RallySport Magazine December 2016

Issue #8 - December 2016
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VW goes
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WRC NEWS
Ogier signs
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FULL COVERAGE: 2016 KENNARDS HIRE RALLY AUSTRALIA
EVENT REPORTS
Silver Fern
5 MINUTES WITH
Molly Taylor
NEW CARS
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rallysportmag.com.au
COLUMN
Hayden Paddon
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 1

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CONTENTS - #8 DECEMBER 2016
FEATURES EVENT REPORTS REGULARS
FOLLOW
US ON:
MANAGING EDITOR
PETER WHITTEN
peter@rallysportmag.com.au
CONTRIBUTORS
Martin Holmes, Luke Whitten,
Blair Bartels, Geoff Ridder,
John Doutch, Jeff Whitten,
Craig O’Brien, John Crouch
20 SPECTATOR HEAVEN
FANS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
VENTURED TO RALLY AUSTRALIA
32 THE VOICE OF RALLY
LUKE WHITTEN SPENDS A DAY WITH
WRC RADIO’S COLIN CLARK
34 THE ONLY WAY IS SIDEWAYS
PART 2 OF OUR FEATURE WITH IRISH
SUPERSTAR FRANK KELLY
38 FIESTA TIME
RSM’S PETER WHITTEN TEST DRIVES
A FORD FIESTA IN VICTORIA
42 PNG SAFARI
TOM SMITH LOOKS BACK ON PNG’S
MOST SUCCESSFUL RALLY
44 HYUNDAI I20 WRC
MICHEL NANDAN CHATS ABOUT
HYUNDAI’S 2017 CHALLENGER
60 HISTORY NOTED
PACE NOTES DIDN’T START HOW
YOU MAY IMAGINE THEY DID
COVER PHOTO: Red Bull Content Pool
The passion for rallying ....
SENIOR WRITER
12 RALLY AUSTRALIA
MIKKELSEN SENDS VOLKSWAGEN
OUT ON A HIGH
24 RALLY AUSTRALIA
THE ARC CROWNS ITS FIRST FEMALE
DRIVERS’ CHAMPION
49 RALLY OF INDIA
GAURAV GILL WINS ON HOME SOIL
50 CLASSIC ADELAIDE
BUSBY MASTERS THE TARMAC
51 BEGONIA RALLY
RAIN SHORTENS VRC FINALE
54 SILVER FERN RALLY
ESCORTS, ESCORTS AND MORE
ESCORTS IN THE NZ CLASSIC
✸
DID
TOM SMITH
tom@rallysportmag.com.au
PUBLISHED BY:
Peter Whitten
RallySport Magazine
peter@rallysportmag.com.au
www.rallysportmag.com.au
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06 EDITORIAL
ANOTHER EXCITING MONTH HAS
FLOWN BY
07 LATEST RALLY NEWS
NEWS FROM AROUND THE SPORT
22 HAYDEN PADDON COLUMN
MORE STEPS FORWARD FOR THE
KIWI AT RALLY AUSTRALIA
30 FIVE MINUTES WITH ...
MOLLY TAYLOR IS THE ARC’S
YOUNGEST EVER WINNER
46 HOLMES COLUMN
OUR WRC EXPERT DELVES INTO THE
LATEST HAPPENINGS
62 PHOTO OF THE MONTH
THIS MONTH’S “TOP SHOT”
YOU KNOW?
You can click on an advert or website address to
go directly to an advertiser’s website?
COPYRIGHT:
No material, artwork or photos may be reproduced in
whole or in part without the written permission of the
publishers. RallySport Magazine takes care in compiling
specifications, prices and details but cannot accept
responsibility for any errors. The opinions expressed by
columnists and contributors to this magazine are not
necessarily those of RallySport Magazine.
Click the covers to read
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 5

