day with Launceston brothers 

Marcus and Scott Walkem in their 

Mitsubishi Evo X. 

But patience paid off for the 

Subaru pair, who finished with an 

overall margin of just 29.6 seconds 

over the Walkems. 

The local knowledge and 

expertise of the Les Walkden Rally 

Team also helped the Subaru duo. 

Team Principal, Les Walkden, also 

proved his ability, with an eighthplace 

finish in his Mitsubishi Pajero, 

in the off-road class. 

“We didn’t have a great start, 

with a puncture in the first loop of 

stages,” Taylor reported. 

“From there the challenge was on 

and we really enjoyed battling with 

the Walkem brothers. 

“Our first win for our car is a 

great moment for the whole team, 

so a huge thanks to them! 

“Also to the organisers for 

putting on such a well run event on 

fantastic roads.” 

The winning crew were presented 

with the Ken Roddam Memorial 

Trophy after their victory. 

Photos: Geoff Ridder 



NZ news 

RALLYCROSS 

By BLAIR BARTELS 

The 2017 NZRC Calendar is starting to take 

shape, with the first two rounds locked in, 

being the Otago Rally and Rally Whangarei, 

subject to the FIA confirming the APRC calendar. 

As many as 70 cars may fill the field for the 

final round of the 2016 NZRC, the Mahindra 

Goldrush Rally Coromandel, with 43 NZRC cars 

expected. It will be the largest championship field 

in recent history. 

Amongst that field will be two Australian 

drivers: Brendan Reeves, running a Mazda 

2 Maxi-style car, and Bruce Fullerton, driving a 

Mitsubishi Starion. Bolstering the international 

field further is Patrick Christian, who will drive a 

Mitsubishi Evo 10. 

Gull Rally Challenge competitor, Bryn Smith, will 

miss the final round after fracturing his back 

in an accident while participating in the Tauranga 

Clubman’s Rally. 

Smith was the only competitor who could 

challenge Kingsley Jones for the title, and is 

recovering well for next season. 

The Tauranga Clubman’s Rally saw several 

NZRC contenders out competing, with Matt 

Summerfield taking the win in the Team Ralliart 

prepared Mitsubishi Mirage normally campaigned 

by Brian Green. Second was Phil Campbell, denied 

a hat-trick of wins on his home event, while third 

place went to Wayne Pittams. 

Three time national champion, Neil Allport, 

will make a return to the stages for Rally 

Coromandel, driving his Ford Escort RS1600 

(pictured). He will be in good company with four 

time champion, Bruce Herbert, driving his Hondapowered 

Mk2 Escort, while outgoing champion, 

Ben Hunt, and champion-elect, David Holder, will 

both be fighting for the outright win. 

Sean Bolger leads Justin Dowel and Will 

Orders at Lakeside (above), while Orders gets 

his Lancer Evo sideways. (Photos: Mat Jones) 

Photo: Geoff Ridder 


HITS THE TARGET 

“It has the potential 

to be bigger than 

V8 Supercars.” 

- Justin Dowel 


There’s still a chance that rallycross 

could be the next ‘big thing’ 

in Australian motorsport, after 

a successful event in Queensland on 

August 6. 

After a couple of failed attempts 

to get rallycross up and running last 

year, an event was held at the Lakeside 

Motorsport Complex, north of Brisbane. 

Competitors included 2011 Australian 

Rally Champion, Justin Dowel, and 

former Australian junior champion, Will 

Orders, who both came away from the 

event brimming with enthusiasm. 

Entry numbers are growing with each 

event run, and Dowel says he’s seen 

enough to believe there is a big place 

for rallycross in Australia. 

“When we lined up for the start of the 

first race, I literally thought it was going 

to be quite boring driving around a 

short, one kilometre track,” Dowel said. 

“But as soon as I got to the first 

corner I quickly realised how intense 

rallycross is, and fell in love with the 

concept and can’t wait to see the sport 

grow.” 

The Melbourne businessman drove 

the Hyundai i20 Proto that he normally 

campaigns in the Australian Rally 

Championship, and says that after 

sampling rallycross he has little interest 

in future ARC campaigns. 

“It was an incredible experience. 

The sport is spectator friendly and the 

action is close and insanely addictive,” 

Dowel added. 

“With the uncertainty regarding the 

ARC regulations at present, I have 

no interest in being involved in the 

championship until they come up with 

a solid five-year plan. 

“I would much rather put my full 

support behind rallycross and help 

to see it grow to the heights that I’m 

certain it can achieve. 

“I have no doubts that it has 

the potential to be bigger than V8 

Supercars, and Will (Orders) and I have 

already started putting together plans 

to run a two-car team of Hyundais in 

the series, and build future G4 Proto 

cars for the sport. 

“The cars are extremely exciting to 

watch and relatively cheap to build and 

maintain.” 

Rounds of a national rallycross 

series are expected to be held in each 

Australian state. 

Also competing in the Lakeside event 

was 13-year Sean Bolger, a young 

Queenslander who has already been 

mentored by Alister McRae, and is seen 

as a real star of the future. 




RALLY ROUND-UP 

No Circuit of Ireland in 2017 

Ireland’s more prestigious 

rally, the European 

championship Circuit of 

Ireland, is not to be held in 

2017, as announced by the 

Event Director, Bobby Willis. 

The decision is due to 

funding uncertainty. Willis 

has managed the Circuit since 

2009. 

“We have been working 

hard with all our funders 

to plan ahead for 2017, but 

regrettably the financial 

resources required to deliver 

the event are still not in 

place,” Willis said. 

“To run the rally next year 

Proudly announcing the 

Southern Cross 

Gold Anniversary Rally 

November 8 to 19, 2016 

Re-trace the 1966 route through 

Victoria and then via Canberra to 

Sydney to enjoy the classic roads 

of the later Southern Cross Rallies 

around Port Macquarie. 

The rally finishes in Coffs Harbour 

where you’ll join the field of 

WRC cars competing in the final 

round of the 2016 World Rally 

Championship and compete on 

some of the WRC route.. 

Another Classic HRA re-run 

www.hra.org.au 

in the current format without 

the right resources and 

necessary planning period 

would be to do the rally a 

gross disservice. 

“I believe we cannot risk 

proceeding with the 2017 

event at this point without 

financial certainty.” 

While other options for 

a small, local rally may 

be considered for next 

year, Willis’ plan is to work 

to secure the necessary 

resources and plan for the 

Circuit of Ireland Rally to 

return in 2018. 

- MARTIN HOLMES 

Daily competitive 

sections including: 

• Closed road 

stages 

• Hillclimbs 

• Timed track 

sections 

Each day finishes 

in time to enjoy a 

meal and lots of 

socialising! 

Winner Adrian Coppin. (Photo: Aaron Wishart) 

Coppin wins Narooma 

ARC regulars Adrian 

Coppin and Erin Kelly 

(pictured above) took out 

the popular Narooma Forest 

Rally on July 23rd, driving a 

Toyota Corolla S2000. 

The pair won the six-stage 

event by nearly two minutes 

from the Lancer Evo X of 

Mick Patton and Bernie 

Webb, with Chris Higgs and 

Kirra Penny third in their 

Subaru WRX. 

Tony Sullens appeared 

in a Ford Fiesta to take 

fourth place, with the top 

five rounded out by Andrew 

Penny‘s Subaru. Bethany 

Cullen was an impressive 

sixth in her Lancer Evo 6.5. 

The rally saw the driving 

debut of Lewis Bates, 

youngest son of Neal. 

Brother Harry sat in the 

co-driver’s seat in the frontwheel 

drive Toyota Corolla 

that he drove last season. 

Lewis finished the event 

in 19th place from the 45 

starters. 

Retirements included 

Michael Harding (Subaru) 

and Rhys Pinter (Ford 

Fiesta). 

Top six finishers: 

1. Adrian Coppin / Erin 

Kelly, Toyota Corolla S2000, 

1h14m29s 

2. Mick Patton / Bernie 

Webb, Mitsubishi Lancer 

Evo X, 1h16m20s 

3. Chris Higgs / Kirra 

Penny, Subaru WRX STI, 

1h17m58s 

4. Tony Sullens / Kaylie 

Newell, Ford Fiesta, 

1h19m30s 

5. Andrew Penny / Rhys 

Llewellyn, Subaru WRX STI, 

1h19m32s 

6. Bethany Cullen / 

Matthew Cullen, Mitsubishi 

Lancer Evo 6.5, 1h20m02s 

Lewis Bates made his driving debut. (Photo: Aaron Wishart) 

Head to the website for more information 

www.southerncrossanniversaryrally.com.au 

Albury Mansfield Sale Jindabyne Canberra 

Parramatta Taree Port Macquarie Coffs Harbour 


Emma Gilmour will 

compete in the Italian Baja. 



PAGE 

turner 


Queensland-built Subaru could be Rally America bound 

Queenslander Luke Page is hoping his Subaru WRX 

STI will be ready for a gravel debut at Rally Australia 

in November, but the car could end up being sent to 

the USA to contest the Rally America Championship. 

Although the car was purchased to become a top-flight 

contender under Australia’s Production Rally Car regulations, 

it is currently serving as a test bed for his employer, MCA 

Suspension, where it helps to evaluate their road-going 

suspension. 

“Initial track use and testing has already shown what a brilliant 

chassis the new Subaru platform is, and I really can’t wait to 

finish the build and get it on the dirt,” Page told RallySport 

Magazine. 

“Recently the car was stripped, caged and put back together 

for the annual Subi Nats event at Phillip Island, where it took 

first place in the Clubman Class. Now it will be stripped again to 

finish the build to gravel rally specification, including some more 

fabrication and paint.” 

But Page is in no hurry to get the car finished, and says a 

deadline has not been set, despite his eagerness to drive it on 

the gravel. 

“This car is being built to serve my needs for the next five 

or more years, so doing it right is more important to me than 

doing a few rallies sooner. 

“Over the last few years I have become less desperate to do 

rallies at any cost. I feel more driven and focused than ever to 

compete, but I understand a whole lot more about how this 

should be done properly, and I think I’ve learned to be a little 

more patient. There will always be another rally!” 

The goal is a debut at the WRC round in Coffs Harbour, but 

between now and then there’s still plenty to be done. Among 

the jobs is the pedal box and brakes, underbody protection, 

a MoTec ECU, the fitment of a turbo restrictor and, as Page 

stresses, the 100 five minute jobs. 


Where the car ends up after Rally 

Australia is still up for discussion 

however, and shipping the car to the USA 

is more than a possibility. 

“With the current talk around rule 

directions and age limits within the 

Australian Rally Championship (ARC), I am 

currently exploring the option of sending 

the car to the USA to do the Rally America 

Championship,” he says. 

“The ARC this year has been great, 

and it’s disappointing to read about its 

intended direction. 

“America is an emerging market for us 

here at MCA Suspension, so it also makes 

sense from a branding position to send 

the car over there. Throw in the chance to 

win contingency money from Subaru America and I’m sold!” 

It’s hoped that Australian rally fans get the pleasure of seeing the car in action 

‘Down Under’, rather than seeing it shipped to the other side of the world. 

TECH SPECS 

Car: Subaru STi NR4. Purchased 

from Subaru Australia 

Engine: Stock Jap Spec EJ207 

Cage: Custom by Prowerx in QLD 

Suspension: Currently MCA Red 

series for tarmac, will be MCA 

Gold series for gravel 

Wheels: Tarmac- Koya CR TEK 

-17x9 +42. Gravel - Speedline Type 

2218 in gold of course! 

Seats: Sabelt GT300 

Harness: Sabelt Hans 6 point 

Current weight: 1390kg 


FIVE MINUTES WITH .... 

5 

minutes with ... 

EMMA GILMOUR 

New Zealand’s fastest lady rally driver is 

more than a match for her male rivals. 

Age: 36 

Marital status: Single 

Children: Do cats count? Two Burmese 

cats - Harri and Millie 

Occupation: 

Business owner and Dealer Principal - 

Gilmour Motors Suzuki 

Place of birth: 

Dunedin, New Zealand 

Where do you live: 

Dunedin, New Zealand 

Does your spouse / partner like rallying? 

The cats are only bothered by it when 

I travel lots :-) 

Any other hobbies? 

Trail bike riding, gym, reading, 

shopping, baking, horse riding, water 

sports 

Favourite food: 

Italian pizza 

Favourite drink: 

Freshly made juice 

Favourite sports person (other than 

rallying): 

Sir Mark Todd - NZ Olympic 

Equestrian 

Favourite film: 

Forrest Gump 

Emma driving a Ford Fiesta ST 

in the 2006 Deutschland Rally. 

(Photo: Maurice Selden) 

Favourite holiday destination: 

Somewhere warm. 

How did you start out in rallying? 

I started navigating for my sister 

Monica and my cousin Gwynn. I really 

enjoyed co-driving and ended up codriving 

for Stumpy Holmes, and also 

Alistair Cavanagh at Rally of Canberra 

one year. 

At the same time I started doing 

some Otago Sports Car Club events like 

autocrosses and tarmac sprints in my 

road car. I thoroughly enjoyed driving, 

but never thought to have a go at it 

seriously as I couldn’t afford to do it as 

a hobby. 

First event: 

Targa Bambina 2002. Finished 6th 

overall and 1st in class out of 96 entries. 

First car: 

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3 

Which car club do you belong to? 

I belong to two - Otago Sports Car 

Club and Eastern Southland Car Club. 

Do you ever officiate on events? 

Unfortunately I haven’t yet. 

Have you competed overseas? Where and 

when? 

I’ve been very lucky to rally all over 

the world. I competed in the 2009 

Asia-Pacific series which included 

Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and China. 

I have also competed in Australia, 

Finland, Germany, UK, Qatar, Italy, and 

I competed In the Red Bull Global Rally 

Cross series in America in 2014. 

Favourite rally car: 

Naturally I’m going to say our Suzuki 

Swift AP4 rally car. Now that we are 

starting to get the best out of the set-up 

it’s really enjoyable to drive. 

Favourite rally driver: 

Possum Bourne. 

Favourite forest or event: 

Otago Rally. Amazing roads 

whichever direction it is run, and 

it is my home event. 

Things you dislike about rallying? 

The unnecessary cost of certain 

aspects of it. I appreciate that it is 

always going to be an expensive 

sport, but I feel some things 

could be done differently to save 

costs for competitors. 

Best result: 

Winning the Canterbury Rally 

this year. It was hugely satisfying 

for our team to get the win in 

our Suzuki, which we’ve built and 

developed from scratch. 


Best rally memory: 

I have too many to pick just one. I 

think the predominant memory that I 

have from being involved in the sport is 

all of the people and friendships that I 

have made through competing. 

From the officials, to the mechanics, 

to the support crews, to the other 

competitors - I have made many 

lifetime friendships through rallying. 

Strangest incident on a rally: 

I can think of many rally incidents 

that are memorable, but probably 

not strange for rallying. How about 

strange animals whilst rallying overseas 

- camels, lizards, drunken Finnish 

spectators, snakes, and closer to home 

sheep, cows and Pukekos! 

Biggest accident: 

In 2007 I had a high speed crash off 

a ridge line in Rally Whangarei. My seat 

broke in the accident so I came loose 

in my belts and smashed my helmet on 

the roll cage. 

The concussion and subsequent head 

injury took a long time to get over - 

even though I rallied three weeks later!! 

Achievements gained from rallying: 

Winning the Cross Country selection 

event in Qatar last year was an amazing 

opportunity. 

Learning from the world’s best, Jutta 

Kleinschmidt, about how to navigate 

dunes and read the desert was 

something special. 

Also owning and running my own 

rally team, along with owning and 

running my own Suzuki dealership. 

Rallying has given me a lot of life skills 

that I wouldn’t have gained elsewhere. 

If you had $100,000 to spend on rallying, 

what would you do? 

I’d put it towards competing in an R5 

car in an international series or one off 

event. 

What is next on the list for Emma Gilmour? 

The 2017 NZ Rally Championship. I 

still want to be NZ Rally Champion and 

to win my home event. 

In what car will that be in? 

In our Suzuki Swift AP4. 

Do you have plans to compete overseas 

more, and if so, where and when? 

I am always working on plans to 

compete overseas again. Although I am 

fully committed to my business and 

rallying here in NZ, I still have a dream 

of doing more international rallying. 

What is the biggest challenge facing 

rallying at present? 

In New Zealand, I think it is trying to 

keep an even playing field between the 

new generation of cars that are being 

built and the older existing fleet. 

L-R: Sisters Monica and 

Emma, with parents Carola 

and Alistair. 

2014 Global RallyCross series in a Hyundai. 


HAYDEN PADDON COLUMN 

What a busy week it was at 

Rally Finland. While we were 

unable to capture the result 

we went there for, we were still able 

to bank valuable points and keep us in 

a tight fight within the top five of the 

World Championship. 

With over 40% of the route this year 

being new, it meant that there was a 

lot more work than normal writing, 

adjusting and refining the pace notes. 

This also coupled with the fact that 

we did not compete on any of last 

year’s day two stages (which were 

this year’s day 1), meant we had a lot 

of homework and preparation that 

needed to be done between the recce 

and the rally. 

It was also strange this year to see 

how much road sweeping had an affect 

during the rally. What compounded this 

more than normal is that the region 

had had a lot of rain in the build up to 

the event, which then followed with 


VALUABLE 

POINTS IN 

FINLAND 

some sunshine, meant the base of the 

roads became very compact and hard. 

On top of this you had a thin layer 

of small gravel that acted like ball 

bearings. Before the event we thought 

third on the road (our championship 

position) was a good place to be, but it 

soon become apparent that it wasn’t – 

that became worse on Saturday when 

Sébastien (Ogier) dropped back with 

some problems, and we were then 

second on the road. 

We started a little slowly on Friday 

morning, trying to adapt to a smoother 

more precise driving style that seemed 

efficient in testing. However, the stage 

times begged to differ, so we then 

reverted back to my more aggressive 

natural style, which was a step in the 

right direction. 

Try as we did, it was clear that the 

road positions were playing a bigger 

part in the outcome of the rally, and no 

matter what we tried with my driving 

or car set-up, the pattern and time 

difference of stage times to our nearest 

competitors didn’t change. 

But it was pleasing to be competitive 

with Sébastien and Andreas, who were 

on the road around us, and competing 

directly with the guys behind us. 

One thing that did become more 

apparent to me this weekend is that 

while I have always understood the 

sweeping affect on the first pass, this 

was the first time I also experienced it 

on the second pass, which I normally 

did not think was such an issue on the 

repeat loop of stages. 

So, some good lessons were learnt 

from this, and we can adapt a better 

driving approach and car set-up for 

when we are in loose conditions for the 

future. 

Of course it is something that is 

hard to test for, as after three 

or four runs in testing the loose 

gravel is gone and the rest of the day is 

spent on a road that is swept with good 

grip. We’ll do some homework in this 

area. 

The rest of the rally went without 

issue for us, and on Saturday and 

Sunday I was happy and enjoyed the 

driving. This year the stages were the 

smoothest and best I have ever seen in 

Finland, which were incredible to drive. 

On the short final day, we were 

involved in a close battle with our teammate, 

Thierry, for fourth, and despite 

missing out by two seconds, it was 

pleasing to get some bonus points on 

the Power Stage, and overall we were 

the fastest over the day. So there were 

some positives to take away from the 

weekend, and plenty of lessons. 

It was also great to see more drivers 

on the podium, with Kris Meeke being 

the first British driver to win Rally 

Finland (an event normally dominated 

by Scandinavians) and his team mate, 

Craig Breen, getting his first podium. 

The WRC is going through an exciting 

phase, which is only building up to what 

I believe will be an even better year in 

2017. 

For now, we change tact as we head 

for four tarmac rallies in a row. It’s not 

my area of expertise, but we will treat 

these events as an opportunity to learn 

and develop as, after all, if we want to 

have a chance of fighting for the title 

in the future, we can’t just be fast on 

gravel. 

So the training starts immediately, 

with some tarmac training in France 

with Nicolas Bernadi, followed by two 

days of testing. Then it is the team’s 

home rally – Rally Germany. 

Thanks again for all your support, 

- HAYDEN

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F 

FEATURE: SKODA AP4+ 

PHOTOS: Peter Whitten, Geoff Ridder, Glenn Inkster 



ABIA-LICIOUS 

Glenn’s inking a place in NZ rallying history 

New Zealand’s embracing of the new 

AP4 vehicle regulations has been one 

of the huge positives from the 2016 

rally season, and the category appears likely 

to go from strength to strength. 

And while the three cars running in this 

year’s NZ Rally Championship aren’t AP4 cars 

to the letter of the law, they’re pretty close. 

Glenn Inkster’s Skoda Fabia is arguably 

the prettiest of the bunch, and compliments 

the Hyundai New Zealand i20, and Andrew 

Hawkeswood’s Mazda 2 – all built by 

Hawkeswood’s Force Motorsport operation. 

The AP4 rules were developed for the 

Asia-Pacific region as a cost-effective way of 

building cars similar to those running under 

the R5 banner in Europe. 

The idea was to enable cars to be built 

locally, using locally sourced components 

that are controlled either by MotorSport New 

Zealand, or the Confederation of Australian 

Motor Sport. 

➜ 



The regulations stipulate that cars 

must run 1.6 litre turbocharged engines, 

however, because of the cost of 

developing these units, it was agreed that, 

initially at least, engines of up to two litres 

would be allowed. 

This means that the cars, including the 

Hyundai driven by Hayden Paddon, and 

Inkster’s Skoda, are classified as AP4+. 

“In many ways, the Skoda is very similar 

to the other AP4 cars, with the obvious 

difference being the engine, which is a 1.8 

litre turbo motor that has been used in 

many different VW group cars, including 

the Skoda Octavia RS,” Inkster says. 

Coupled with a Sadev 6-speed gearbox, 

the Skoda is an impressive 

machine, although Inkster hasn’t 

really had a clean run in the car so far this 

year. 

Like any new car, however, reliability is a 

work in progress, and it’s the smaller items 

WHAT IS AP4? 

MotorSport New Zealand (MSNZ) and 

the Confederation of Australian Motor 

Sport (CAMS) collaboratively developed 

the AP4 technical regulations for a 

new generation of 4WD turbocharged 

rally car eligible for competition in 

both National and International events 

within the Asia-Pacific region. 

The official definition of the category 

is listed as: 

GROUP AP4 is a rally category 

developed for National and Regional 

competition for forced induction 4 

wheel - drive cars. 

It is based upon the principles of the 

FIA Group R5 category and is intended 

to create cars of similar performance, 

as well as that of the Super 2000 Rallies 

and Group N (including R4) categories. 

The concept of the AP4 Rally Car 

is to produce a build specification 

/ technical regulation that ensures 

cars can be locally built from locally 

sourced component parts, controlled 

either directly or indirectly by the ASN 

[MotorSport NZ or CAMS]. 

The overriding intention is to 

ensure that the build specification 

is controlled, whilst guaranteeing 

that initial build, as well as ongoing 

maintenance costs, are kept within 

realistic bounds. 

Manufacturer / Dealer involvement is 

encouraged with respect to promoting 

their brand through support of 

Competitors / Teams in building and 

campaigning their marque. 




“The regulations stipulate 

that cars must run 1.6 litre 

turbocharged engines, 

however, because of the 

cost of developing these 

units, it was agreed that, 

initially at least, engines 

of up to two litres would 

be allowed.” 

and the attention to detail that really 

appeals to Inkster. 

“We were very lucky to be able to 

purchase a genuine Skoda Motorsport 

body kit for the car, as well as a few 

other bits, like the carbon inside 

door cards, the roof vent, and the 

underguard protection,” he says. 

“Even something as simple as the 

factory window sliders in the front side 

windows just work so nicely. 

“So being able to make use of these 

parts, and yet still base the car on these 

new AP4 rules, has been a real plus.” 

The bulk of the car was built at 

Force Motorsport, but Inkster 

has also played his part in putting 

the car together. 

“Working for Transnet here in New 

Zealand also gave us access to some 

nice mill-spec Tyco wire and Dutch 

connectors, so I wired the car myself. 

“Not only did this allow us to save 

some cost in the build, but it’s also good 

to know the wiring and electronics well, 

in case of a problem at an event.” 

Local New Zealand and Australian 

businesses were also a big help in the 

car’s construction. 

“Racetech were able to get our 

ECOLight logos placed on the seats 

and belts, and with some time spent 

modifying the original dash insert to 

take a Motec colour dash, the whole 

inside of the car is nice and tidy,” 

Inkster explains. 

“Obviously our ECOlight colours are 

very close to the SKODA factory colours, 

and so this, combined with a nice 

looking rally car to start with, is why we 

are so happy with the way the whole 

thing has turned out. 

“Of course all of this would be 

insignificant if the cars didn’t go well, 

but I think that these new cars from 

Force Motorsport have all performed 

very well so far. 

“We haven’t been finishing the events, 

but the last two have been self-inflicted 

and not due to the car being unreliable. 

Even when we did have a few small 

mechanical dramas, they were only 

small things, and we have been pleased 

with the stage times when we have had 

a clean run. 

“All in all it feels like a great time 

to be a part of the NZRC, and on the 

back of the success of Hayden, and 

some hard work by those running the 

championship, the NZRC seems to be 

going from strength to strength at the 

moment. 

“For sure, the 2017 New Zealand Rally 

Championship will be memorable!” 

Find us at: www.chicane.co.nz 

Call us o 


SPECIFICATIONS: 

Engine: VW group 1.8 litre turbo. 

Transmission: 6-speed SADEV 

Differential: SADEV 

Suspension: MCA 

Steering: Evo 10 steering rac 

Brakes: Alcon 

Wheels/Tyres: 15” Speedline wheels 

Car owner: Spencer Winn 

HJC MOTORSPORTS 

n: AU 1800 CHICANE or NZ 0800 CHICANE 


INTERVIEW: MOLLY TAYLOR 

SO FAR, SO GOOD 

Story : 

PETER WHITTEN 

Subaru driver, Molly Taylor, has 

hit the ground running this year, 

impressing all with three faultless 

drives in the new Subaru do Motorsport 

WRX STI. 

With a three-month break between 

ARC rounds, Molly headed to Europe 

to catch up with her partner, Hyundai 

driver Kevin Abbring, and to watch his 

progress in Rally Finland. 

Despite the distance, Peter Whitten 

asked our fastest female her thoughts 

on the season so far. 

RSM: Three events into the ARC this year, 

how have you seen your own development as 

a driver in the Group N Subaru? 

Molly Taylor: This is my first season in 

an AWD car and my first season as a 

factory driver, so there is certainly a lot 

which I am learning in a short space of 

time. 

I am really relishing every moment of 

this opportunity, and as a driver I am 

now in a different position than I have 

been before, which definitely requires 

some adaptation. 

The team have made a strategic decision to 

stay with a production car this year, meaning 

your car is heavier and less powerful than 


many of your rivals. Has this made the start 

of the season more challenging? 

I think rallying is challenging for 

Molly and the Group N Subaru in action in 

Rally of Queensland. (Photo: Pete Johnson) 

everyone, but for sure running in a 

different specification adds a unique 

challenge for us. 

However, I think so far we have had a 

great start in our season and as well as 

a challenge, it’s also really satisfying to 

be able to prove what we can achieve in 

a production car. 

It’s great motivation for the whole 

team and really shows how well 

everyone is working together, and how 

strong the NR4 STI is. 

You have performed faultlessly this year, 

not putting a mark on the car. How satisfying 

is that, given it’s your first drive in a factory 

car? 

Thank you! This is a huge opportunity 

for me, so of course it’s very important 

to start on the right foot and prove that 

I deserve the job. 

It’s a new situation and a new type of 

pressure, but this is what I have been 

working towards for the last 10 years, 

so it’s a fantastic feeling to be taking it 

on. 

I’m very aware it’s a long road and 

PHOTO: Geoff Ridder

in many cases, the hard work is just 

starting, but I have never wanted 

anything else more than this. 

What is the team doing to further develop 

the car for the remaining two events this 

year? 

From the first time the car turned a 

wheel, it has been a great package and 

that’s a real testament to the guys at 

Les Walkden Rallying. 

We have developed the car to as far 

as the Group N regulations allow, so 

the main focus for the next events is 

tweaking the set-up to suit each rally, 

and for me to make sure I’m getting the 

most out of the car with my driving. 

South Australia will be the fastest round 

of the championship so far. Will that suit the 

Subaru more than the first three rounds? 

South Australia is typically a 

horsepower rally, as most of the ARC 

events are really, so I think we need to 

be on our game just the same as every 

rally. 

My preparation will certainly be no 

different. 

Looking forward to Rally Australia, where 

the world will be watching, how important is 

a good result in the WRC round - both from 

Subaru’s perspective, and from your own? 

For me, every rally is just as important 

as the other in terms of my preparation 

and performance. Although for sure, to 

have a great result on the WRC stage 

would be fantastic, and there are still so 

many Subaru fans in the WRC, so I think 

everyone would like to see that! 

I’ll put in 100%, as in every rally, 

so from my side I won’t be changing 

anything. 

You’ve been labelled one of the hardest 

workers of anyone in rallying, with measured 

preparation before each event. Does this just 

relate to physical preparation, or do you work 

specifically on the mental side of things as 

well? 

I think a lot comes down to how badly 

you want something. I want to arrive 

at a rally knowing that I have done 

everything I can to be as prepared as 

possible. 

Given that time in the car is always 

at a premium, most of these aspects 

fall outside of the car. So definitely a 

combination of physical preparation, 

mental, working on pacenotes, anything 

and everything! I’m always learning. 

With a three-month gap between 

Queensland and South Australia, what have 

you been up to? 

Following Queensland we had 

Bryan 

quite 

Bouffier 

a busy schedule with the launch of 

the new Subaru Levorg and SubiNats. 

It’s great to be involved with a really 

proactive company such as Subaru, so 

even when there is not a rally on, there 

is always something new and exciting 

happening. 

I have also had the chance to head 

to Europe for a few weeks and am 

Marijan Griebel 

currently writing this from Rally Finland. 

As soon as I get back to Australia it will 

be full steam ahead preparing for South 

Australia. 

A mid-season trip to Europe saw Molly 

enjoying a day on Lake Annecy in France 

(below), and sharing a motorbike ride with 

Hyundai WRC star, Kevin Abbring. 

Photos courtesy of Molly Taylor 

Alexey Lukyanuk 


INTERVIEW: DAVID HOLDER 

HOLDER COMES OF AGE 

A protégé of Hayden Paddon, Tauranga’s David Holder and co-driver, Jason Farmer, secured 

their first New Zealand Rally Championship title with victory in the Gisborne Rally in June. 

In an incisive interview with RallySport Magazine, Holder talks about the impact Paddon has had 

on his career, the role his Christian faith plays in his rallying, and his plans for the future. 

Story: PETER WHITTEN 

Photos: GEOFF RIDDER 

RallySport Magazine: Congratulations on 

winning your first national championship. It’s 

obviously a lifetime goal reached, but is there 

also a sense of relief that you’ve done it? 

David Holder: Thanks! Yeah, relief is 

certainly one of the emotions, but to be 

honest the feeling is just plain weird! 

Some people overwhelm me with 

compliments for the accomplishment 

and I feel like they’re hyping it up to 

be more than it is, then other times I’ll 

be sitting there and I just have a wee 

moment where I smile on the inside a 

little bit about the fact my name will be 

on that trophy forever, beside some 

legends of motorsport! 

The main thing I feel most of the 

time, and something I make sure I 

remember, is the gratefulness towards 

everyone that’s helped. To sit here and 

claim the championship as my success 

would be naïve, to say the least. It’s 

been a huge team effort, including lots 

of sacrifice from my wife too! 

Your career so far has been an interesting 

one. You’ve shown great speed from the 

outset, but have had a few hiccups along the 

way. What have been the most challenging 

ones? 

Hiccups is a nice way to word 

them! It’s a journey that’s certainly been 

“It makes sense, but 

honestly, who actually 

goes to an event with 

a ‘win it or bin it’ 

approach?” 

filled with ups and downs and at times 

there’s been lot of emotion involved, 

but from the moment I got behind the 

wheel, I’ve just felt like this is my calling. 

Besides, I’m not really good at anything 

else, so it’s a no brainer to focus all my 

energy on this! 

Let’s not beat around the bush 

though, there’s no denying I’ve made 

my fair share of mistakes in a car, some 

much bigger than others. 

I guess the one definitive moment 

was crashing out of Rally Whangarei 

2015 after leading for most of the rally. 

It was the first event of the national 

season, and more importantly, the first 

event of what I had publicly stated as 

my ‘professional career’. 

Basically my wife and I decided 

the time had come to commit 

wholeheartedly to chasing the 

dream. Essentially the plan was for 

me to quit my job as an engineer, 

enabling me to focus solely on finding 

sponsorship to run the car, alongside 

the other necessary steps to becoming 

the best. 

Meanwhile, in the background we 

would live off my wife’s income. It 

seemed like a brilliant plan. What could 

go wrong? 

A lot of people like the saying “to 

finish first, first you must finish’, but 

personally I hate it! I mean, yes, it 

makes sense, but honestly, who actually 

goes to an event with a ‘win it or bin it’ 

approach? 

I actually had a bit of a count up of 

my career to date and out of the 32 

rallies I’ve competed in, eight have 

ended in tears and 24 on the podium - 

nothing in between! 

This year’s NZRC has been difficult for 

everyone, with all the contenders having 

issues in at least one event. What’s been the 

key to you winning the series with one round 

remaining? 

To say it’s been a year drama filled 

year would be an understatement! 

Looking at the entry list, on paper it’s 

certainly a star-studded affair. I mean 

you’ve got all the, dare I say it, ‘old’ 

names and then us ‘younger’ guys 

starting to come through, so it was 

always going to be full of excitement. 

Personally, I feel the key to winning 

this year was the team around me. 

We’ve got a fantastic team culture going 


“He (Paddon) may be 

a WRC superstar, but 

sitting next to him I have 

zero faith we are going 

to stay on the road.” 

- David Holder 


INTERVIEW: DAVID HOLDER 

on that I’ve found is hugely important. 

Everyone involved has 100% belief in 

my abilities, regardless of what any 

doubters might say. 

Ultimately they are giving up their 

time to ensure I’ve got the best chance 

of winning, and as a result they bend 

over backwards to take stress away 

from me during events ... hopefully they 

enjoy it too! 

Not forgetting reliability as a no 

brainer too, so having Mike at Force 

Automotive as a member of the 

team and keeping the car running so 

perfectly (100% reliability over three 

years) has been important. 

It’s also been a tough year 

sponsorship wise, so we really do 

appreciate the support we have 

received, especially from the likes of 

Stadium Finance, who backed me right 

from the outset! 

Overwhelmingly, I think for me, 

God’s really had his hand in this win. 

Sorry to get all spiritual, but our faith 

“Our faith is 

something Jase and I 

both make no secret 

of, as it’s really the 

whole reason we 

compete.” 

is something Jase and I both make no 

secret of, as it’s really the whole reason 

we compete. 

We’ve managed to get through some 

pretty tough times, so feel blessed He 

gave us this championship ... heck, 

maybe our competitors could try 

the prayer approach, it seems to be 

working for us! 

Hayden Paddon has been a huge supporter 

of you for some years. What part has Hayden 

played in you becoming NZ Champion? 

Hayden has been absolutely pivotal 

in more ways than I can let on, to 

be honest. Take my first rally win at 

Whangarei for example. We were 

staring down the face of not getting to 

the event at all, and he pulled some 

strings to make sure we competed. 

He’s obviously very humble and I’ll tell 

you now his answer will be “I hardly did 

anything”, but believe me, he certainly 

played a big part. 