EDITORIAL
HIGHS AND LOWS ON SHOW
By PETER WHITTEN
To say the past month has been
action packed would be an
understatement, as rally fans the
world over eagerly scoured the internet
for the latest news on where the redundant
Volkswagen drivers will end up.
It seems not a day went by without
Sebastien Ogier being linked to one
team or another, after which his former
team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and
Andreas Mikkelsen are slotted into the
remaining WRC seats.
More locally, the Australian Rally
Championship has received a major
shot in the arm with news that threetime
champion, Eli Evans, will return to
the series next year in a new Mini built
to AP4 specifiations.
With a Toyota Yaris already under
construction in Canberra for Harry
Bates, Australia will finally get a firsthand
look at the exciting new AP4
category that has already taken New
Zealand by storm.
After a few years in the doldrums,
the ARC is finally start to kick some
goals again, and Subaru’s imminent title
defence only strengthens the series
further.
But not everything is sweet and
rosy, and social media’s reaction
to Molly Taylor’s Australian Rally
Championship victory has seen the
highs and lows of rallying displayed in a
public forum for everyone to see.
Some of the comments regarding
the unfortunate error co-driver Dale
Moscatt made on the final day of Rally
Australia have been disgraceful, and
false allegations thrown in all directions
Both the NZRC and ARC have
had successful seasons in
2016. (Photos: Geoff Ridder)
6 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016
It may be the end of the season, but that’s just meant that
the rally news has come thicker and faster ....
have been not only disrespectful, but
detrimental to the sport.
We all respect the public’s right to
have their say, and we all love the
ability we now have to interact with
the world on matters that interest us,
thanks to the beast that is social media.
However, giving opinions that are just
that – opinions – rather than basing
comments on real facts can be harmful
to those involved.
Let’s retain that incredible passion
for the sport, but let’s also be mindful
of the downside to social media
comments, and think long and hard
before you press the ‘Enter’ key.
The wheels often turn slowly at
a managerial level, and 10 days
before Christmas we’re still
awaiting news on the Australian Rally
Championship’s new
tyre supplier for
2017.
It’s probably no
secret that the
expected multi-year
deal will be with a
tyre manufacturer
based in Asia, but
other than that we
can’t say much more
at this stage.
RallySport
Magazine
understands that a
six-year contract is
waiting to be signed
that will offer all
sorts of benefits to
the sport over the coming years.
In New Zealand, Hayden Paddon’s
success in the WRC sees the sport
continue to grow, and it’s fantastic
to see the likeable star putting just as
much back into the sport as he’s taken
out of it.
The launch of the Hayden Paddon
Rally Foundation and the recently
completed scholarship competition will
be key ingredients to the success of NZ
rallying for many years to come and
may well unearth the country’s next
WRC regular.
The Trans Tasman neighbours may
be well removed from the ‘home’ of
rallying in the Northern Hemisphere,
but recent happenings (Rally Australia
included) prove that we still punch well
above our weight.
With Christmas nearly upon
us, I’d like to thank all our
advertisers, contributors and
you, the readers, for your support of
RallySport Magazine over the past eight
months.
It’s been an exciting year for rallying
in Australia and New Zealand, and the
future is looking even brighter.
The next issue of RallySport Magazine
will be available on February 2, but
in the meantime, keep checking the
website for all the latest news – and
given recent events, there’s sure to be
plenty of that.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a
safe and prosperous New Year.

NEWS@RALLYSPORTMAG.COM.AU
MINI PROGRAM MASSIVE FOR ARC
Three times Australian Rally
Champion, Eli Evans, will
return to the 2017 Australian
Rally Championship in a new car
to be run by the Evans Motorsport
Team.
The team will build a brand
new MINI Cooper AP4 rally car
to support the new and exciting
regulations.
“The ARC’s new set of rules has
huge potential so the decision was
easy. The hardest part was deciding
on what is the best car to build to
give us every chance for the title,”
team boss, Peter Evans said.
Team manager Jesse Robison
added: “We have been discussing
which car we thought was best
suited to the new AP4 rules. The
team wanted a car that is light, fast
and easy to work on, and the MINI
Cooper was at the top of the list.”
The car is currently under
construction at Force Motorsport in
New Zealand, the company behind
many of the AP4 cars already
running in the NZRC, including
Hayden Paddon’s Hyundai i20.
“I’m extremely excited for the
2017 season,” Eli Evans said.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge
getting back in a 4WD rally car, but
that’s what I’m looking forward to
most of all.
“Glen (Weston) and I had great
success in the 2WD formula with a
record of 12 straight wins in 2012
and 2013, and at one point we had
won 16 of 20 rallies that we had
entered.
“Fingers crossed, the skill set I
have learnt in driving a front-wheel
drive rally car to its limit will aid us
in chasing the success that I want
now that I’m in 4WD.
“I also plan to extract as much
knowledge as I can from my big
brother Simon. He knows a couple
of things about driving a 4WD and
is extremely good at getting the
most out of a rally car.”
The MINI will debut at the first
round, the Eureka Rally, in March.
Evans’ new MINI under
construction in New
Zealand. (Photos: Geoff
Ridder, Gary Boyd)
SUBARU BACK FOR MORE IN ‘17 AS TAYLOR DEFENDS TITLE
Although a decision won’t be
officially made until mid-January,
Subaru Australia is set to return
to defend their Australian Rally Championship
title in 2017.
Molly Taylor’s season of consistency
culminated in her first championship title
at Rally Australia, as well as being the first
female winner, and the youngest ever
holder of the title.
Subaru management will meet next
month to rubber-stamp the 2017
program, however there is already
speculation that next year’s car will be
up-specced from the Group N machine
run this season.
Les Walkden Rallying currently has a
new WRX STI being built, and it is thought
that car – with more modifications – will
be the vehicle Taylor uses to defend her
title, starting at Victoria’s Eureka Rally in
March.
- PETER WHITTEN
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 7

NEWS@RALLYSPORTMAG.COM.AU
NZ news
Job Quantock (left)
co-driver Alan
Steel and Hayden
Paddon.
By BLAIR BARTELS
Second Toyota
Photo: Geoff Ridder
A second Toyota has been confirmed
for the 2017 NZ season, to be piloted by
Carl Davies and Tracey Millar.
The car has had AP4 work done by
Force Motorsport before heading to
PF Automotive in Tauranga for the
remainder of the build.
While the Shannon Chambers car will
utilise a 4AGE engine, Davies’ example
will use a 2ZR engine found in the late
model Corollas, de-stroked to 1600cc,
and will use a single plane rear wing to
be fully AP4 compliant.
The car is expected to be completed
well before the start of the season to
allow Davies plenty of seat time before
the season starts.
Inkster and Allport
Glenn Inkster (above) will team up with
three-time national rally champion, Neil
Allport, for the 2017 season.
Inkster returned to gravel rallying
in 2016 with a Skoda Fabia AP4+
car after a four-year lay-off and set
some impressive stage times, but a
fourth place at the final round, Rally
Coromandel, represented his only finish
in a frustrating season.
Allport will not only take over car
preparation and on-event running of
the car, but will also act as a mentor to
Inkster throughout the season.
JOB’S BIG BREAK
Canterbury’s Job Quantock has
won the biggest rally driver
development package on offer
in New Zealand motorsport by being
selected as the winner of the inaugural
Hyundai NZ Young Driver Shootout and
Scholarship.
Quantock, 22, will now benefit in a
range of ways from the programme
designed to boost his motorsport
career aspirations, including the
opportunity to drive the Hyundai
NZ AP4 i20 rally car run by Paddon
Rallysport in two rounds of the 2017
New Zealand Rally Championship,
as well as testing and training with
Paddon.
There is also the potential for an
expanded programme in 2018 for
Quantock.
Quantock is relatively new to rally
competition, having contested his first
full season this year, yet he took second
overall in the 2016 Mainland Rally
Series and finished second in two other
regional rallies.
He impressed Paddon and other
judges to win the two-day shootout.
He and the other four finalists went
through fitness assessments and
classroom sessions from Paddon and
other guest experts on sponsorship
planning, nutrition, media presence,
career planning, writing pace notes and
car set-up, before enjoying time behind
the wheel of the Hyundai AP4 car.
The scholarship attracted over 180
applicants with the other four finalists
being:
· Max Bayley, 20, Hawke’s Bay
· Sloan Cox, 24, Rotorua
· Matt Summerfield, 24, Rangiora
· Dylan Thomson, 21, Waiuku
“It’s amazing; a surreal feeling to win.
There was always a chance of winning,
but I wasn’t too sure how big a chance
we had, being relatively new to the
sport.
“It was whoever had the best package
that Hyundai was looking for; luckily
that was us,” Quantock said.
“Job is definitely the most
inexperienced of the crews in the final,
but he showed a lot of potential in all
aspects,” Paddon said.
“He fits the whole philosophy of the
Hyundai brand to foster new talent. I
think Job can be a great ambassador
for rallying, a great ambassador
for Hyundai, and he has a lot of
potential to learn and improve. We
believe he can be a New Zealand
champion and potentially compete well
internationally.”
Paddon said the shootout judging
was almost harder than a rally. “It was
made even harder with how good and
how close everyone was when we came
to actually pick a winner. “
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8 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