Mostly, our relationship consists of 

emails re-sponsorship ideas or rally 

advice, as there’s been little chance for 

actual practical driver training, but he 

always replies straight away, even when 

it’s on the evening of his WRC events. 

We’ve been in the car together a 

couple of times a few years ago, but 

honestly, we are both terrible in the 

co-driver’s seat. He may be a WRC 

superstar, but sitting next to him I have 

zero faith we are going to stay on the 

road (laughs). 

I’m sure he speaks equally as highly 

Find us at: www.chicane.co.nz 

Call us o 


about my abilities when he sits besides 

me, but maybe his are a bit more 

warranted! 

Forgetting everything else he’s done, 

the privilege of claiming him as your 

mentor and the associated media 

coverage that gets in itself is great ... for 

want of a better description, ‘riding off 

his coat tails’, so to speak, it gave me 

some credibility when perhaps I hadn’t 

quite earned it yet. 

In the background, however, it’s 

not just all about me. He’s constantly 

doing what he can for number of other 

competitors too, maybe a little less in 

the public eye, but he sees the talent 

present in a number of individuals and 

is passionate about seeing NZ rallying 

grow as a whole. 

He deserves every accolade he gets! 

Where to now for David Holder? Is winning 

a second NZ title the focus now, or are you 

looking overseas for the next opportunity in 

your career? 

Good question. Forward is the 

answer! The plan is to look at any 

opportunity around for me to get 

some overseas experience. It sounds 

straightforward enough, but as always 

budget is the contributing factor. 

I think for now the obvious place to 

start looking into is the Asia region for 

some one-off events and the like. 

I’d like to say I’ve got more on the 

table right now, but it’s early days since 

winning the title unfortunately, but 

obviously the end goal is to be World 

Champion, just as I know Hayden will 

be. 

The NZ Championship is still a major 

priority too, not that winning another 

championship is my main focus, but 

more around the experience side of 

things. 

I’m still very new to the whole game 

really (32 rallies total), so just being in 

the seat is an absolute must for me. 

That said, if we are doing the full NZ 

Championship we will be there to win it. 

AP4 is really starting to take off in New 

Zealand. Is that something you want to try? 

Absolutely! These cars are seriously 

cool and will undoubtedly just get faster 

and faster as things are developed. 

“If I’m honest, it feels 

like a long shot, but 

we’re having a crack 

regardless.” 

I’ve been lucky enough to have a small 

squirt in Andrew Hawkeswood’s Mazda, 

and I can say they are the real deal! 

Next year will see the introduction 

of at least two new AP4s, and I think 

perhaps even another two or three on 

top of that, so it’s great for the sport. 

Andrew deserves a lot of credit for 

the time and money he’s invested into 

making them a reality. 

For our 2017 NZ campaign, Jase 

and I are currently working hard, 

approaching manufacturers to see if 

we can make something happen. If 

I’m honest, it feels like a long shot, but 

we’re having a crack regardless. 

Worst case, I think I could probably 

convince the guys at Stadium Finance to 

let me drive the Evo for another season 

though. 

Who’ll be the next ‘big thing’ to come out 

of New Zealand rallying? 

That’s a hard one, as I’ve been too 

busy being selfish and concentrating on 

my own things, so here’s hoping it’s me 

(laughs). 

Jokes aside, I have a lot of time for 

Matt Summerfield, he’s someone 

that has clearly got some speed and 

is just an all round good guy, so that 

combination will surely hold him in 

good stead. 

Max Bailey is another who will be 

fast when he steps into a 4WD - just 

how fast is something no one knows? 

Perhaps he will blow us all away, but 

it’s difficult to judge as he’s never really 

been challenged in the 2WD categories 

(in similar machinery). 

I also have a close eye on a couple 

of competitors who I’m sure will be 

big successes, although they are in the 

early stages of their careers. 

HJC MOTORSPORTS 

n: AU 1800 CHICANE or NZ 0800 CHICANE 


OBITUARY 

STEVE ASHTON: 1954 - 2016 

Steve Ashton discovered rallying while 

at Melbourne University studying 

architecture. He remained a member 

of the Melbourne University Car Club. 

Rosemary (Ro) Nixon became his codriver 

in 1979. They married in 1985 and 

continued to compete together regularly. 

Like many in those days, Steve started 

rallying his road going Datsun 1600, until 

he got serious, and moved into a very 

competitive “Datrally” built 1600. It was in 

this car that the pair came to prominence 

with a fine third outright in the 1982 Alpine, 

the final round of the ARC in that year. 

They latched onto the 4WD and Group N 

revolution, being one of the early punters 

of a Mazda Familia, followed by a Mitsubishi Galant VR4, 

Lancer Evo 3 and Evo 7, with its ‘pick-up-sticks’ paint job, 

and successfully shared ownership and driving with Chris 

Snell. With the progress of time, Steve was attracted to 

historic rallying and 

campaigned a 1972 

Galant in a team 

with Dinta Officer. 

Steve honed 

his long distance 

rallying skills 

driving a back up 

vehicle for Ralliart 

in the Australian 

Safaris from 1987 

to 1989. This 

involved piloting a 

Pajero long wheel 

base heavily laden 

with axles, gearboxes and other spares, swiftly, but not too 

swiftly, so as to not make it to the end of the day with both 

necessary spares and co-driver/mechanic onboard. He and 

Peter Gale finished first 2WD car in the very tough inaugural 

1985 Safari. 

Steve and Ro had lots of podium results in major events, 

including third outright in the 1995 Round Australia Trial, and 

second outright in the 2009 and 2012 Classic Outback Trials. 

Steve rarely crashed as he knew exactly where his 

limitations were and never let ego take over and go for 

‘boom or bust’. This may have appeared to not be the case 

in the 1993 London to Sydney Marathon, where they were 


in third position on the third last day until caught out by a 

corner in the Flinders Ranges, and rolled some distance off 

the road. 

Bob Watson, the event road director, graciously admitted 

20 years later, on revisiting the corner, that it should have 

been triple cautioned. There was a crowd of locals on hand, 

obviously expecting some carnage, so they got going again to 

finish 10 th outright. 

Steve joined the CAMS National Rally Panel (as it was 

known then) in 1990, which was replaced by the skills based 

Australian Rally Commission (ARCom). Gary Connelly astutely 

recruited Steve for his business experience, strategic outlook 

and good understanding of grass roots rallying issues, and 

Rallycorp P/L was created in 1999 to manage the commercial 

side of CAMS rallying. 

In July 1995, Steve was appointed Deputy Chairman of 

ARCom, a position he held until December 2006 when he 

retired from ARCom and from Rallycorp in 2009. During 

that time he acted as chairman of the Rally of Canberra 

Organising Committee, and oversaw a successful period 

in Australian and Asia- Pacific rallying, including being an 

FIA Observer to a number of events from 2001 to 2007. 

For his contribution to motorsport, Steve was awarded Life 

Membership of CAMS in March this year. 

Outside rallying, Steve was a founding partner in Ashton 

Raggatt MacDougall Architecture, later to become ARM 

Architecture. 

The recent AIA Gold Medal awarded to the partners is a 

prestigious and rare honour, but their achievements can 

be seen in the many striking buildings around the country 

that they have designed, including: the National Museum, 

Canberra (2001), Geelong Library and 

Heritage Centre (2015), and RMIT Storey 

Hall, Melbourne (1996) where a memorial 

service will be held for Steve at 5pm, 

Monday, August 29. 

Steve succumbed to mesothelioma 

on July 25, likely to have been caused by 

exposure to brake dust. He is survived by 

wife Ro, and daughters Louisa and Kate. 

In order that something good emerges 

from this tragedy, Steve and Ro have 

used insurance money to establish 

a philanthropic fund to support 

architecture, medical research and 

environmental causes. Donations are 

welcome at: 

http://www.ashtonnixonbequest.com 

- ROSS RUNNALLS

BORDER RANGES RALLY 

‘the best on the best’ 

Round 4 of the 2016 MRF Tyres Queensland Rally Championship / Clubman Series 

Additional Categories 

> FORZA Rally Challenge for automobiles fitted with FORZA Brake Pads 

> Zupp Property Group Classic Rally Challenge for Classic Rally Cars 

Multiple Otago 

Winner Derek Ayson 

MKII Escort 

2015 Alpine Winner 

Jack Monkhouse 

V8 Manta 

26 th & 27 th August 2016 Kyogle NSW 

> Border Ranges Escort Challenge for Classic Ford Escorts 

> Invitational for vehicles meeting Schedule R 

best cars 

best drivers 

best roads 

Where to find all the important information 

> Event documents at www.borderrangesrally.com.au 

> On Facebook and at gctmc.org.au 

> Supp-Regs available July 18 

Classics 

start at the 

front of the 

field 

Stage 

sponsorship 

packages 

available 

Limited to 55 entries 

Rallysafe for all crews 

Compact format and central servicing 

Nine world class (WRC) Shire Road Stages 

Reserve your own 

All competitors do all the stages 

‘spectator point’ by 

Optional Recce on Friday for all stages 

contacting ‘JT’ our 

Full Road Book Supplied 

Officials Co-ordinator 

One fantastic night spectator stage 

jptruskinger@gmail.com 

Two passes of the ‘Super Special’ as the finale 

0407 656 044 

Media Stage on Friday for invited crews 

Rally Forum Friday night in Kyogle 

Promotional start in Kyogle Saturday morning 

Service Park with camping & local catering at the Kyogle Showgrounds 

Affordable accommodation in Kyogle, Lismore, Casino & throughout the region 

www.facebook.com/BorderRangesRally/ 

www.borderrangesrally.com.au 


FAMOUS STAGES: THE MOTU 

MAGIC MOTU 

New Zealand’s Motu Road gorge 

is widely regarded in world 

rallying as the toughest, most 

challenging stage in the world. 

The Motu is 47 kilometres of winding, narrow, 

twisty and challenging road that snakes its 

way from the coast at Opotiki (east of Rotorua), 

inland through the ranges to finish high in the 

hills at the small township of Motu. 

Photos: MARTIN HOLMES, 

GEOFF RIDDER 

The works Nissan 

240RS enters a dry 

Motu river crossing 

during the 1983 Rally 

of New Zealand. 


The Motu gained its fearsome 

reputation during the 1990s when it 

was an annual feature of the World 

Championship Rally of New Zealand 

event. Nearly every year the infamous 

piece of road helped to decide the 

outcome of the event. 

The world’s best drivers feared its 

awesome reputation, while Scotland’s 

Cody Crocker (multiple Australian and Asia- 

Pacific Rally Champion) 

Note: Cody was the stage winner back 

in 2006. In extremely wet and difficult 

conditions, he set a time of 41 minutes 

03 seconds. 

“I was lucky enough to have a 

chance to tackle the Motu in 2006 

while running in Rally Rotorua with 

Les Walkden Rallying. This was my first 

attempt at the APRC and my first time 

rallying around Rotorua. 

This stage stands out for many 

reasons, one of which is that it’s one 

of the few stages around the world 

where there are almost two pages of 

pacenotes per kilometre - normally it’s 

around one page per kilometre. With 

an average speed around 70 km/h, my 

co-driver, Ben Atkinson, had his work 

cut out - he read a page of notes every 

20 seconds or so! 

On recce we were allowed two passes 

and all seemed well, our notes were 

good, the river crossing was one metre 

wide, 10cm deep and the sun was 

out. Rain between Thursday recce and 

the actual stage on Saturday morning 

meant that a 50 metre wide lake had 

appeared where there was meant to be 

a trickle of water in a dip. 

We got through unscathed and 

managed to set a good time and were 

able to break the 70km/h average 

speed barrier. 

I remember heading into the stage 

Mats Jonsson 

negotiates the Motu 

in his Opel Kadett GSi 

in 1989. 

Colin McRae proved to be the master 

of the Motu, setting the stage record 

three years running on his way to 

victory. In 1993, McRae went from 

fifth place to first on this stage alone, 

setting up his, and Subaru’s, maiden 

WRC win. 

The stage returned in a round of the 

New Zealand Rally Championship in 

and as we headed up hill, every corner 

seemed tighter than the previous, our 

notes started with lots of 8s and 9s 

(5th gear corners), then became 7s and 

6s, then eventually down to 2s and 1s, 

incredibly tight and narrow. Add to that 

2015, and will be part of the country’s 

WRC test event in 2017 – much to the 

delight of fans, but perhaps not for 

drivers! 

In 2015, the NZ Rally Championship 

asked many of the sport’s leading 

players to give their thoughts on the 

Motu. Following are some of those 

recollections. 

1983 Rally of New 

Zealand service area 

in the Motu hills. 

plenty of drops and unforgiving rock 

faces sticking out at you, and you knew 

that one step out of line and you were 

toast. 

There’s small comfort from the 

reflector posts poised between the 

edge of the road and the big drop on 

the other side. It was hard to know 

which posts to cut, because some were 

plastic and others were timber. I think 

the plastic ones were replacements 

after the likes of Colin McRae and 

Possum Bourne had made their paths 

through the stage. 

Like many New Zealand roads, the 

cambers and high grip levels make 

driving rewarding, but what sets 

the Motu apart is that everything is 

combined into the one stage. It’s 40km 

of reasons why you go rallying, and 

it’s hard to beat the feeling of coming 

out the other side knowing you’ve 

completed one of the world’s most 

amazing rally stages.” 

Emma Gilmour (NZ’s fastest female) 

“I have a few memorable moments 



Ross Dunkerton 

splashes his way 

through the Motu in 

the 1991 WRC round. 

from the Motu! The first one is the fact 

it was my very first competitive rally 

stage. After having a go at zero car in 

Otago in 2002 we decided to enter Rally 

Rotorua as my first rally. I kept catching 

the Japanese driver in front, but I was 

hugely relieved to make the finish line 

of the Motu. 

I think it was the following year 

when, nearing the end of the stage, the 

newly painted front wheels had a bad 

vibration. We stopped to check and as 

we did the front wheel carried on along 

the road and disappeared over a bank. 

My co-driver, Glenn Macneall, said he’d 

jump in the boot of the Evo 3 to relieve 

the weight off the front and told me to 

drive out of the stage slowly. 

As I took off and was about to hook 

third gear there was a lot of banging 

on the roof - in my inexperience I didn’t 

know what slow was!! We ended up 

retiring at the end of the stage anyway 

as we couldn’t get the studs out of the 

hub. 

The following year I broke the 

steering on my Evo 6 when my turned 

wheel clipped a hidden outcrop of rock 

not too far from the finish.” 

Peter Whitten (Editor, RallySport Magazine) 

“As iconic as the Col de Turini in 

Monte Carlo and Ouninpohja in Finland, 

New Zealand’s Motu stage conjures 

up memories of some of the best rally 

drivers in the world, on the best rally 

roads in the world. 

Aside from Colin McRae’s dominance 


of the stage, my favourite memory of 

the Motu comes from 1994 when the 

great Ari Vatanen was driving the Ford 

Escort RS Cosworth. While Colin McRae 

dominated the stage, Vatanen had the 

power steering fail on his Escort, and 

had to drive the majority of the stage 

unassisted, and the strain was clearly 

evident. 

Typically, it was a freezing cold 

morning as we waited at the end of the 

marathon 44.80km stage, but as the 

Flying Finn arrived at the finish control, 

it was clear that everything was not well 

Glenn Macneall takes in 

the Motu from the boot of 

Emma Gilmour’s Lancer in 

the 2002 Rotorua Rally. 

inside the Escort. 

The windows had begun to fog up, 

and as Ari opened the door to talk to 

journalists, I can clearly remember the 

steam rising from his steaming driving 

gloves as he battled to catch his breath 

and recover from what must surely 

have been a superhuman effort. Ari’s 

time was slow, but his effort to get the 

car to finish control rates, in my mind, 

just as impressively as Colin’s. 

Later that day I drove the stage in a 

hire car, marvelling at the number of 

corners and the unique camber of the

oad. After heavy rain, just keeping the 

hire car on the road was a challenge - I 

could only imagine what it must have 

been like at speed. 

Eventually, we reached the midstage 

water splash where we were 

eagerly awaiting the second running 

of the stage, only for it to be cancelled 

because the road conditions had 

deteriorated so much since the 

morning’s running of the Motu. 

My own efforts in the hire car had, it 

seemed, been almost as impressive as 

those of Ari and Colin - at least in my 

mind …..” 

Ari Vatanen battled 

power steering failure 

in his Ford Escort 

Cosworth through the 

Motu in 1994. 

John Kennard (co-driver to Hayden Paddon) 

“I think my abiding memory of any 

time I competed on it was that it 

seemed, no matter what car you were 

in, you never seemed to have the right 

gear ratios in it! 

I remember Malcolm Stewart cursing 

almost all the way up it in the Group 

A Audi Quattro in the pouring rain in 

the 1988 Rally NZ, as each time he 

managed to grab a higher gear and gain 

a fraction of speed, it ran out of revs 

and he had to bang it back down for the 

next demented twist in the road, which 

seemed to go on forever. 

Probably the funniest story though, 

came while checking the 1990 Silver 

Fern route pre rally with Brent 

Rawstron, when a large hare ran almost 

4km down the road in front of us, able 

to stay ahead because the tightness of 

the twists and turns. He was far better 

suited to getting down it quickly than 

we were, even having time to stop and 

grab a breath occasionally, until we 

caught up!” 

Ed Ordynski 

“Coming from South Australia, where 

the roads are generally flat and high 

speed, it’s hard to imagine a more 

fearsome and extreme stage than 

Motu. It was difficult even on recce! 

Motu has every element that a 

true rally competitor craves. It’s an 

enormous challenge, a feat just to make 

it through unscathed. It was daunting 

and a huge test of mental toughness 

for both driver and co-driver. I doubt 

if anyone could ever say they’ve had a 

clean run through Motu. 

In Group N cars, which thrived on 

fast, flowing roads, and required a 

smooth, raceline, driving style, Motu’s 

relentless, tight corners and changes of 

surface meant you just had to take one 

corner at a time and hope you got most 

of it right. If you fooled yourself for a 

moment you’d got into a good rhythm, 

something unseen would tip you the 

wrong way for the next corner. 

The other big issue with Motu was 

that Whakarau, a fast open stage, 

followed it with little liaison time 

between. I always planned to try for a 

good time on Motu (even as I write this 

I realise what a ridiculous statement 

that is), but keep the car nice for a 

blistering run on Whakarau (even more 

ridiculous). I think I only managed that 

once! 

I did try to keep momentum up in a 

Group N car, using as much of the road 

as possible, letting it slide out to the 

edges and so on. Since retiring from 

rallying I’ve taken a road car over Motu 

and stopped to look at things closely 

where we used to push the limits. I 

would advise anyone still competing, 



not to do that! What’s out of sight on 

Motu is more daunting than what you 

can see!” 

Jim Scott 

“In 1977 Ari Vatanen and I headed 

into the Motu stage after passing all 

three works Fiats in the stage prior. 

Once we started it’s right, left, right, 

left and after a couple of kilometres Ari 

says: ‘Jim, forget about the notes, you 

will never keep up in here.’ 

A couple of corners later and the 

front of the Escort is hanging over a 

bank and I’m out pushing. Back on 

the road and we set off again and Ari 

shouts out: ‘You better get back on 

those notes Jim.’” 

Neil Allport 

“You either love it to bits and you 

think that you’re a Colin McRae, but 

most other people love it and hate it all 

in the same sentence, and I think that is 

a pretty fair summary of the place, you 

never know if you’ve liked it until you 

got to the end of it. 


At the time it is always a nightmare. 

The last time I did it was in the Silver 

Fern in the Escort and I sort of looked 

forward to it, but after getting 6km 

in and clobbering a rock, I was hating 

every damn kilometre to the end, and I 

think that’s what that stage is about. 

If you chance your arm in there, it’s 

got everything you could ever want 

in a stage, it’s just one of those iconic 

pieces of road I suppose. To sum up, I 

don’t know whether I like it or hate it, 

there is something challenging about 

it for certain. It’s a bucket-lister, a road 

you need to travel down in your rallying 

career. Some of the journeys have been 

fantastic and some have been terrible. 

They’ve had everything on that stage. 

The first year I did it in 1983 we got 

stopped when Bettega was parked on 

top of a cow or something in a Lancia 

037. I’ll always remember the stage for 

that and I suppose the biggest memory 

of that stage, not actually driving it, 

was watching Ari Vatanen come out 

of there in 1977 in the international, 

that’s probably what inspired me to go 

rallying and it just so happened it was 

on that stage. 

Memories from driving it are 

certainly good and bad, I don’t know if 

the good outnumber the bad, but it’s 

always been challenging and that’s an 

understatement too. I’ve never done 

that well on that stage, not that it really 

matters. Well, I guess it always matters, 

but it’s not something that you feel you 

need to have done in your life (win the 

stage), just getting through it with four 

wheels on the car and no dented panels 

is a big enough achievement.” 

Tony Sircombe (international co-driver) 

“The name still sits with respect when 

I hear or read the name Motu. My 

journeys up and down the road from 

1989 through 1995 during Rally New 

Zealand are relative good memories, 

considering the epic challenge the road 

presents to teams. Only once did I get 

to watch the rest of the rally pass by, 

when Rod Millen and I DNF’ed on Motu 

1 in 1990 with turbo failure. 

During the lead up to any rally, recce 

gave you a good idea on how you will 

attack a stage, but Motu was quite 

different from most and always stood 

out as a possible turning point in the 

rally. Colin McRae used this stage to 

stamp his place in Rally New Zealand 

history with some incredible stage 

times. 

Recce for Motu was a huge task as 

the return journey down the Waioeka 

Road made just one pass through the 

stage about a three hour trip. With the 

early rallies we had open recce, which 

to Rod and I meant a minimum of four 

passes, to Possum it was more like 

seven! 

Some of you may have seen the 

clip of an in-car video from 1995 of 

Possum and I. That year I had 80 pages 

of notes for the 45km stage. I barely 

had a moment to take a breath and 

would need to physically and mentally 

prepare for the challenge of 39 minutes 

of intense concentration. Back then a 

couple of bottles of Lucozade helped 

me get into the frame! To make it more 

of a challenge that year, we ran Motu 

up in the morning and down in the 

afternoon…. 

There was always big unanswered 

questions going through your head 

on the start line of Motu in those 

days prior to gravel crews and mobile 

phones (not that you got any cell 

coverage in there!). Thoughts of how 

deep the water would be at the ford, 

and therefore how fast to hit it, was the 

road wet and thus slippery, would there 

be ice at the top of the ridge or in the 

shade? 

Rod Millen and I ended way up a 

bank because of an icy road just before 

you get to the top, which spoiled an 

incredible run up to that point. I was 

able to get out and push us back onto 

the road, so not all was lost.”

MCRAE THE MOTU MASTER 

First used on the inaugural Shell 

Silver Fern Rally in 1969, the 

Motu caused so many problems 

that the organisers annulled the time 

for the entire section. 

Until 1983 the absence of restrictions 

on the length of stages allowed it to be 

used in full, with drivers such as Andrew 

Cowan, Colin Bond, Fulvio Bucchelli and 

Michele Mouton setting fastest times. 

In 1975, local Colin Taylor became the 

first New Zealander to win the stage, 

recording a time of just under 51 minutes 

in a Mk1 Escort. 

The introduction of a 30km limit for 

world championship stages saw the 

Motu shortened, or split in two, from 

1988 to 1992. 

The re-uniting of the Motu as a single 

stage in 1993 brought a new challenge. 

Winners of one or both parts of the 

stage included Tony Teesdale, Ingvar 

Carlsson, Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol. 

It was (and still is?) the longest (in 

terms of time) and slowest stage in any 

WRC event. The world’s best drivers 

struggled to average 70kmh through its 

slippery twists and turns. 

In 1993, the new master was Colin 

McRae, who took the Rally New Zealand 

lead on the Motu, beating Didier Auriol 

by seven seconds. The next year he 

smashed his previous record by beating 

Auriol by 25 seconds. 

But more was to come the following 

year, with McRae again beating Auriol by 

a staggering 35 seconds. 

McRae, unlike Auriol, had no special 

love for the Motu. 

“It’s really, really long and very hard 

work. The only good thing about it is the 

times I managed to achieve in there,” 

McRae said. 

“Over the years we have evolved a 

method of driving that stage which is to 

drive as if it was a tarmac stage, braking 

early and turning in early, only after I 

have taken my foot off the brakes. I use 

the throttle very gently and try not to let 

the car go sideways at all. 

“It’s a very narrow road, so it is of real 

importance to be absolutely precise. 

“The oddest thing about the stage is 

that because it is so slow it is hard to 

gain a feeling of how you are going. 

“In 1995, for example, we went slower 

than the year before because it was 

so wet and slippery. I would have been 

surprised if anyone had beaten me, but I 

never expected to pull 35 seconds over 

the rest of the field on one stage alone!” 

Source: :The New Zealand Rally - 

celebrating 25 years”. Thomson/Holmes 

Colin McRae was 

virtually unbeatable 

on the Motu stage. 


WHERE ARE THEY NOW: WAYNE BELL 

? WHERE 

are they now 

WAYNE BELL 

Wayne Bell is widely regarded as the greatest rally 

driver never to have won the Australian Rally 

Championship. 

The Newcastle native got his big break when he was 

selected to drive for the factory Marlboro Holden Dealer 

Team in the 1980s, and spent many years driving a selection 

of Geminis in the Australian Rally Championship. 

He was part of the Holden Dealer Team in the 1979 Repco 

Round Australia Reliability Trial, and later joined forces with 

Hyundai and ran the Korean company’s first official rally 

team, contesting the ARC, the APRC and the WRC. 

Now 64, Bell tells RallySport Magazine of his greatest 

memories in the sport, how he wasn’t allowed to drive the 

final days of the ’79 Repco Trial, and his experiences with 

Hyundai, including being welcomed back to the team at the 

2014 Rally of Portugal. 

Story: 

PETER WHITTEN 

You’re widely regarded as the best 

driver never to win the Australian Rally 

Championship. How does that sit with you? 

Yes, I have that honour, if you can call 

it that. It does not worry me so much, 

although it would have been nice to 

have that title. 

I was actually Australian and Asia- 

Pacific Champion in Formula 2 (F2) and 

won WRC events in the class of vehicle 

I was driving. However, in the overall 

scheme of things ... big deal! 

I am satisfied that I was respected 

by my competitors, and spectators 

enjoyed my driving style. I am satisfied 


that my career lasted around 30 years, 

either driving factory cars or fullysupported 

teams. I never considered 

myself to be anything special or better 

than my competitors. 

Driving came easy to me, I did not 

have to work at it, and just got in and 

did my thing. 

George (Shepheard – Holden Dealer 

Team boss) never said anything to me 

as far as my ability was concerned, 

except once in testing the Gemini for 

the first time. He said to his wife Marie, 

who was there at the time: “You have 

got to go for a ride with Wayne, it is 

really something else”. I took that as a 

compliment. 

The only person to ever really 

comment was Fred Gocentas when 

Bell and navigator George 

Shepheard and the factory 

Gemini in the 1977 Southern 

Cross Rally. 

we were testing in the Fiat. Fred said: 

“F^%& me, I am pleased you never 

had a BDA”. I also took that as a 

compliment, and once Neal Bates said 

after a test session in Canberra (in a 

Hyundai Coupe): “S@#t, do you usually 

drive that hard?”. 

Also, Murry Coote just reckoned I was 

crazy. Anyway, to answer your question, 

no it does not bother me that much. 

What was your best year in the ARC, 

and how close did you come to winning the 

championship? 

I am hopeless on dates, however, 

I finished second in the ARC twice 

I think, for sure once behind Greg 

Carr. Having my team, Japanese 

Connection, withdraw halfway through 

the championship, and some poor 

decisions on my behalf after that, cost 

me the championship that year. 

I only needed to finish the Alpine 

Rally ahead of Greg’s Alfa, and with 

the 323 Mazda that should have been 

a stroll in the park. But no, not me ... 

I clipped a bank on the first stage and 

broke the rear suspension. We had no 

parts, so completed the event with a 

patched up car held together with wire. 

I made the mistake of modifying the 

Mazda to Group A, but should have left 

it standard - it was fast enough to win. 

You drove for the factory Holden Dealer 

Team for many years, largely in what were 

considered uncompetitive cars (Geminis) 

against the factory Ford and Datsun teams. 

Was it a frustrating period, or one where you 

felt you were punching above your weight? 

It was a huge honour to be selected 

for the Dealer Team. Who would not

“In hindsight I 

should have waited. 

I wanted to drive for 

Mitsubishi.” 

jump at the chance? 

In hindsight I should have waited. I 

wanted to drive for Mitsubishi and I 

think had I not driven for MHDT, then 

that would have happened. No regrets 

though, I just loved driving and, to be 

frank, I did not care what I drove, as 

long as I was having fun and getting the 

best out of the machinery I had at that 

time. 

I was not getting paid, but it was not 

costing me to do what I loved either. 

The Turbo Gemini was a disaster at 

that time. Technology was not around 

like it is today. The turbo lag was 

tremendous, although funnily enough, 

it suited my style. I liked to be on the 

throttle early and this simply meant I 

had to be on it even earlier. 

The thing was quick when it was 

going, and we often had quickest stage 

times. 

Tell us a bit about the experience of the 

1979 Round Australia Trial with Holden? 

This was something special. I had 

been testing the old silver Commodore 

for 12 months prior to this event. 

George (Shepheard) did a fantastic 

job setting up the team for the Round 

Australia. 

To achieve a 1-2-3 for Holden was 

unbelievable. It is history now that 

Brocky and I were having a right tussle 

and George did not interfere, saying 

they would sort it out. 

Before Townsville, in car 17, we had 

decided to back off and let Brocky go 

and we would cruise to a comfortable 

second. We figured GM could get better 

publicity from Brocky winning than us. 

However, there was a big team 

meeting in Townsville that I was not 

privy to. I was stuffed and needed 

sleep. 

After Townsville I never got to 

drive the car again. I had to ask Fergy 

(Barry Ferguson) to let me drive into 

Newcastle, my home town, and he 

reluctantly agreed. 

I don’t know what went down in 

Townsville to this day, but I am pretty 

sure instructions were for Brock to 

win, and I don’t think the big brass at 

GM trusted me to let that happen. I 

don’t know what I did, but from that 

day on I was out of favour with GMH 

management. 

Years later I got an email from GM 

asking if I would drive a Calibra in Targa 

Tasmania. I replied that I would love to, 

and jokingly said “No second place this 

time”. 

The MHDT Gemini in the Endrust Rally 

in South Australia, and in a Castrol 

International Rally (below) 

I never heard back, and next thing I 

know Ed Ordynski was driving it. Such 

is life! 

I do thank George for having the 

belief in me as a driver, and together 

we had a lot of fun times. We had a 

great team, if not the most competitive 

car. Still, we achieved some outstanding 

results in the little Twin Cam Gemini. 

When four-wheel drive came along, you 

drove a very fast Mazda 323. What was the 

change from rear-wheel drive to four-wheel 

drive like? 

As I said earlier, Japanese Connection 

withdrew their support so I was without 

a drive. Lovell Springs were the main 

sponsor and Robert Lovell (an absolute 

gentleman) said “go and buy another 

car”. Problem solved! 

Andrew Murfett had a 323 for sale, 

his old rally car that he had just taken 

all the rally gear out of and converted it 

back to a road car. I got him to chuck all 

the parts in the boot and send it to me. 

It arrived three weeks before the SA 


WHERE ARE THEY NOW: WAYNE BELL 

round of the championship. My friends 

and I screwed the thing back together, 

stuck it on a trailer and headed for SA. 

We lined up at the start of the first 

stage, never having driven the car, 

and away we went. It was pouring rain 

and Greg (Carr) was car one, we were 

second on the road. Greg’s lines were 

perfect, out wide, clip the apex then 

drift out wide again. 

On the other hand, I was all over 

the road. Wherever the wheels were 

pointing when you hit the throttle, that 

was where this bloody thing went! I was 

up the inside of corners, literally all over 

the road. 

The stage was some 16km long and 

when we got to the end Dave Boddy 

just looked at me and said: “That was 

bloody terrible”. I replied, “Yep, not so 

good, eh!”. 

As he was walking back from the 

control table he was shaking his head 

and laughing. He got in and said “guess 

what?” 

I just shrugged. “We were 16 seconds 

faster then Greg!” I said “You are 

f*+&$# kidding”. 

I did get the hang of it as the rally 

progressed, and we ended up winning 

by some margin, if I remember 

correctly. 

When mastered with left-foot 

braking and getting into how to drive 

these things, they were bloody quick. 

Completely different to anything I had 

ever driven. 

Moving forward, you were the first driver 

to bring Hyundai to rallying, and had a 

successful program in Australia, the Asia- 

Pacific region and in the World Championship. 


Wayne Bell in his super fast 

Toyota Sprinter. 

What were the highlights during the formation 

and the running of this program? 

I guess bringing a brand new 

manufacturer into the sport, they were 

as keen as mustard, but had no idea 

what it was all about. The cars were 

fairly standard and were super strong. 

We competed in 24 events before we 

had a retirement, finished no worse 

then second in class. I do believe that 

it gave Hyundai Korea the impression 

that they could win the WRC, that this 

rallying was easy. 

Korea always made the decision 

to compete at the last moment. With 

Group N this was not such a problem, 

however, the move to Group A was 

something else. I could never make 

them understand that I needed 

approval and budget well in advance of 

the proposed competition date. 

“They were as keen 

as mustard, but had 

no idea what it was all 

about.” 

I had exactly three weeks to build 

two F2 Coupes for Rally New Zealand. 

Fortunately, I hade assumed they would 

approve the budget and went ahead 

and got the homologation and some 

parts designed and built. If they did not 

go ahead, I was financially up the creek 

big time. 

My car only did one stage and had no 

oil pressure, but Bob Nicoli managed 

to finish the event. Despite the time 

constraints we got the cars sorted 

and had some success in Asia with the 

Coupe. 

Highlights? Well, the Hong Kong 

Beijing Rally was unbelievable, and 

winning our class in that was fantastic. 

A feature story in an old 

Chequered Flag magazine. 

Also, when Greg Carr drove our second 

car in Rally Australia and the cars 

finished first and second in class. 

Being treated like a king in Korea 

was amazing. I went into a shop to buy 

some Nike shoes, as they were super 

cheap in Korea, and the little guy in the 

store just stopped in his tracks. “Mr 

Wayne Bell,” he mumbled. “Please, 

please sit down.” 

My wife just looked at me and made 

some smart comment! 

Even to this day I have Facebook 

friends in Korea. Yes, they were the 

good days for sure. Hyundai are a great 

company and I have some life long 

friends in Korea. 

Your fourth place in Formula 2 in Portugal 

must have been the one of the best moments 

in your career?

The highlight of that event was 

at the start when Carlos Sainz, Juha 

Kankkunen, Colin McRae and several 

of the top drivers came over to me and 

said: “Welcome to Europe, Wayne, you 

should have been here years ago”. I will 

never forget that moment. 

As for the event, it could have gone 

better. Whilst the car I drove was 

actually one I had built here in Australia, 

the Poms had had it all apart and it was 

never the same. It was over-fuelling to 

buggery and was way down on power. 

We finished fourth in F2 against some 

very good competition, so I was pleased 

with that. 

Just to compete in Portugal was a 

fantastic experience. The crowds and 

the famous jump were incredible. Mr 

G.H Choi (current President of Hyundai 

Motor Sport) came over and said, 

“Thanks Wayne, you saved our arse 

again”. 

You retired in 2001, but have made the 

occasional appearance in rallying since then. 

What draws you back to the sport and keeps 

your interest? 