PICTURE PERFECT
M-Sport’s 2017 Fiesta WRC has
got the rally world talking with its
striking good looks.
MIXED NEWS FOR TOP ARC CREWS
syncro gearbox and more of a PRC
By PETER WHITTEN
Tom Wilde (left)
package, rather than in a heavier Group may sit out 2017.
N car.”
The 2016 season is done and
dusted, and most competitors Having said that, Wilde still only
have already set their sights on gives himself a 20 per cent chance of
2017.
contesting next year’s ARC.
But as is the norm for an expensive Fellow West Australian, Brad
sport like rallying, there are some who Markovic, has more solid plans,
have firm plans, and others who are however.
madly searching for the funds to enable “We are currently working with our
them to chase their dreams.
partners to confirm our plans for next
West Australian Tom Wilde is one year,” Markovic said. “At this stage we
driver set to sit out much of next
will run in our current Subaru and will
season unless significant sponsorship compete at all rounds.”
dollars can be found.
Canberra’s Adrian Coppin has only
Wilde was sitting only a point behind committed to his home event, the
eventual ARC winner, Molly Taylor, after National Capital Rally, next season,
three rounds this year, but a shortage thanks to support from his sponsor,
in his budget meant that was where DOMA Hotels.
the season ended, and it was a familiar However, in a cryptic twist, Coppin
story of “what if”.
hinted that he might make a trip or two
“I’ve been working hard on trying to Europe – but wouldn’t expand on Toyota is playing its cards close to
to find the funds to compete in 2017, whether that would be on holiday or to their chest regarding the new AP4 Yaris
but at the moment it’s looking very rally ….
that he’ll drive next year, with Bates
unable to further enlighten the rallying
unlikely,” Wilde said.
Harry Bates has confirmed his
public with any new details about the
“If we were to compete it would be participation in 2017, rather than
car.
no doubt in a Maximum Motorsport heading to Europe, although he admits
Subaru again, although with a non-
that’s something planned for the future. More details will emerge soon.
HJC MOTORSPORTS
n: AU 1800 CHICANE or NZ 0800 CHICANE
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 9

WRC DRIVER UPDATES
2017 DRIVER
LINE-UPS ....
HYUNDAI
CITROEN
M-SPORT
TOYOTA
Hayden Paddon
Thierry Neuville
Dani Sordo
Kris Meeke
Craig Breen
Stephane Lefebvre
Sebastien Ogier
Ott Tanak
Jari-Matti Latvala
Juho Hanninen
Esapekka Lappi
OGIER, TANAK TO
HEAD M-SPORT’S
2017 ATTACK
Sebastien Ogier and Ott Tanak will
be M-Sport’s lead drivers in the
2017 FIA World Rally Championship.
This ends weeks of indecision by
Ogier about his future after the sudden
withdrawal of the official Volkswagen
team.
The brief announcement did not state
the length of the agreement with the
four-time world champions, though
Ogier stated he was only looking for a
one year agreement.
Nor does the communique state who
will be the third driver in the WRC team
in 2017.
Also notably absent from the
announcement was the future for the
M-Sport team leader Mads Ostberg,
who in 2016 amassed the most
championship points for a Fiesta WRC
driver, or the long-time M-Sport protégé
driver Elfyn Evans.
There has so far been no mention
about Red Bull being involved with the
Ogier agreement with M-Sport, or the
opportunity to fund a private team
running the 2017 Polo World Rally Cars.
Under current FIA rules, the new Polo
cannot be homologated unless the cars
are run in a registered WRC team.
- MARTIN HOLMES
10 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