Yes, I had a couple of guest drives for 

fun and enjoyed that. I think I am pretty 

much over it now as I know I can’t drive 

like I used to, and it’s too expensive 

these days even to just go out and have 

some fun. 

I was very temped to ask G.H. Choi for 

a steer of the WRC i20, just to see how 

I would go. But with commonsense, 

and to save myself some serious 

embarrassment, I decided not to. 

Hyundai’s participation has rekindled 

my passion and I watch closely what 

is going on in the team and how the 

drivers and cars are going. 

Who were the drivers your respected most 

throughout your career and who were the 

hardest to beat? 

Do you want a long list?? There were 

many of them. I would have to say 

Greg Carr in Canberra was unbeatable. 

I did manage to beat him once, but 

that is all. Let me see, there’s Greg 

Carr, George Fury, Colin Bond, Geoff 

Portman, Hugh Bell, Ed Ordynski, Ross 

Dunko, just to name a few. 

What do you think of the current state of 

rallying on a world scale, and in Australia? 

The WRC has heaps of potential. 

When Toyota come back it will be very 

interesting. There is also a potential for 

other manufacturers to compete. 

At the moment there is not enough 

depth in the field at the top end. 

In the ARC, I have been watching the 

progress of Harry (Bates) and Molly 

(Taylor), and it’s great to see Simon 

(Evans) back - he is very talented. 

“I know I can’t 

drive like I used 

to ... and to save 

myself some major 

embarrassment, I 

decided not to.” 

I reckon the R5 class could be the way 

to go in Australia. It’s still not cheap, but 

it’s a level playing field with potential for 

manufacturer involvement 

The ARC lacks depth at the moment. 

I would like to see the more open NZ 

regulations, however, modern cars still 

need to win the championship if the 

sport is to regain its heyday. 

Sure, there can be a classic class 

with their own championship or 

whatever, however for an importer or 

manufacturer to be interested it has to 

be modern cars. That is why I like the 

Top: Bell and Dave Boddy in their 

Mazda 323 in an Alpine Rally, and 

(above) looking a little worse for wear 

with navigator George Shepheard. 

R5 regulations. 

How does Wayne Bell fill in his days now? 

Still working for the Government, 

involved in the automotive services 

section for Fair Trading. 

I’m doing some outback travel with 

the Land Cruiser and camper trailer. 

Catching up with old friends, pestering 

people on Facebook and just generally 

taking it easy. 

I am 64 and rising. It seems like only 

yesterday when I took the first MHDT 

Gemini home and NBN 3 (local TV 

station) were there waiting to interview 

me as the local kid made good. Also, 

there was the local neighbour who used 

to always complain to my parents about 

my driving. 

Mate, I couldn’t help it if he lived on 

a gravel street with a square left uphill. 

Even he was pleased for me! 


INTERVIEW: COL TRINDER 

ARCOM 

EXPLAINED 

Col Trinder is the main in charge 

of the Australian Rally Commission, 

perhaps the most misunderstood 

organisation in rallying. 

While many are quick to blame them 

for some of the directions rallying is 

taking, very few people actually know 

how the commission works, and what 

role they play. 

RallySport Magazine decided to seek 

the answers from the man right at the 

head of the sport. 

RSM: What is the Australian Rally 

Commission’s role in the sport? 

Col Trinder: I can completely 

understand why people who are 

not entirely familiar with the way 

responsibility is divided up in CAMS 

between a national office and each 

state, might not understand exactly 

what the Australian Rally Commission 

(ARCom) is responsible for. 

ARCom is responsible for policy 

advice – so has limited hands-on 

influence regarding what happens on 

the ground at your local rally. ARCom 

is just a panel of 10 volunteers drawn 

from the wider rally community to 

provided policy advice about rallying to 

the CAMS Board. 

Things that happen on the ground, 

such as the organisation of a State 

Championship, or an event, are 

delivered through state councils (and 

their subordinate panels), car clubs and 

event organisers. 

The CAMS Board actually issues what 

is known as a ‘Standing Order’ to all 

the appointed commissions. ARCom’s 

Standing Order describes what it 

is responsible for and how it must 

operate. 

ARCom’s responsibilities are not 

necessarily exclusive, but include 

advising on various sporting aspects, 

technical regulation and strategic 

direction, as well as contributing the 

rally portfolio view to other wider CAMS 

policies and direction. 

It is important to appreciate that 

the CAMS Board also takes advice 

from the other Commissions, State 

Councils, entities connected to, or 

part of CAMS, such as AIMSS, the 

CAMS administration itself, as well as 

responding to government, regulators, 


insurers, legal and 

commercial interests. 

A typical ARCom 

meeting will be 

devoted to considering 

proposals arising 

from submissions 

from State Rally 

Panels, competitors, 

organisers, 

commissioners and 

CAMS itself. These 

generally cover a wide 

range of topics relating 

to rallies, including 

proposals to make 

changes to technical 

rules and regulations, 

as well as reviewing 

developments at all 

levels in the sport 

and considering any 

incidents. 

One of ARCom’s 

specific functions, 

delegated by the 

Board of CAMS, is to 

ensure the Australian 

Rally Championship is conducted - so 

ARCom does have this ‘operational’ role 

“2007 was a critical 

time with a great 

deal of turmoil 

during a major 

transition in the 

sport.” 

with regard to the ARC. This function 

is delivered through a working group 

headed by David Waldon – and before 

him, Scott Pedder. 

This ARC working group is responsible 

for the overall ‘championship’ functions 

and it works with organisers, media 

and sponsors to knit together the 

arrangements needed to run and 

promote the championship. 

Since this involves commercial 

contracts, a company structure, 

wholly owned by CAMS, is in place to 

ensure these arrangements can work 

administratively. This is the entity that 

some would know as Rallycorp. 

How long have you been on ARCom? 

I responded to Garry Connolly’s 

invitation to nominate for a position on 

ARCom back in 2001. 

I took over from Ed Ordynski in 

the role of Chairman in 2007. Before 

succeeding Ed in the role as Chairman 

I had been deputy chairman of the 

Commission. 

2007 was a critical time with a 

great deal of turmoil during a major 

transition in the sport. This particularly 

impacted the ARC level of the sport and 

my appointment as Chairman was a 

baptism of fire. 

With long-term interest of 

manufacturers in rallying at both 

national and international level on the 

wane, arrangements for the television 

rights up for review, and significant 

commercial challenges arsing from the 

contraction of sponsorship spending 

and then the GFC, there were many 

large pieces of this jigsaw whirling 

around our heads at high speed. 

The immediate challenge was to 

address the impact of this big change 

of circumstances on all the commercial 

aspects of the ARC – which was 

PHOTO: Geoff Ridder

something entirely outside 

of my experience or 

expertise. The sport was 

very fortunate to have Ben 

Rainsford’s commercial 

and business skills, as well 

as his drive and passion, 

to keep the ARC going on 

essentially a zero budget 

through this time. It was 

a very difficult time for 

everyone involved. 

Do you enjoy it? 

Like most things that are 

personal and professional 

challenges, leading a 

group like ARCom can be 

very rewarding, as well 

as very demanding. It is 

the sort of role where the 

number of competing 

interests you are trying to juggle to 

get some kind of balance means that 

almost no one is ever entirely satisfied. 

Recognising an idea with merit and 

potential and pushing for it to be taken 

“Leading a group 

like ARCom can 

be very rewarding, 

as well as very 

demanding.” 

up, and seeing it grow over time, is very 

satisfying. The adoption of RallySafe is 

an example I could point to. 

But it is also true that we have had 

our share of epic failures where good 

intentions and seemingly sensible ideas 

just don’t take root. So as well as the 

good ideas that people soon forget, you 

wear the consequences of the failures 

that they instantly recall – and rightly 

remind you of. 

It’s certainly not the kind of job where 

you would expect to be universally 

thanked. 

What is the biggest challenge ARCom has 

to deal with at the moment? 

The same as it always has been – 

simply trying to balance the competing 

interests within the sport is a constant 

challenge. The task is to balance the 

expectations of Government, the 

FIA, CAMS, insurers, competitors, 

organisers, sponsors, volunteers, state 

councils, rally panels and all the other 

stakeholders. 

There is an over-riding obligation to 

protect the interests of our volunteer 

base which requires constant vigilance. 

From time to time ARCom sees ideas 

that sound logical at first blush, but 

ARCom’s role includes 

keeping a watch over rallying 

at all levels of the sport. 

when scrutinised actually represent 

shifting of some risk from a competitor 

to a volunteer or organiser. 

Many of the necessary rules around 

safety and apparel illustrate this point. 

Not only do we need to manage the risk 

of some unlikely eventuality, we also 

have to manage the perception of that 

risk by others outside of rallying. 

I am always concerned about the risk 

that a volunteer or organiser might 

be held accountable in the event that 

a decision or action by a competitor 

goes wrong. Many of our policies that 

competitors probably regard as overly 

precautionary exist because we have 

had to deal with this circumstance. 

What is ARCom doing to get newcomers 

into rallying in Australia? 

The focus of ARCom’s efforts in 

building the profile of the sport to 

attract potential newcomers revolves 

around maintaining a high level of 

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INTERVIEW: COL TRINDER 

Aussie Chris Atkinson made it all 

the way to the WRC, but it’s not an 

easy path to follow. 

visibility for our sport in the community. 

We achieve this by creating the 

environment where it is possible 

to host major events such as Rally 

Australia, IROQ (Rally of Queensland) 

and the ARC. 

ARCom also puts in place rules and 

regulations that it thinks might make it 

easier to encourage newcomers to the 

sport through the efforts of others at 

state and local club levels. 

Simplified rules around entry level 

events like rallysprints, entry level 

vehicle eligibility, safety approaches 

commensurate with the degree of risk 

are all things that ARCom continues to 

work at. 

Not everyone thinks the mix or 

balance is always correct, but we are 

always happy to receive well-argued 

cases to make change. Our over-riding 

responsibility though is to ensure 

that change does not just suit one 

person or group, or move the risk 

from the competitor to an organiser or 

volunteer. 

What is ARCom doing to retain 

competitors? 

We do what we can to try to keep 

costs down, for instance, by allowing 

additional freedoms in some areas 

of vehicle eligibility. For example, we 

introduced some very basic rules to 

recognise eligibility for our Club Rally 

Car category. 

We have also introduced a rolling 

eligibility date for Classic Rally Cars 

that means those with older cars can 

transition directly from PRC into the 

classic fraternity without changing their 


“I think we will see 

a number of new 

cars such as AP4, 

latest spec FIA 

R-categories, PRC 

and G4.” 

vehicle, if they wish to do so. 

I do accept that there have been 

other cost pressures on competitors, 

particularly on the safety side, that have 

contributed to increased costs, such 

as the adoption of strict requirements 

around helmets, frontal head restraints 

and apparel standards, but these are 

also examples of the kind of mitigation 

we have to accommodate to address 

the risk shifting I mentioned earlier. 

What do you think will be different about 

rallying in Australia in 10 years? 

I doubt that, in society where 

everything is changing at an 

accelerating rate, anyone can foresee 

with much clarity what might happen in 

10 years time. 

What I can say is that my vision 

would be that we continue to run the 

best WRC round in the world, that our 

efforts to reshape the APRC bear fruit 

in the form of increased international 

participation, that our ARC competition 

remains a strong and commercially 

viable showcase for the sport, and 

that the mainstay of competition in 

the country – those state and club 

level events - have willing and capable 

organisers and a thriving competitor 

base. I think in the next five years 

or so we will see a number of new 

generation rally cars such as the AP4 

(a specification we share with NZ), 

mixing it with some of the latest spec 

FIA R-categories, as well a some PRC 

and G4 cars for outright honours in our 

rallies. 

I think the interest in classic rally cars 

is going to continue to grow and, who 

knows, we may even see the first allelectric 

rally cars emerging. 

Do you see a clear pathway for an up-andcoming 

Australian driver to head overseas 

and make it into the WRC? 

It is always a difficult task but we have 

seen pioneers like Chris Atkinson, and 

NZ has Haydon Paddon, who have had 

the capacity and ability to crack the 

WRC. 

I doubt there is a single pathway 

that automatically leads to success. 

I’d think that once the apprenticeship 

has been served and the necessary 

skills acquired in club and state level 

events, a young competitor should 

aim to be seen in our national and 

international series events, and have a 

crack at some events overseas in an FIA 

category car such as R2 – where they 

can demonstrate their talent against 

others doing the same thing in similar 

machinery. 

Molly Taylor and Brendan Reeves 

have both been down this path, but 

despite talent by the bucket-load, are 

yet to crack it in the WRC league. 

Why have we gone back to 4WD for the

ARC this year, and now have the AP4 and 

G4 regulations, and not the two-wheel drive 

regs? 

The move to a 2WD championship 

a few years back was hoped to attract 

additional manufacturers and sponsors 

into the sport, and initially there was a 

lot of interest. 

Honda came on board and was 

running the Civic and then Jazz cars, 

but the format did not capture people’s 

imagination. 

The development of the AP4 

specification cars with NZ, as the 

southern hemisphere’s more affordable 

version of the FIA R5, opened up a 

pathway for a regional car that would 

be exciting to see and to drive, and 

importantly, it would be eligible for 

international competition. 

With a successor identified for 

our old Group N and PRC cars, an 

opportunity to recast the ARC as an 

open competition with 4WD and 2WD 

cars eligible was seen as a sensible 

progression. 

Many say that ARCom is only interested in 

WRC, APRC and ARC. What is ARCom doing 

for grass roots rallying in Australia? 

Many might say that, but it doesn’t 

make it true. It’s one of those great 

myths in our sport. I’ve sat around the 

ARCom table for a great many meetings 

over the years. 

I can say with some authority that the 

succession of commissioners who have 

served on ARCom have always been 

intensely focused on what the effect of 

some decision or other might be on the 

young person starting out, or on the 

club organiser, or state competitor. 

I think this perception arises 

because ARCom collectively does not 

deliver events 

on the ground 

that people can 

identify with 

(though curiously, 

everyone on 

the commission 

does so as an 

individual). 

Rather, many 

of its policies 

are delivered 

through State 

Councils and State 

Rally Panels or 

through the CAMS 

administration. 

To my mind, 

the state bodies 

are the main 

mechanism to 

deliver grass roots 

motorsport, and 

are much closer to the specific needs 

of competitors at the local level than 

ARCom’s panel of volunteers drawn 

from across the country can. 

Nevertheless, ARCom is always 

looking for opportunities to improve 

the sport at all levels and does not have 

a mortgage on all the best ideas. 

I’ve often asked those who say “we 

should do something to improve the 

grassroots”, what it is that we should try 

to do differently? More often than not 

the response is a blank look. 

We are happy to consider good 

ideas wherever they come from, and 

we routinely look at submissions from 

individuals, clubs and State Panels, as 

well as from the CAMS administration 

itself. 

My suggestion is that if you have a 

good idea, work it up into an actual 

proposal – run it by as many people 

ARCom keep a close 

eye on club rallying 

through the various 

state rally panels. 

as you think might be interested to 

identify the rub points (because that is 

what we will do with it), and submit it to 

ARCom. 

It will always get a fair hearing from 

a jury of your peers. The only proviso 

is that you can’t shift risk from a 

competitor to a volunteer. 

What is the difference between what 

ARCom does and what the ARC, chaired by 

David Waldron, does? 

ARCom and the ARC often get 

confused, probably because of the 

similarity in the acronyms. 

ARCom is the panel of volunteers that 

advise CAMS about rallying, whereas 

the ARC is the panel of volunteers 

that run the sporting and commercial 

elements of the Australian Rally 

Championship. 

I chair the ARCom meetings, and 

David Waldon is Chairman of the ARC. 

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RALLY FINLAND - WRC 8 

KRIS-MAS COMES EARLY 

Story: 

MARTIN HOLMES 

Ulsterman Kris Meeke became 

the first British driver to win 

the Neste Rally Finland, winning 

his second WRC event this year at the 

wheel of an ex-works Citroen DS3 WRC. 

Championship leaders Volkswagen 

had a disastrous event apart from 

second place for Jari-Matti Latvala 

(winner the past two years), while 

M-Sport brought only one car home in 

the top 10 places. 

After suffering a run of 

uncharacteristic off-road excursions, 

this was the first rally for four 

years that VW’s Sebastien Ogier 

had finished a rally without scoring 

Drivers’ championship points. 

Hyundai had an unhappy event with 

their drivers never confident with their 

cars, although they scored the highest 

total of Manufacturer points. 

It was a very special event for 

the Irish with Meeke and Craig Breen 

both on the podium, while the saddest 

driver was Ott Tanak, who was 

spectacularly fast with his DMack tyres, 

but who went off the road on the final 

day when chasing a podium place after 

earlier delays. 

The event saw renewed controversy 

as to the effect of continued running 

order rules, and the implications of 

a second victory this year for the 

part-time Abu Dhabi Total team of 


Rally Radio 

personality, 

Colin Clark, 

captured this 

great photo of 

Henri Toivonen’s 

brother, Harri, 

on the 30th 

anniversary of 

Henri’s death. 

Harri drove a 

Group B Lancia 

Delta S4 around 

the street stage 

in Jyvaskyla. 

old Citroen cars competing against 

regular championship drivers, who are 

governed by special rules. 

There were runaway wins in the 

categories for the Finnish WRC2 driver 

Esapekka Lappi, for the Norwegian Ole 

Christian Veiby in WRC3, and for Max 

Vatanen (son of World Champion Ari) in 

the DMack Fiesta Trophy. 

It was a popular win for Meeke, the 

oldest top driver in the event, whose 

winning speed (126.61km/h) was the 

highest ever recorded in the world 

championship. His car was built four 

years ago, and had never previously 

won a rally in Europe. 

THE EVENT 

When the start list was published 

showing the Portugal winner Meeke 

was to run eighth on the road and Ott

Tanak (a pace maker in Poland) 

seventh, on another event where 

road opening was a severe 

disadvantage, the writing was on 

the wall for Sebastien Ogier and 

his fellow VW driver and Poland 

Rally winner, Andreas Mikkelsen. 