ALL FINNISH AFFAIR
Toyota has snapped up Finnish star Jari-Matti Latvala
to lead its return to the World Rally Championship,
confirming another key move in the sport’s
biggest driver shake-up in years, just five weeks before
the 2017 season starts.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s signing of Latvala and new
WRC2 champion, Esapekka Lappi, to join existing team
member, Juho Hänninen, was announced in Finland on
December 13.
L ro R: Janne Ferm, Kaj Lindström, Mikka Anttila, Jari-Matti Latvala, Juho
Hänninen, Esapekka Lappi and Tommi Mäkinen.
OGIER COULD JOIN THE WRC GREATS
At the completion of the
2017 season we may finally
have more of an idea as to
whether Sebastien Ogier
deserves to be ranked higher on the ‘all
time greats’ list than his countryman,
Sebastien Loeb.
Now before you rightly point out that
Loeb has won more than twice as many
WRC titles as Ogier, hear me out.
Many believe Loeb deserves the title
as the best driver of all time, given he’s
won 78 WRC events, yet there’s one
main asterisk against his record.
The man from Alsace only ever drove
for Citroen. All 78 of his wins, all 9 titles,
all 116 podium finishes, and all 905
stage wins came in a Citroen.
Not so Ogier. Already, seven of his 38
wins have been in Citroens, the other
31 in Volkswagens, and with his move
to M-Sport and the Ford Fiesta WRC, he
has the chance to join the rarefied air
of those drivers to have won in three or
more different brands of cars.
Tommi Makinen and Ari Vatanen
won for two different makes. Juha
Kankkunen, Carlos Sainz, Didier
Auriol and Bjorn Waldegard for four.
And the great Hannu Mikkola took
victories for an incredible five different
manufacturers.
If Ogier can join these ranks, having
developed a brand new car for a
new team, then he will deservedly be
spoken about in similar terms as those
legendary drivers above.
Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be
a cracker 2017 season.
- PETER WHITTEN
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 11

FINAL F
VW ended their WRC reign as exp
on the of step of the podium wasn’t
REPORT: RALLY AUSTRALIA - WRC 13
By MARTIN HOLMES
Photos: PETER WHITTEN
Mikkelsen’s timely win was
his most impressive WRC
success yet.
12 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

LING
ected, although the man
Sebastien Ogier ....
Andeas Mikkelsen rounded off
Volkswagen’s four-year WRC
campaign with the team’s ninth,
and his second, win of the year, beating
the champion Sebastien Ogier, who
suffered again from a running order
disadvantage.
Andreas, however, was beaten in the
race to second place in the 2016 World
Drivers’ Championship by Hyundai’s
Thierry Neuville.
Hyundai drivers suffered a collection
of troubles, including a time penalty
for Dani Sordo after a navigation
confusion, a bold but wrong tyre choice
for Hayden Paddon and Neuville, and a
late puncture for Paddon as well.
Skoda driver Esapekka Lappi walked
away with the WRC2 category, clinching
the FIA title, the last remaining major
rally honour to be won this year.
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 13

REPORT: RALLY AUSTRALIA - WRC 13
Hayden Paddon was really
cooking, with his best Rally
Australia performance yet.
Photo: Geoff Ridder
Hot and abrasive stage conditions
due to a new later calendar date
for the event forced surprising
tyre choices which helped Ogier minimise
his handicap, but an uncharacteristic
spin three stages from the end
denied him the hope of a final win.
The conditions also blunted DMack
driver Ott Tanak’s challenge, leaving
sixth placed Mads Ostberg as the top
M-Sport driver in the rally, and the
series.
The news that VW was withdrawing
from the WRC came only after the end
of Wales Rally GB and threw a new
prospect on to Rally Australia.
Suddenly there were unexpected
collateral consequences through the
sport, not only for the drivers and
personnel concerned at VW, but with so
many unknown futures in the sport, on
the whole emotional experience of the
event.
People had a sudden need to reidentify
themselves in the sport.
Anyway, this event was always
expected to be a three-way
battleground between VW, Hyundai and
M-Sport, with Citroen having decided
“Ogier was driven
to extremes, the only
top driver to choose
soft tyres for the early
morning stages on
Day 2.”
that the long-haul rallies were outside
their agenda this year.
There were no special driver line ups,
no special technical developments,
just one final time to see the best rally
drivers in the world battle it out at the
wheel of the best rally cars in the WRC
in 2016.
The main objective for Volkswagen
has always been the opportunity of
scoring second place for Mikkelsen
in the Drivers’ championship, which
largely depended on the performance
of Neuville, but they had a big shock on
the first stage when Latvala damaged
his suspension after touching a bridge.
This dropped him down to 17th place
and well over seven minutes behind the
leader. He did well not to lose heart
and fought back, eventually finishing in
ninth place.
Ogier was driven to extremes, the
only top driver to choose soft tyres
for the early morning stages on Day
2, when the gravel coverage was at its
worst for fast driving.
Mikkelsen, however, was going well,
losing the lead only on the second stage
when fourth running Paddon had a run
clear of hanging dust and took the lead.
Mikkelsen’s only crisis came seven
stages from the end on Saturday
afternoon when the underneath of his
car was damaged, leading to damage to
the foot pedal unit, in which the clutch
pedal jammed the brake pedal in the
down position.
This cost him around 10 seconds
and by the end of Day 2 his lead of
12 seconds had been reduced to two,
leading to an exciting morning on the
final day.
On the final morning Ogier had an
uncharacteristic spin and lost a quarter
of a minute, giving Mikkelsen the
breathing space he needed for victory.
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14 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