They were due to run first and 

second, and the situation was 

none too promising for third 

runner Hayden Paddon. And so 

it was. 

Meeke took the lead, which he 

held from stage two to the end 

of the rally. Tanak chased Meeke 

until he spun (on a straight road!) 

and then suffered punctures. 

Ogier impressively persevered 

in adversity until the middle of the 

first afternoon when he slipped off 

the road in the middle of a hairpin, 

losing a quarter hour when 

lying third. 

Mikkelsen had an horrendous 

time, especially on the second day, and 

eventually struggled to finish seventh 

overall. VW’s hopes therefore rested 

with Latvala, whose fortunes were 

thwarted by a puncture on the Friday, 

but through determination held on 

to second place after Tanak fell back. 

There was a sense of relief for VW at 

the end of the event to discover that 

notwithstanding all their problems, 

their drivers were now holding 

the top three places in the Drivers’ 

Hayden Paddon 

battled set-up 

problems, but still 

managed 5th place. 

championship. 

It was hard to put Citroen’s success 

into true perspective. It was a mighty 

effort for both Kris Meeke and Craig 

Breen, but Abu Dhabi Total are not a 

registered team, meaning their cars 

run under different rules. That is one 

thing, but also because of their lack 

of accumulated championship points, 

their drivers enjoyed favourable 

running order positions, as they also 

had when Meeke won in Portugal. 

Thierry Neuville 

amongst some Finnish 

sunflowers. 

And victories in qualifying rounds of a 

championship based on manufacturer 

participation can throw doubts as to 

the value of regularly competing in the 

WRC. Or so the argument goes! 

Then, over at M-Sport ( the team 

similarly does not carry the Ford name), 

their team continued unsuccessfully 

to evaluate their true performance 

level, hoping that Ott Tanak, whose 

DMack-entered car was in the same 

specification as the M-Sport’s registered 


RALLY FINLAND - WRC 8 

Another roll ended 

2015 champ Ben Hunt’s 

rally prematurely. 

Eric Camilli’s battered 

Fiesta after his big roll 

on day two. 

team, would give encouragement. 

Tanak, however, was running DMack’s 

tyres, the latest version of which were 

specially designed for performance on 

two specific events, Poland and Finland. 

Again Tanak showed consistent stage 

winning pace between frustrations by 

punctures, and then in Finland by an 

Craig Breen finished 

on the podium for the 

first time at a WRC 

round. 

accident on the final morning. 

Eric Camilli continued to improve his 

pace until he also had to retire when 

he crashed, leaving Mads Ostberg once 

again the provider of championship 

points for the team. 

For now the hero was Meeke, who 

had another golden chance of success 

and enjoyed the opportunity in full 

measure. 

Nothing seemed to go very well 

in the Hyundai camp. Drivers were 

complaining endlessly about lack of 

grip and lack of confidence, but it was 

spectacular to see Thierry Neuville and 

Hayden Paddon finish 1-2 on the Power 

Stage at the end of the event. 

Third Hyundai driver, Kevin Abbring 

(substituting for the recuperating Dani 

Sordo), had minor difficulties, but 

gained Drivers’ championship points 

for the first time with his ninth place 

overall. 

Neuville finished 2.3 seconds ahead 

of Paddon in fourth and fifth positions, 

a good result after all the problems, 

on an event where any problem will 

usually end hope of success. 

The next three events in the WRC 

this season will be run exclusively on 

asphalt, when a new set of challenges 

will doubtless emerge! 

THE OTHERS 

Last year’s WRC2 winner, Esapekka 

Lappi, led the category from start to 

finish, fending off challenges from 

both Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen. 

PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS 


Lappi’s official Skoda teammate, Pontus 

Tidemand, fought hard to take second 

place, but on the Power Stage when he was 

first on the road, he crashed. 

There was strong competition expected 

with six of the top eight ranking drivers 

having selected this as a points scoring 

event for them. 

There was mystery at the non 

appearance of the official Peugeot Rally 

Academy driver Jose Suarez (208 T16 Evo), 

giving rise to rumours that the team was 

having problems with the new model, 

especially when Quentin Giordano also 

non-started his new model Peugeot. 

Henning Solberg was given a waiver to 

change from a World Rally Car, in which he 

had entered, to an R5, his first rally in an 

R5. 

Lappi took off, leading firstly Evans, 

who first had a pop off valve problem and 

also power steering trouble and a sticking 

throttle, which dropped him to sixth. Evans 

overtook Solberg and Karl Kruuda, who 

went off the road and lost two minutes 

stuck in a ditch, and who later crashed. 

Skoda maintained their 1-2-3 in the 

category going into the final day when, with 

the retirement of Tidemand, Evans’ Fiesta 

finished third behind Suninen. 

Emil Bergkvist missed stages after sliding 

irretrievably into a ditch, while Pierre-Louis 

Loubet hit a tree. 

Hiroki Arai retired after stage 21 with a 

broken damper, Marius Aasen was sixth 

despite a broken driveshaft, Henning 

Solberg survived power steering trouble to 

finish fourth. 

The best six scores out of seven results 

can be retained. Evans (6 starts) continues 

to hold his lead, now down to two points 

from Suninen (5), with Lappi (4), 38 points 

behind Evans, now up to fourth ahead of 

teammate Tidemand (4). 

Finland ranked as a qualifying event for 

both the Junior WRC and the WRC3. WRC3 

series leader, Michel Fabre, had tactically 

selected not to enter this event, but nine 

Junior drivers were present. 

Ole Christian Veiby led from the start 

from Simone Tempestini, and then the 

19 year old prize drive winner, Juuso 

Nordgren. 

The Drive DMack Fiesta Trophy category 

was won for only the second time in four 

years by Max Vatanen, after a battle with 

the current series leader, Osian Pryce, who 

was one of many who went off the road. 

Pryce still leads the series, five points 

clear of Vatanen, with rounds in Germany, 

followed by a double round in Spain to go. 

TOP 10 FINISH FOR PEDDER 

Australia’s international rally 

stars, Scott Pedder and Dale 

Moscatt, headed to the 

incredible roads of Rally Finland to 

continue their hunt for success in 

the WRC2 category of the World Rally 

Championship. 

Friday’s opening leg saw the crew 

suffer a time loss after a slow spin 

into a ditch, but Pedder made 

determined progress over Saturday’s 

eight stages, shrugging off a second 

spin to end the day 10th in WRC2 

and a very respectable 20th outright. 

That second Leg in Finland featured 

the event’s signature roller-coaster 

stage, the 33km ‘Ouninpohja’. With 

Italian Lorenzo Bertelli crashing 

heavily on the stage in his Fiesta RS 

WRC car, the remaining crews were 

awarded a default time after it was 

frustratingly downgraded. 

Despite battling an ill handling Skoda 

Fabia R5 during Friday’s leg, Pedder 

set about rebuilding his confidence, 

setting the ninth fastest WRC2 time 

on Päijälä, and then going faster 

again with the seventh quickest time 

on Pihlajakoski. 

The Pedders Team’s great turn 

of speed came to a sudden halt 

on stage 16 with a half spin, that 

dropped 24 seconds to the fastest 

WRC2 driver. 

“The very last corner of the stage, 

I basically just had the pacenote 

wrong. I looked back at the video 

from recce and each time we went 

through there was either traffic or 

dust,” Pedder said. 

“I spun, ended up 180-degrees 

the wrong way, and had to drive 

backwards down the stage to try to 

get it back around.” 

With the morning loop repeated 

in the afternoon, Pedder started 

cautiously, but managed three top- 

10 WRC2 stage times. 

On day three, four relatively short 

stages awaited the Aussie crew, and 

Pedder went back to the drawing 

board overnight, making wholesale 

suspension changes to his Skoda 

Fabia R5, resulting in a string of top 

six fastest WRC2 stage times. 

Pedder reviewed his performance 

on the event: “Today showed what 

we can do, running comfortably with 

the top five or six guys. 

“In hindsight, this weekend went 

much the same way as our previous 

events, by Sunday we’re showing 

what we’re capable of. Unfortunately, 

we need to be doing that from the 

very first stage on Friday, not by the 

very last stage on Sunday. 

“To come to Finland, the spiritual 

home of rallying, on only our second 

time and finish within the top 20 

outright on both occasions is actually 

quite remarkable,” beamed Scott. 

Pedder’s Australian fans will be able 

to see the mighty Skoda Fabia R5 in 

action during the Kennards Hire Rally 

Australia in November. 

- TOM SMITH 

For more details call Dominic on 0499 981 188 

or email dominic@rallysportmag.com.au 


HOLMES COLUMN 

HOLMES 

INSIDE 

LINE 

FASTER & FASTER! 

Kris Meeke won the 2016 Neste 

Rally Finland at an average 

speed of 126.61km/h, the fastest 

WRC rally ever, and Sebastien Ogier 

won stage 19 at an average speed of 

134.6km/h. 

Long forgotten are the wise words 

from previous leaders of the FIA about 

the need for restraint with the heady 

lust for speed. 

Speed on stages was a lively topic at 

Jyvaskyla, not only with this year’s rally 

in mind, but increasing unease at the 

prospect that speeds in 2017 with the 

new cars are going to get faster still. 

And also for another memorable 

reason altogether. July 29, 2016 was 

the 70th birthday of Stig Blomqvist. On 

August 4, 1983, Blomqvist completed 

the first stage of Rally Argentina at an 

average speed of 189km/h, a feat which 

has (thankfully) never been bettered in 

the WRC. 

Thinking about the evergreen 

Blomqvist, I bet he wouldn’t be that 

much slower these days, but I doubt 

if he would want to go halfway down 

Story: 

MARTIN HOLMES 

Argentina to prove the point. 

Anyway, happy birthday, Stig, truly 

the fastest driver in the WRC of all time! 

The Finland speed story has led 

to thoughts about whether the 

whole speed issue is still officially 

considered a serious matter. 

It is interesting to note that the 

organisers only erected one chicane 

all rally (used twice), and that was on a 

super special stage that was the slowest 

stage of the rally, Harju, in downtown 

Jyvaskyla. 

But would chicanes improve the 

safety issues? You can’t have chicanes 

along every fast stretch. Pretty much 

the whole of every stage on the event is 

excessively fast. 

The Harju stage had already 

witnessed a fatal spectator 

accident exactly 20 years earlier, in 

circumstances officially declared to 

JOY AND SADNESS FOR BREEN IN FINLAND 

Craig Breen was the Irish Republic’s first driver 

on a WRC podium, 31 years after Billy Coleman 

came fourth on the Tour de Corse, in the days 

before the FIA created such a major event of the 

podium presentation at the end of every round 

of the championship. 

Many people wondered why Craig was so 

emotional at the end of the event, forgetting 

how he had set out on his professional career 

alongside his friend Gareth Roberts, who died 

when he and Craig went off the road on the IRC 

Targa Florio in 2012. 

How quickly we forget things in the sport, but 

never by Craig. 

have been safe, and being in the centre 

of the biggest town in Central Finland, it 

was a security focal point. 

Finland has had serious thoughts 

about the speed issue in the past, 

egged on in earlier years by the worried 

bosses at the FIA. 

The only solution that will appease 

the sporting authorities on high average 

speed issues is to use narrower stages, 

which are on roads of reduced strength, 

which break up very easily and detract 

from the delight and popularity of the 

event. 

Happily, they took all the necessary 

measures to make this a happy and 

safe weekend. For this year. 

September 27 is the date when 

much of the immediate future 

of the sport will be spelled out, the 

day we will rush to see what the World 

Motor Sport Council communiqué 

announces, and what its authors consider 

are the relevant decisions that we 

should be allowed to know about. 

The problem is that we are not 


“Blomqvist 

completed the stage 

at an average speed 

of 189km/h!” 

Stig Blomqvist and his Audi 

Quattro arriving at the end of the 

first stage in Argentina 1983. 

allowed to know everything! One 

by one, the organisers of individual 

world championship rallies conclude 

agreements with the WRC Promoter, 

but that is secret. 

We should be able to piece together 

the structure of the following year’s 

calendars, but unless the organisers 

concerned make an announcement 

about such an agreement, we won’t 

know. We cannot work out the 2017 

WRC calendar like finishing off a jigsaw 

puzzle. 

Increasingly, one wonders why this is 

the case? Is this some form of power 

game in which the Federation does 

not want to be governed by whatever 

commercial arrangements their 

Promoter conclude? Sometimes the 

The move in the second part of the season from gravel-based 

to asphalt-based special stages in the world 

championship is going to be far more pronounced 

than in previous years, not the least because there are now 

going to be nine solid days of championship rallying on 

asphalt before the return to gravel on the first day in Spain. 

There are five events which are more-or-less asphalt 

rallies. Monte Carlo is a winter event for mixed 

predictability, Spain has two days asphalt and one on 

gravel, while only Germany, China and Corsica are 

exclusively asphalt. 

Then the fun and games start in the WRC2 and WRC3 

support championships. In both these series registered 

drivers can only nominate themselves for points eligibility 

on seven of the 14 qualifying rounds, from which the best 

six scores will be counted. 

Potential championship winners in these categories 

best intentions of the promoter are 

overridden by the FIA. 

Whatever came of the much vaunted 

Final Stage ShootOut plan heavily 

promoted by the Promoter? That plan 

suddenly disappeared without warning 

– or regret. 

I hope this is a game only between 

the FIA and the Promoter - and that 

keeping us in the dark is not part of 

another power struggle, in which the 

media has to be kept firmly in its place. 

I don’t want this magazine to 

become yet another press release 

billboard. 

Issues on which urgent decisions 

are awaited concerns the 2017 WRC 

Calendar, as well as on how the 2017 

World Rally Cars can be run. 

FUN AND GAMES IN THE CHAMPIONSHIPS 

Everything is inter-related with each 

other. 

The other major ongoing debate 

for 2017 concerns which drivers 

can compete in these new superperformant 

rally cars. This is a manyfaceted 

discussion, involving issues 

such as providing alternative top-level 

opportunities for disenfranchised 

drivers – maybe overruling the 

current policy of not offering sporting 

incentives to private drivers - not to 

mention safety concerns. 

As things stand, there is already a 

severe medical shortfall in the sport 

- witness the worrying increase in 

the number of drivers suffering back 

injuries, even with the current level of 

World Rally Car performance. 

might never compete against their rivals in action. In fact 

this isn’t happening this year, but when the entry list for 

Germany appeared and only two of the top placed drivers 

were shown, it told a tale. 

One driver who has been playing a splendid game in 

the WRC3 series is the 61-year old Michel Fabre, who by 

intelligent selection of the events this year, has been 

leading the series all year so far! He decided to enter the 

Swedish, Mexico and Argentina, where each time he was 

the only WRC3 registered driver and scored maximum 

points. 

WRC3 is an especially curious series because the 

subsidiary Junior WRC competitors score points for the full 

WRC3 series as well. Even if Fabre wakes up before the 

end of the season and his ultimate dream of a title fades 

away, he will still have quite a story to tell about keeping 

the sport’s young drivers at bay! 


CATLINS COAST RALLY 

SNOW AND 

ICE ON NZ 

CATLINS RALLY 

Story: BLAIR BARTELS 

Photos: EUAN CAMERON 

Winner Vaughan Edie 

(above) mastered the icy 

conditions better than 

Bert Murray and his 

Mazda RX7. 

Several NZ Championship teams 

contested the Catlins Coast Rally near 

the bottom of the South Island on 

August 6. 

Heavy snow and ice made the 

opening two stages treacherous for 

the front runners, allowing 20th seed 

Vaughan Edie to take the win. 

The Lancer Evo 8 driver won ahead of 

the Evo 3 of Andrew Graves, and Derek 

Ayson’s Ford Escort, while in only his 

second rally, 17-year old Ari Pettigrew 

was fourth in a BMW 318Ti. 

Usually rivals in the Historic NZRC 

class, Regan Ross and Marcus van Klink 

were the first NZRC crew home in sixth 

place, driving Ross’s Escort RS1800, 1.7 

seconds ahead of Ben Hunt and Dylan 

Thomson. 

Hunt traded in his latest Subaru WRX 

STI for the event and got behind the 

wheel of a GC8 Impreza, running an H6 

3.0 non turbo motor. 

Tony Gosling and Blair Read drove a 

DX Corolla to fourth in Class B, while 

Matt and Nicole Summerfield in a 

Ari Pettigrew (left) was 

fourth, while Regan Ross 

and Marcus van Klink 

teamed up to finish sixth 

in an Escort. 

Subaru Legacy and Phil Collins and 

Tracy Spark in their Audi Quattro both 

left the road. 

Ben Hunt was seventh in his older Subaru. 

GUGU ZULU DIES 

South African rally driver, Gugu 

Zulu, died unexpectedly during an 

expedition with his wife, climbing 

Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro. He 

reportedly experienced breathing 

troubles. 

Zulu was best known in rallying 

as an official driver in VW’s national 

South African championship team. 


RALLY MATES 

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Our services include: 

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painting 

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We repair and paint: 

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• Family cars 

• Fleet vehicles 

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• General / Private 

repairs 

• Minor repairs/ touch 

ups 

• Detailing 

• Colour coding 

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Ph: (02) 9790 6960 or (02) 9790 5910 

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• Historic event preparation 

• Specialised Nissan parts 

• NSW Rally Rego inspections 

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Phone: (02) 4577 2400 

enquiries@swmotorsport.com.au 

www.swmotorsport.com.au 


FEATURE: BUDGET RALLYING 

BANG FOR YOUR BU 

Choosing your first rally car can be 

complicated, but Hyundai’s reliable 

little Excel is a good option 

Getting started as a competitor 

in rallying is no easy task, 

and one of the more difficult 

decisions is deciding what car to build 

or buy. 

Once you have made the choice and 

parted with your hard-earned money, 

you then need to work out how much 

the car is going to cost you to run in 

each event, how expensive the spare 

parts are, and whether the car is going 

to retain any on-sale value in the future. 

Since 2006, competitors in Victoria 

and New South Wales have had the 

option of competing in a one-make 

series for Hyundai Excels that has not 

only provided crews with value for 

money, but has also been used as a 

stepping stone for drivers to launch 

successful careers higher up the rallying 

tree. 

While the cars may not be super 

fast or sound all that inspiring from 

the outside, a well set up Excel can be 

incredibly fun and rewarding to drive, 

and can be the perfect way to hone 

your rally driving skills. 

Story: PETER WHITTEN 


CK 

Photos: John Doutch, 

Peter Whitten 

Ged Blum pushes his Excel hard 

during Rally Victoria in 2013. 


FEATURE: BUDGET RALLYING 

FUN FACTS: 

You can get 250km competitive 

to a tank of fuel (45 litres) 

In my experience, 6 tyres will 

last a whole season easily. 

I ran standard rear brake shoes 

and never had a problem 

Front disc rotors are $30 each, 

brand new. 

Running fully synthetic brake 

fluid is essential. Anything with a 

boiling point under 300 degrees is 

a waste of time. The fluid boils and 

gives a spongy pedal. 

Ged says ... 

“Excels are slow, there’s no denying that, 

but it actually works in your favour. Because 

the power isn’t there, you have to make up 

speed in every possible section, hold it flat 

on blind crests, carry more speed through 

corners, and avoid doing anything that will 

slow you down, like getting too sideways 

or braking too much. Any bad driving loses 

time. 

They’re heaps of fun, and it’s a great 

feeling to beat a WRX in a standard ‘girl’s car’. 

People soon shut up about them being slow. 

I came third outright in a VRC stage in 

2013, four seconds behind the stage winner. 

That was the best feeling I’ve ever had in a 

car, and it was with a 220,000km engine too.“ 

Despite a lack of power in standard 

trim, the Excel can be thrown 

around and is great fun to drive. 


Light pod, side protection skirts and 

neat interior makes the Excel look 

like a proper rally car. 

Young Victorian, Ged Blum, is one 

such driver who has progressed 

through the sport from a young age, 

and after an ill-fated start to his career 

in an old rear-wheel drive Mitsubishi 

Lancer, he proceeded to build himself 

the first of two Excels, and hasn’t 

regretted it for a moment. 

The level playing field and the 

evenness of the competition provided 

by the one-make series allows drivers 

to really show their skills, all the 

while requiring them to be easy on 

the machinery and smooth in their 

execution. 

“I’ve had great fun driving both 

the Excels that I’ve owned, and I’d 

recommend it as a starting point for 

anyone making their way in the sport,” 

Blum says. 

“And even for more experienced 

competitors who just want to get out 

there and compete, without spending 

a fortune.” 

The Excels run in standard 

production trim, meaning extras such 

as stronger suspension and roll cages 

are allowed, but mechanically the cars 

must be kept standard – even the drum 

brake rear end has to be maintained. 

If building your own car from scratch 

is your preferred option, then finding 

a bodyshell to start with won’t be a 

problem – and won’t break the bank. 

“I bought my first Excel for $1500 and 

that was cheap back then,” Blum adds. 

“Now you can get a complete 

unregistered car for under $500.” 

Cars eligible for the one-make series 

must be manufactured between July 

1994 and June 2000, including all GX, 

GL, GLX and Sprint models, in three, 

four and five door variants. 

Either the 1495cc double overhead 

camshaft, or single overhead camshaft 

engines can be used, and run in 

standard form with the factory ECU. 

“The engine in my current car had 

done 130,000km when I bought it for 

$150, and the gearbox cost about the 

same – it really is cheap.” 

He says that the purchase of a steel 

roll cage will cost in the vicinity of $800, 

or a qualified welder could easily weld 

one up, get it checked and log-booked. 

“Suspension is the biggest cost,” he 

adds. “Budget set-ups are about $1500, 

and while they’re perfect for beginners, 

these units struggle once you start 

pushing hard. 

“A good quality suspension setup 

will set you back around $3000, 

or you can spend up to $5000 for 

custom-made units from some of the 

suspension specialists.” 

Adding all the under body protection, 

light bars/pods and safety equipment 

shouldn’t cost you any more than for 

other rally cars, ensuring that you 

finish up with one of the most costeffective 

cars in the event. 

Sure, it won’t throw you back in the 

seat like an Impreza WRX or Lancer 

Evo, and it doesn’t sound like a BDG 

Escort or a grunty Datsun 1600, but 

then again, it won’t cost you anywhere 

near as much. 

And that’s where rallying is unique. 

While everyone competes in the same 

event, there are classes within each 

rally, meaning that, in reality, while a 

Hyundai Excel might follow a WRX onto 

the stages, it’s only competing against 

those in its class. It’s that class set up 

that makes rallying so popular. 

For fun, grassroots rallying in a 

reliable car and, at a budget price, it’s 

hard to go past the Hyundai Excel. 


FEATURE: STARION TURBO 4WD 

GROUP B PROTOTYPE 

Story: 

TOM SMITH 

Back in the early to mid 80s, 

European manufacturers were 

battling for dominance at the 

highest level of world championship 

rallying – Group B. 

Of the Japanese manufacturers 

seriously competing in world rallying, 

only Toyota looked to be closing the 

gap, but the powerful 2WD turbo Celica 

was not able to match the pace of the 

hugely powerful 4WD machines out of 

the factories of Audi, Lancia, Peugeot, 

Ford and MG. 

Nissan, with its 240RS, had a vehicle 

that was strong and capable in longer 

distance events, but lacked the outright 

capabilities of the 4WD turbocharged 

competition. 

Mitsubishi then took a decision to 

step up, and followed the proven route 

of adapting a current performance 

vehicle in the form of their existing 

Starion turbo, proving itself at the time 

in various race and rally competitions in 

various markets. 

RallySport Magazine has uncovered 

details of this stillborn rally weapon, 

that was conceived in the early 80s 

as a rally winner, but was never 

homologated, as Group B was banned 

and the rally world moved on. 

Before Mitsubishi unleashed the 

unforgettable Galant VR4 and the 

subsequent series of incredibly 

successful Lancer Evolutions, there was 

the Starion. The factory decided that 

the Starion would form the basis of 

“Before Mitsubishi 

unleased the 

unforgettable 

Galant VR4, there 

was the Starion.” 

their Group B challenger. 

With a successful competition history 

to emulate, the Japanese home office 

set out with the goal of winning in 

Group B. Andrew Cowan’s British-based 

Ralliart Team was given the task of 

developing a 4WD, 350 horsepower 

Lassi Lampi in the 

Starion 4WD on the 1984 

Lombard RAC Rally. 

version of the Mitsubishi Starion for 

Group B competition. 

Scotsman Cowan had many notable 

successes with both the Rootes Group 

and subsequently Mitsubishi, for whom 

he signed in 1972. Cowan was notable 

as a long-distance driver, winning the 

first two London to Sydney Marathons 

and incredibly, five consecutive 

Southern Cross Rallies in Australia. 

He was also competitive in the Safari 

Rally, where he recorded a top four 

finish four times in five years, and in the 

Paris-Dakar Rally where his best result 

was second overall, in 1985. 

In 1983, Mitsubishi Motors asked 

him to establish a European base 

for their motorsport activities, and 

so he founded Andrew Cowan 

Motorsports (ACMS). It would evolve 

into Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe, and his 

cars eventually took Tommi Makinen 

to four consecutive WRC Drivers’ titles 

from 1996 to 1999, as well as winning 

Mitsubishi their only Manufacturers’ 

crown, in 1998. 

The Cowan team included engineer 

Alan Wilkinson, whose rallying 

credentials were second to none. He 

came to Ralliart with a history in Ford’s 

competition department, Toyota Team 

Europe and Audi Sport UK, where he 

fettled their very successful Quattro. 

Wilkinson’s job was to develop 

the mechanical specification and 

competition configuration of the 

Starion 4WD rally car that could then be 


used for the 200 evolutionary models 

the company needed to build to gain 

Group B homologation. Official Group 

B homologation of the Starion Rally was 

planned to enable the team to make its 

debut in world championship rallying 

with a two car entry on the Lombard 

RAC Rally in November 1986. 

In response to a number of tragic 

accidents, the outcry over the 

enormous speed and questions 

over the safety of the Group B cars, 

homologation never occurred when 

Group B was banned mid-way through 

1986, and coming into effect after the 

1986 season. 

In its early 

development, the 

Starion used a version 

of Mitsubishi’s twolitre 

turbo engine, 

with intercooler and 

computer controlled 

fuel injection system. 

The factory had a plan 

to use the Sirius Dash 

engine that Mitsubishi 

announced at the 1983 

Tokyo Motor Show, 

with a targeted output 

of 350bhp. 

That engine featured 

a three-valves per 

cylinder head with two inlet valves for 

each cylinder, with one operating all the 

time and the other being electronically 

controlled to come into operation 

when the engine reached more than 

2500rpm. Fuel injection was handled by 

a Bosch EFI computer. 

Interestingly, power was transferred 

through a twin plate clutch to the same 

5-speed transmission as the rearwheel 

drive Starion, but with stronger 

internals and a transfer case from 

the 4WD Pajero. That took the drive 

sideways to a second propshaft, that 

went forward to the front wheels. 

The torque split was permanently 

50/50 front to rear, and at the time 

considerable effort would have been 

required to design an alternate system 

for what was regarded to be only 

marginal benefits of adjustable torque 

split. 

The front axle line ran under the 

number two cylinder, which resulted in 

the engine sitting higher in the chassis. 

As a result, the crank centerline was 

actually about six degrees from the 

horizontal. 

While the project had been conceived 

as a converted rear-wheel drive car, the 

car was still front-end heavy. 

The wheelbase of the Starion 4WD 

was the same as the standard car, 

but overall the car was about 150mm 

shorter. 

The most obvious change to the 

body profile was to shorten the front 

overhang, a simple operation because 

new, lightweight front panels had to 

be designed in any case. The flip up 

headlights were replaced by more 

While not still born, the 

Starion 4WD had a short 

competition life. 

traditional sealed beam units of the 

day. 

Weight was always a very 

important focus for the design 

and development of the car, and 

amazingly for 1985, the car used 

carbon-fibre reinforced plastics 

for the propshafts, sumpguard 

and lower control arms of the 

McPherson strut suspension. 

Virtually all the exterior body 

panels were fibreglass and plastic 

(carbon and Kevlar on Evolution 

models): bonnet, tailgate, door skins, 

wings, bumpers and spoilers. The 

resulting weight of the car was an 

incredible 1050kg. 

RallySport Magazine understands 

that only five cars were produced, and 

amazingly, three of those are thought 

to still exist – two in Japan and one in 

the UK. 

In an era of fragile, space-framed 

bodies and incredible power outputs, 

Mitsubishi took a simplistic approach 

to the task of building a rally winner, 

but sadly this innovative vehicle did not 

reach the successful heights to which 

the company aimed. 

The car competed in numerous 

events, including the Milles Piste Rally in 

1984 and the Hong Kong-Beijing Rally of 

1986, amongst others. 

The Starion turbo in 2WD 

configuration enjoyed a successful era 

in Australian rallying, in the hands of 

David ‘Dinta’ Officer. While the model 

qualifies for the Classic Rally category, 

none is regularly competing at this 

time. 

Would a rare Group B prototype 

4WD replica possibly be considered 

for local competition? Sometimes, it’s 

only when these cars come to light that 

someone takes the time to investigate 

the possibilities? 

Click here to 

see the Group B 

Starion 4WD in 

action. 


NZ RALLYSPRINT SERIES 

‘FEATHERS’ CLAIMS RALLYSPRINT TITLE 

Story: STEVE RUSSELL 

Graham Featherstone took out New 

Zealand’s Northern Rallysprint Series 

for the third consecutive season, 

although on this occasion he really had 

to work extremely hard, being pushed 

every inch of the way by fellow Thames 

Valley Car Club member Carl Davies. 

“Feathers” in his ex-Andrew 

Hawkeswood Lancer Evo, and Davies in 

his ex-Ben Hunt Subaru, had a real ‘ding 

dong battle’ throughout the season. 

There were other serious contenders 

along the way, but as with any other 

sporting championship, it is consistency 

that pays off and as the others fell by 

the wayside, it was Feathers and Davies 

who kept the pedal to the metal more 

than most. 

Warwick Redfern (Lancer Evo), a past 

triple champion, took third overall and 

equal third in Class E with Shannon 

Chambers in his VW Polo. 

Chambers was in his first rallysprint 

series and was on a learning curve, so 

he will definitely be one to watch for 

the 2017 series. 

Forty-three drivers were registered 

this season, with 23 co-drivers register 

for the Co-Drivers Championship. Six 

classes catered for all cars, including 

the ever increasing Classic Class. All six 

rounds were on gravel, five of them 

on ultra-smooth closed public roads, 

with the sixth being in the Maramarua 

Forest complex. 

With six car clubs putting on the 

events and all clubs representing the 

‘Top of the North Island’ from the 

Waikato to Northland, the variation 

of roads offer the competitors a very 

challenging series. 

Many of the roads are past WRC or 

Rally New Zealand roads. All are totally 

different, from the rolling farmland type 

roads in Matamata, to the lush, tight 

and twisty valleys of Pirongia, to the 

fast, daunting ridge tops of Ruarangi 

Road. It really is a superb clubman’s 

championship, and records prove this, 

with the series just completing its 30 th 

season. 

Class winners were: 

Class A champion (0-1300cc) was 

Mark Bradly in his pocket rocket giant 

killing Datsun 1200. 

Class B (1301-1600cc) was Russell 

Jenkins in a very tidy Starlet. 

Class C, (1601-2000cc) was Grant 

Liston, Honda Integra. 

Class D (over 2000cc) Dave Strong, 

Honda Civic. 


Class E (4WD) Graham Featherstone. 

Class H (Classics) Barry Gibbs, MK2 

Escort. 

Top 2WD, Grant Liston and Dave 

Strong tied and were a very creditable 

fifth overall in the standings. 

“Listo’s star of the series”, an 

award for outstanding speed and 

commitment, went to Barry Gibbs. 

Dave Devonport, co-driver to Graham 

Shannon Chambers 

slides his VW Polo to 

third place. 

Mark Bradley’s giantkilling 

Datsun 1200 

won Class A. 

Featherstone, took the Co-Driver’s 

Championship. 

Plans are well under way for the 

2017 season, and a new website will be 

online soon. The series Facebook page 

has updates as well. 

Some small tweaks to rules, 

regulations and point scoring are also 

being addressed ahead of the 2017 

championship. 

Graham Featherstone 

took out the Northern 

Rallysprint Series in his 

Lancer Evo Evo.

NEW PRODUCTS 

New super lightweight race suit 

from Chicane Racewear 

Auckland-based motorsport clothing 

specialists Chicane Racewear have 

developed a new, super lightweight 

two-layer race suit, called the M-6, 

specifically for New Zealand and 

Australian conditions. 

The new Chicane M-6 suits feature 

new holographic ‘destruct on removal’ 

labels which carry a unique serial 

number for each suit, a system 

introduced by the FIA in 2013 to help 

prevent counterfeit suits being sold as 

FIA-approved on the global market. 

Chicane Racewear’s director and 

triple New Zealand motor racing 

champion, Shane Drake, says the 

Chicane M-6 suit features the very 

latest in two-layer technology from 

France. The outer layer is a flameresistant 

Nomex ® fabric, extremely 

breathable with a sheen finish. It is 

designed for the conditions competitors 

typically face in Australia, New Zealand 

and numerous Asian countriest. 

The M-6 two-layer race suits, 

approved to FIA standard 8856-2000, 

are now available in any size from XXS 

to 3XL as well as custom sizes, and in 

any colour combination and design. 

Customers can request personalised 

embroidery on their suits, as well as the 

addition of extra pockets for co-drivers. 

The suits also come with a shoulder 

gussett and NASCAR bootleg cuff. 

The Chicane Racewear website, 

www.chicaneracewear.co.nz, has a freeto-use 

online suit designer that allows 

competitors to customise their own 

race suit and submit the design for a 

quote to be provided. 

The Chicane M-6 suits start at 

NZ$1845 

PEDDERS 

HEIDELBERG 

At Pedders Heidelberg we race, rally and engineer all types of 

competition vehicles. For expert advice, contact Steve or Dave 

on (03) 9458 2555 or heidelberg@pedders.com.au 

• DTG Procomm iii Intercom and Non Intercom Helmets 

• Huge range of Intercom equipment 

• Rosso Racing Map Lights, Digital Timers. 

Standard and Digital amps (all Stilo/DTG plug-in) Crew 

Head Sets and all custom Intercom accessories 

www.dtgraceproducts.com.au Phone: 0478 282 010 

* All Custom Race wear 

SFI and Promo 

Ben Atkinson’s 

Pace Note books 

l 80 pace note pages plus cover page 

and contents page. 

l 250mm high x 200mm wide (easier to 

handle in the car than A4) 

l 110gsm paper is more durable when 

using an eraser and if it is a wet rally. 

l Books are bound using plastic spiral 

binding which allows the books to fold 

back fully with no interference from the 

binding or any chance of pages coming 

loose. 

Ben’s pace note books have been 

refined over many years, and have 

helped him to successfully call the 

notes for Cody Crocker in their 

successful APRC campaigns. 

$19.00 

per book 

Exclusive to 

RallySport Magazine 

Click here to order your copies 

Advertise your business 

from $100 per issue in our 

Retail Directory. 

Contact Dominic on 

0499 981 188 for more 

information. 


CHINA RALLY - APRC 3 

STOHL WINS 

Manfred Stohl won 

the China Rally in a 

Citroen DS3 R5. 

BUT AUSSIES IMPRESS! 