There were scenes of emotion around
the team when the rally came to an
end.
Hyundai achieved everything it
could hope for when Neuville
took a podium position at the
end and had sufficient points to maintain
his second place in the Drivers’
championship. But the team had a
muddled event, largely because of the
difficulty of deciding the correct tyre
choices.
Second running Neuville found the
tracks so challenging that he drastically
changed his driving style, finding
sideways driving gave him better
grip, while Paddon used a mixture
of soft and hard tyres when every
other Michelin driver used softs in the
morning stages, and found he could
barely drive his car in a straight line.
Just when he was safely in a podium
place within sight of the leaders, he
punctured on the final morning.
Sordo had a miserable first day
when he incurred a 20 second penalty
on a very short WRC event, when the
top runners stayed closely bunched
together, and it would cost him a
podium place.
It was unusual for Mads Ostberg to
enjoy a rally without the countless time
consuming problems that have been
plaguing him during the season. He
finished sixth overall, after lying fifth
The four-time World
Champion almost pulled off
an incredible victory.
during a long battle with Dani Sordo,
despite two poor times on the long
50km Nambucca stages, suffering firstly
from dust and then handling difficulties
after he had suggested a change in his
set-up.
His teammate Eric Camilli was driving
a steady event and lying seventh, close
behind Ostberg, when he then rolled
his car three stages from the end and
did not finish.
After some excellent performances
during the season on his new
generation range of DMacks, these
tyres did not work well for Tanak in the
extreme hot and abrasive conditions of
Australia. He bravely battled on after
he dropped back after a spin on Friday
morning, and then was stopped by
police on the Saturday, after which led
to a 40 second time control penalty.
Once again Ostberg finished a season
with the top championship score in his
team, but it was widely wondered if he
was being squeezed out of the M-Sport
team.
The race for the WRC2 title was
finally won by Esapekka Lappi in the
official Skoda team Fabia R5, while his
championship rival, Teemu Suninen (in
the private Oreca team Skoda), waited
to see if his earlier efforts had been
enough – they weren’t.
Suninen tied on points with Fiesta
R5 driver Elfyn Evans for second place,
but Suninen took the position under tie
deciding rules. Simone Tempestini had
already done enough to take the WRC3
title, but nevertheless Michel Fabre
went to Australia and his walkover
result brought him to within just one
point of the title.
Mads Ostberg was the best
of the M-Sport runners,
despite never challenging.
HJC MOTORSPORTS
n: AU 1800 CHICANE or NZ 0800 CHICANE
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 15

REPORT: RALLY AUSTRALIA - WRC 13
25th Kennards Hire Rally Australia 2016 - Coffs Harbour 18-20/11/2016 Round 13/13
1 Andreas MIKKELSEN/Anders Jaeger Volkswagen Polo R (M) 2h.46m.05.7s
2 Sebastien OGIER/Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R (M) 2h.46m.20.6s
3 Thierry NEUVILLE/Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai NG i20 (M) 2h.47m.18.3s
4 Hayden PADDON/John Kennard Hyundai NG i20 (M) 2h.47m.32.4s
5 Dani SORDO/Marc Marti Hyundai NG i20 (M) 2h.47m.34.0s
6 Mads OSTBERG/Ola Floene Ford Fiesta RS (M) 2h.47m.47.2s
7 Ott TANAK/Raigo Molder Ford Fiesta RS (DM) 2h.49m.10.0s
8 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm Skoda Fabia R5 (M) 2h.53m.38.0s
9 Jari-Matti LATVALA/Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R (M) 2h.54m.02.6s
10 Lorenzo Bertelli/Simone Scattolin Ford Fiesta RS (P) 2h.54m.05.8s
32 (5 WRC2/1 WRC3) starters. 25 (5 WRC2/1 WRC3) finishers.
Tyres: DM=DMack, M=Michelin, P=Pirelli. Winner’s average speed over stages: 102.37km/h.
Leading retirements:
(6) Eric CAMILLI/Benjamin Veillas Ford Fiesta RS (M) Accident, stage 20
Rally leaders: Mikkelsen stage 1, Paddon 2, Mikkelsen 3-23. Weather: hot and dusty.
Leading Special Stages
positions: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Mikkelsen 10 3 7 - 1 1
Ogier 8 6 4 2 - 1
Neuville 3 3 3 4 2 1
Latvala 2 5 1 1 2 2
Paddon 2 3 3 6 2 4
Sordo 1 1 2 6 4 2
Ostberg - 1 1 2 5 10
Tanak - 1 1 1 4 2
Camilli - - 1 - 1 3
WRC2/RC2 Lappi won 22 stages, Fuchs 1.
WRC3/RC3 Fabre won 23 stages.
16 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016
Final positions in World Championship for Rallies (WCR):
Volkswagen WRT 377 points, Hyundai WRT 312, Volkswagen WRT II 163,
M-Sport 162, Hyundai N WRT 146, DMack 98, Jipocar Czech National
Team 18, Yazeed Racing 4.
Final leading positions in World Championship for Drivers (WCD):
Ogier 268 points, Neuville 160, Mikkelsen 154, Paddon 138, Sordo 130,
Latvala 112, Ostberg 102, Tanak 88, Meeke 64, Breen 36, etc.
Final leading positions in WRC2 (4WD)(Best 6 of 7 scores count):
Lappi 130(132) points, Suninen & Evans 120, Kopecky 92, Tidemand 85,
etc.
Final leading position in WRC3 (2WD)(Best 6 of 7 scores count):
Tempestini 123 points, Fabre 122(126), Andolfi 91, Koci 87, Veiby 73, etc.

Esapekka Lappi scored a
well deserved WRC2 title.
Tyre wear was an issue for
Ott Tanak and his Fiesta.
Thierry Neuville flew
into third place, while
Mads Ostberg (right) is
interviewed for WRC TV.
PHOTOS: Peter Whitten
Warm weather brought the
locals out in force.
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 17

RALLY AUSTRALIA: WHAT THEY SAID
Highlights
from the
post-event
press
conference
Andreas Mikkelsen
Q: Andreas what a hot weekend, how do you
feel now?
AM: Everything else other than cool!
I feel amazing! There are some really
mixed emotions sitting here, for sure
I have probably done my best ever
rally and to finish my career with
Volkswagen with a win is an amazing
feeling. To be able to give this to the
team, I can’t be more proud. But I’m
also sad to see it all disappear, already
in the last stage I was telling Anders –
in the last one kilometre of the Power
Stage: “Wow, I am going to miss this car
and this team!”
For sure, it will be strange not to
tackle any more WRC rallies with this
amazing crew. The weekend was also
amazing and I had a great time in the
Polo. It was maximum attack from the
start. When I woke this morning, I knew
we had a big fight and we just gave it
everything and it was enough. I’m really
happy and really proud to sit here in
the middle of these fantastic drivers. I
don’t think anybody expected the three
of us would sit here with these running
positions.
Q: How does this win rate against the others?
AM: I would say my IRC win when
I won the championship felt better
than Poland and the first WRC win,
but this one was so special. I know
it’s the last one with Volkswagen and
that makes it special, but to fight off a
four-time champion in terms of pace
and performance, with no mechanical
problems… I’m really proud of that.
Q: Will this help for next season?
AM: I think this one is a bit different.
Going into this year, me and my team
set a plan to drive for the championship
by being fast but consistent and not
taking any risks. We made a good pace
and we finished all the events with
nothing drastic. I feel like I’m driving
in a way that I’m really comfortable
with the pace, but coming here we had
18 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016
nothing to lose. The only chance we had
to finish second in the championship
was with the win. I did the best job I
could and I think we really showed we
have the top pace. And I never felt so
comfortable at that pace – we had no
big moments. It felt really, really good.
In that way, it’s been a great rally for us.
Sébastien Ogier
Q: Seb it started well, then in the second stage
this morning you had a spin. Tell us about that…
SO: I think first I will say I am happy,
OK not completely happy. We had the
last day of our career with this team
and it was with a big fight and that
helped us go through all this emotion.
For me and Julien, we were close to a
pretty unique performance to win by
opening the road.
That would have been amazing, but
we failed today. We had two great
days on Friday and Saturday and to be
only two seconds behind Andreas and
Anders was really great. The plan was
to try to catch them. I knew it would
not be easy, I knew they would fight,
and we were at pretty much the same
speed when I did my mistake. It was
only the second spin of the year – I
cannot complain much for that. Two
spins in the season? I would sign for the
same in the future.
There was a bit of frustration when
we did that, but I am still proud of what
we have done this year and this week
with Julien. A one-two for the team