Story: MARTIN HOLMES 

Non-championship competitor, 

Manfred Stohl, comfortably 

won the APRC China Rally 

Zhangye at the wheel of a locally entered 

Citroen DS3 R5 

Championship leader, second placed 

Gaurav Gill (Team MRF Skoda Fabia R5), 

took the points for winning. 

Based at the faraway city of Zhangye, 

close to the border with Mongolia, 

the event used stages on the edge of 

the Gobi desert, a location recently 

inspected by the FIA, but rejected, 

for the newly revived China world 

championship rally. 

“It’s been a great event for us, 

something completely new, with very 

fast stages in the desert, and very hot,” 

Gill said. 

“The car went well, the tyres as well. 

Maximum points in the kitty, three out 

of three rallies, so couldn’t be better.” 

Gill’s teammate, Fabian Kreim, missed 

stages when the turbocharger failed. 

Kreim came back fighting on day two 

to be fastest APRC driver of the day, 

plus with new rules that allow missed 

stages to accumulate 60 minutes each 

of added time, Kreim is still classified 

as a finisher, allowing him to still score 

second place APRC driver points. 

A notable entry was APRC class 

leader, Mike Young, who drove a BYD 


Dream Team Qin hybrid car in place of 

his usual Subaru. 

Chris Atkinson won the supporting 

national championship event, which 

attracted over 100 entries, in his special 

VW Golf. 

It has now been three years 

since Skoda did not win an APRC 

championship rally. 

The world championship China Rally 

Huairou will be run close to Beijing next 

month. 

Kiwi Mike Young in the hybrid BYD 

Qin. Photos: Asia Pacific Sports 

Media and TV 

The next event in the APRC calendar 

is Rally Hokkaido, Japan 24-25 

September. 

CHINA RALLY ZHANGYE 

1. Manfred Stohl/Bernhard Ettel (A) 

Citroën DS3 R5, 2:12.22,3 

2. Gaurav Gill/Glenn Macneall (IND/ 

AUS) Skoda Fabia R5, +5.04,0 

3. Wang Hua/Pang Jiadong (CHN) 

Citroën DS3 R5, +13.00,3 

4. Eli Evans/Glen Weston (AUS)

Citroën DS3 R3T, +17.26,2 

5. Hitoshi Takayama/Tomoyuki 

Nakagawa (J) Subaru Impreza WRX STI, 

+23.57,9 

6. Mike Young/Zhang Longxi (NZ/CHN) 

BYD Qin, +44.42,1 

APRC points after Zhangye after round 

three: 1. Gill 115, 2. Kreim 68, 3. Young 

50, 4. Takayama 29, 5. 20 Takale. 

Atkinson and 

Moscatt won 

the Chinese 

championship 

event. 

Aussies Eli Evans 

and Glen Weston 

were fourth. 

Gaurav Gill maintained his APRC 

lead in barren Chinese countryside. 

BACK TO THE FUTURE AT IRONBARK TOUR 

It really was “Back to the future” in 

the central Victorian forests on August 

6 when the sons of two rally legends 

teamed up to win the HRA’s “Magical 

Ironbark Tour”. 

Steuart Snooks, son of Tom (director 

of high profile events like the Southern 

Cross and Dulux Rallies), teamed up 

with Matt deVaus, son of Peter (who 

was a competitor in the 1979 Repco 

Reliability Trial and is a life member 

of the Peugeot Club), to win both 

divisions in a standard (and automatic!) 

Peugeot 505 sedan. 

In fact, no less than 13 crews were 

running this event in standard cars as 

part of the Resto Country Standard Car 

Series, in cars ranging from a Morris 

1100, to Mazda 323 to Volvao 240s. 

The event was a 200km navigational 

tour in the old style on forest and 

shire roads, with the addition of 

a motorkhana and a closed road 

competitive stage in each division, 

where competitors could engage 

in spirited driving. Afterwards, they 

returned to the business of navigating 

their way around old railway reserves 

and forest roads, before taking on the 

tricky Heathcote forest after dark. 

DeVaus/Snooks had a clean run in 

the two daylight tour sections, took 

second fastest on the closed road 

stage and were equal quickest in the 

motorkhana, giving them a nine point 

lead going into the evening division. 

Next best was Upton/Laidlay in a 

Skyline, who missed a via late in the 

day to place them second, just ahead 

of Wallis/Ward, with an extra missed 

via. 

- ALAN BAKER 

1st: Snooks 

and De Vaus. 

(Photos: John 

Doutch) 

2nd: Upton 

and Laidlay. 


BORDER RANGES RALLY 

Mal Keough’s high-flying Audi 

Quattro S1 replica will be a feature 

of the Border Ranges Rally. 

(Photo: PETER WHITTEN) 

QUALITY FIELD FOR BORDER RANGES RALLY 

The theme of “Best on the Best” in 

the Brakes Direct Border Ranges 

Rally will see a return to the 

popular format of classics running first 

on the road when crews face the starter 

on Saturday, August 27. 

The rally, based in the northern New 

South Wales town of Kyogle, is shaping 

up as the rally of the year. Run as 

Round 4 of the MRF Tyres Queensland 

Rally Championship, the event is 

attracting entrants from both states to 

do battle over some of the best shire 

roads in the country. 

The Zupp Property Group Classic 

Rally Challenge ‘event within the event’ 

boasts a strong of field of Classic rally 

cars with confirmed starters, Jack 

Monkhouse/Tom Ryan in a V8 powered 

Opel Manta, and New Zealand’s Derek 

Ayson, with Cate Kelly calling the 

corners in a Group 4 Ford Escort. 

They’ll have to overcome the 

awesome Group B Audi Quattro of 

Mal Keough/Pip Bennett. This fire 

breathing monster will be joined by 

another Group B crowd favourite in the 

Matt Love/Josh Love Mazda RX-7, Clay 

Badenoch and Erin Kelly in a Group 4 

Toyota RA40 Celica, and the rapid Allan 

66 

Photos: | RALLYSPORT 

Red 

MAGAZINE 

Bull Content 

- AUGUST 

Pool 

2016 

Griffin/Brad Smith Datsun Stanza. 

Included in the Classics front of 

field category will be the Rallytorque 

Escort Rally Challenge, where Ayson 

will be joined by the Mk 2 Escorts of 

Keith Fackrell Tony Best, Matt Linning/ 

Craig Morrison, Thomas Dermody/Eoin 

Moynihan, and the Mk1 of Rob and Jen 

Clark. 

Immediately following the Classics, 

the MRF Tyres Queensland Rally 

Championship, currently led by Kent 

Lawrence/James Wilson (Evo 8), sits only 

two points ahead of rival Rob Bishop/ 

Neil Wooley (Evo 6). 

Marius Swart, with Alan Stean, in 

the screaming VW Polo S2000 will 

keep them honest, but perhaps their 

biggest challenge may come from New 

South Wales speedster Peter Roberts/ 

Andrew Cowley (Evo 6). Roberts is no 

stranger to this event, and the battle for 

top honours on swept roads open to 

reconnaissance will be intense. 

Not far behind, the MRF Tyres 

Queensland Clubman Championship 

will be a close tussle between Shaun 

Dragona/Annette Dragona, Steve 

Allmark/Chris Miller and Peter Kahler/ 

Claire Buccini. 

Also new to this event, on the Friday 

evening before the start, a special 

Rally Forum will be held at the Kyogle 

Bowls Club, across the road from 

Rally Headquarters. Starting just after 

8:00pm, the panel format will be hosted 

by rally legend Ed Mulligan. 

Current Subaru works driver, 

Molly Taylor, will be joined by 

Jack Monkhouse and Derek 

Ayson, where Mulligan is expected to 

use his special gift of extracting the 

“real” story behind the story – with a 

few laughs as well. 

Spectators will again be treated to 

the sensational Hillyards Stage, once a 

feature of the Australian round of the 

World Championship. 

Spectating will also be available 

at Toonumbar, and cars will run 

two stages through the Kyogle 

Showgrounds under lights to complete 

the event. 

Further information and entry 

updates on the Brakes Direct Border 

Ranges Rally can be found at http:// 

www.borderrangesrally.com.au or go 

to the Facebook Page https://www. 

facebook.com/BorderRangesRally/ 

- DOMINIC CORKERON

RETROSPECTIVE 

RED HOT 

QUATTRO 

The life and times of Dick 

Boardman’s Audi Quattro came to 

an abrupt and terrifying end in the 

1991 Cooloola Classic Rally. 

The event was round one of the 

Queensland Rally Championship 

that year, and Boardman’s Quattro 

burst into flames on stage 17. 

Despite the best efforts of the 

crew and onlookers, the car burnt 

to the ground. 

Archive photos: Bob Powell 


EUROPEAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 

KAJETANOWICZ ON TOP 

Kajetan Kajetanowicz 

Despite leading this year’s series, 

the Fiesta driver and reigning 

European Rally Champion, 

Kajetan Kajetanowicz, has finally scored 

his first outright victory of the season, 

after a long series of podium results. 

After an early battle with Citroen DS3 

driver Bryan Bouffier, Kajetanowicz won 

the all asphalt Rajd Rzeszow, held in the 

south eastern corner of his native Poland. 

The withdrawal from the championship 

of the Russian, Alexey Lukyanuk, reduced 

the fight for the lead to the Polish and 

the French drivers, but there were early 

challengers. 

Bouffier lost touch with Kajetanowicz 

when he spun on stage six, and finished 

very nervously when he had a radiator 

leak two stages before the finish. 

Third placed Lukasz Habaj lost nearly 

three minutes off the road on the second 

stage, and only finally pulled back to 

fourth on the final stage of the event. 

Zbigniew Gabrys rolled on stage four, 

also when lying third. From midday on the 

first full day to the end, third place was 

held by Grzegorz Grzyb. 

R5 cars took the top six places (all 

Fiestas apart from Bouffier’s car), while 

seventh was the Subaru car of ERC2 

winner Wojciech Chuchala. 

ERC3 winner was Nikolay Gryazin’s 

Peugeot R2, though the similar car of 

Dariusz Polonski won the class on the 

rally. 

There was a curious incident when 

Hungarian Fiesta R5 driver, David 

Botka, retired with alternator problems, 

then found that he was excluded by the 

PROMOTE YOUR 

BUSINESS 


Stewards for running an underweight car. 

Final positions: 

1. Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL)/ 

Jarosław Baran (POL) Ford Fiesta R5, 

2h01m37.1s 

2. Bryan Bouffier (FRA)/Xavier Panseri 

(FRA) Citroën DS3 R5, +46.0s 

3. Grzegorz Grzyb (POL)/Robert 

Hundla (POL) Ford Fiesta R5, +3m37.6s 

4. Łukasz Habaj (POL)/Piotr Woś (POL) 

Ford Fiesta R5, +4m04.1s 

5. Jakub Brzeziński (POL)/Jakub 

Gerber (POL) ŠKODA Fabia R5, 

70S FORD 

MECHANIC 

MICK JONES 

DIES 

+4m19.4s 

6. Tomasz Kasperczyk (POL)/Damian 

Syty (EST) Ford Fiesta R5, +5m06.1s 

Wojiech Chuchala, Subaru 

Bryan Bouffier, Citroen 

Mick Jones, the 

famous senior 

mechanic with the 

Ford Competition Department in Boreham in the 1960s and 1970s, passed away 

early in August. Jones was well remembered for the days of Roger Clark and the 

famous WRC programme in 1979, when Ford won the world manufacturers’ title 

and Bjorn Waldegard was drivers’ champion. 

Rally fans who enjoyed many of the rally films from the 1970s will remember 

Mick Jones well. In the photo above, he is pictured (left) with Hannu Mikkola. 

Photo: Martin Holmes 

For more details call 

Dominic on 0499 981 188

WALKY 100 RALLY 

DWYER WINS 

WALKY 100 

Dwyer has now won at 

Robertstown three times, 

having previously won in 

2005 and 2012. 

Story & Photos: JOHN LEMM 

The Copyworld Walky 100 Rally at 

Robertstown in South Australia’s 

mid-north has always thrown up 

a few surprises, and this year’s 32nd 

running was no exception. 

Held on August 6, Robertstown 

generally uses the same great stages 

each year, with only a few variations, 

which makes it very popular with 

competitors and spectators alike. The 

rally won the 2015 award for the best 

CAMS event in South Australia and the 

Northern Territory. 

This year there were six separate 

courses with two runs of each. 

After a battle with round 1 winners 

James Rodda and Dave Langfield 

(Mitsubishi Evo IX) for nine of the 12 

stages, Declan Dwyer and Craig Adams 

(Evo VI) came out on top, with fastest 

time in eleven stages. 

Rodda retired on the tenth stage, Hill 

Big One 2, with a broken rear diff. 

Finishing nearly four minutes behind 

Dwyer was the Datsun 180B of Neville 

Whittenbury and Kate Catford, just 23 

seconds in front of Andrew Gleeson 

and Mike Dale’s Datsun Stanza. 

Whittenbury had overhauled Gleeson 

with three stages to go. 

A number of early front-runners 

struck trouble, with some being unable 

to resume. 

A great drive from 

Whittenbury saw him score 

a personal best of second 

place. (Inset) Another 

third place from Geehan 

sees him leading the 

Championship. 

Aaron Bowering and Nathan Lowe’s 

Subaru WRX STi, overheating from the 

first stage, retired after the third with a 

blown head gasket. 

Zayne Admiraal and Matthew 

Heywood had a terrifying moment on 

SS2 (Scrubby Hills 1) when a uni joint 

on the steering column of their Subaru 

WRX came loose at around 200 km/h. 

They managed to stop and carry out 

repairs and carry on to finish fourth. 

Rather than ruing what may have been 

second spot, Admiraal was just relieved 

that the incident didn’t have more 

serious consequences. 

Matt Selley and Hamish McKendrick’s 

2.4 litre Escort Mk II lost time on SS1 

(Pipeline 1) with an HT lead problem, 

the following succession of rapid times 

coming to nought when they struck 

a large rock on SS6 (Long Dips 2) 

damaging a wheel and bending the diff. 

Lucky to finish eighth was Wayne 

Mason and Damien Reed’s similar 

Escort BDG which also stopped with a 

loose coil lead on SS5 (Scrubby Hills 2), 

losing around four minutes. 

Eventually finishing 17th, Carwyn 

Harries and Matthew Henderson’s 

Gemini lost around 15 minutes with a 

broken rotor button on SS4 (Pipeline 2) 

before running out of brakes on SS10 

(Hill Big One 2). 

One position further back was the 

father and daughter team of Neil and 

Andrea Gehan (WRX STi RA), who had 

been as high as third before breaking 

a rear axle on SS7 (Hill Big One 1) and 

missing two stages. 

Gehan had won the rally 22 years ago 

in a Ford Laser TX3. 

Two third-places now sees Geehan 

leading the championship. 

Round 3 is the Lightforce Rally SA on 

September 10-11. 

Results: 

1. Declan Dwyer/Craig Adams 

(Mitsubishi Evo VI) 1.04.53 

2. Neville Whittenbury/Kate Catford 

(Datsun 180B) 1.08.40 

3. Andrew Gleeson/Mike Dale 

(Datsun Stanza) 1.09.03 

4. Zayne Admiraal/Matthew Heywood 

(Subaru WRX) 1.10.17 

5. Mark Povey/Brendan Dearman 

(Datsun Stanza) 1.11.52 

6. Marc Butler/Peter Sims 

(Honda Civic) 1.12.16 


PHOTO OF THE MONTH 


Scott Pedder / Dale Moscatt, 

2016 Rally Finland. 

(Photo: Red Bull Content Pool) 


15 YEARS AGO .... AUGUST 2001 

AUGUST 2001 

GROUP N BONANZA 

Australian rallying appeared on the verge of its most 

successful period yet, with brilliant performances by 

experienced and young drivers. 

In Group N reigning champ Cody Crocker and long-time 

frontrunner Ed Ordynski were locked together after three 

fast-paced and hard fought rounds, but their mantle as the 

production category’s quickest drivers was being challenged. 

In South Australia and Queensland no less than six drivers 

took a Group N stage victory, and on at least three occasions, 

that meant a stage victory ahead of the World Rally Cars of 

Possum Bourne and Neal Bates. 

$15,000 FOR ONE MAKE SERIES 

Proton Cars Australia confirmed its support for the Proton 

Rally Trophy one make rally series in the Australian Rally 

Possum Bourne slides to 

victory in South Australia. 

(Photo: Troy Amos) 

Championship with 

the announcement of 

a major sponsor and 

a significant prize pool 

of $15,000 for 2002. 

Clarion Car Audio 

signed on as a major 

sponsor for two years. 

BOURNE TO BE 

CHAMPION: 

Everything was 

new in Rally South 

Australia - the event, 

the roads and the 

conditions. But 

almost predictably, 

$5.50 including GST rallysportnews.com.au 

Ordynski and Crocker 

lock horns as the battle 

for the ARC Group N 

crown livens up 

We ride with Kenneth in Greece! 

● QLD & SA ARC reports 

● World title reports 

● All the latest news 

AUGUST 2001 Vol. 12 No. 11 

Germany's bid 

for the WRC 

Possum 

Bourne rose to the occasion to 

extend his championship lead. 

SUBARU STAR DOMINATES AGAIN 

Up north, Bourne didn’t hold back at the Falken Tyres 

Rally Queensland, winning both heats. But team-mate 

Cody Crocker had to share the Group N honours with 

Mitsubishi’s Ed Ordynski. 

MORE MCRAE MAGIC IN THE WRC 

In the WRC, Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz had 

a second consecutive Ford 1-2 in the bag on the 

Acropolis Rally, until the Spaniard’s engine failed 30km 

from the finish. Again, Peugeot had a miserable rally as 

McRae took victory. 

NEXT 

MONTH 

RallySafe 

- an Aussie 

success story 

AVAILABLE SEPT. 15TH 

at www.rallysportmag.com.au or www.issuu.com 


Including ... 

Famous stages: Bunnings 

Rally South Australia 

Coromandel Rally 

WRC Germany

RallySport Magazine August 2016

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