made us happy.
Q: There was a lot of emotion this week, did
you find that distracting today?
SO: It’s hard to put the right words on
that. It’s nice to see what this sport and
this job brings in terms of emotions and
it’s hard to watch all the team at the last
service with tears in their eyes, knowing
we have all done this together and this
was the last time.
It’s a difficult time now, but we have
to look ahead. Sometimes things you
don’t expect are coming. But OK, I will
cherish this year and remember it
forever. Who knows what the future will
bring for us.
Q: You have a busy week ahead?
SO: Definitely. I’m glad you didn’t ask
me [about the future]: I have nothing
more to say, but it’s urgent and in the
next days and next weeks, hopefully
I will be able to tell you something as
soon as possible.
Thierry Neuville
Q: Thierry, congratulations on third place and
runner-up in the championship. How do you feel?
TN: I feel quite well. I couldn’t
imagine that I would be fighting my
mate Andreas to be second in the
championship. I expected a more calm
weekend. I was pretty sure the road
positions, well, I did not expect to be on
the podium and not expect Andreas to
be there.
After two or three stages, I realised if I
want to be second in the championship
then I have to push hard and I have
done that. Andreas has done very
well, leading nearly all the time. I had
no other choice but to go as fast as
possible.
I’m happy with this performance, we
achieved our goal and for Andreas it
doesn’t change much. He wins the rally
and this is important for him for next
year. I’m really happy to be with these
guys on the podium.
Q: How are the next few weeks looking for you?
TN: My agenda is more clear than
these guys. I am testing in the new
car for the first time on Tarmac next
Sunday, then we have our presentation
of the new car at Monza, a champions
day in Belgium where we race cars –
this will be fun.
There’s also a race show in Italy – I
enjoy every second of it. Sometimes
you realise how nice is our job, it
was the biggest dream for me to be
here. I have been twice second in the
championship and now there is only
one more place to go – I don’t know
when this will happen, but I’m working
on it.
Q: What have you learned about fighting for the
title?
TN: To be honest, I have learned a
lot. I have been working on myself for
the last couple of years. When I came
here [to Hyundai] the team’s objectives
were not always the same as mine: I
was ready for winning, but the team
was still learning. I made huge progress
with this at the end of last year and this
season I was back on pace.
We kept calm and when the car was
more reliable, we have been consistent.
This rally is five times in a row we have
been on the podium and we’ve gone
from eighth to second place in the
championship since the start. In my
driving, I’ve learned a lot. Here, I was
the first to follow Seb, so I could see
his lines. I have seen some interesting
things!
Sven Smeets
Q: Sven, this feels like the end of an era…
how are you feeling?
SS: A bit like the drivers… I am very
happy to end it like this. They gave us a
big battle. We hoped it would go to the
Power Stage, but it ended in the long
stage today.
This (Volkswagen’s decision to depart
the WRC) happens. When you work
for the big companies, they can make
these decisions. We will not be there for
the next three years, we have to look
forward.
Q: There’s been great support for Volkswagen
from all around the WRC…
SS: Fantastic. The WRC is always
the big family. We have done it when
Hyundai got their first victory in
Germany three years ago and they did
it for us today. Everybody is invited
to our farewell drinks tonight to be
together with us.
Q: How can you sum up Volkswagen’s
contribution to the WRC?
SS: Maybe we need a few Five hours! titles, I but
Dunkerton
don’t know. I hope we left a mark, the
doesn’t make
results speak for themselves. I hope in
Gover’s Top 10.
other ways, like the marketing, I hope
we will never be forgotten.
I want to add something quickly… I
just didn’t mention one thing. I made
my mistake, but I want to say a big well
done to Andreas and Anders, this was a
proper win and I didn’t say it.
If it helps them to be with us next
year – although also I don’t know if I
will be there! But these guys need to be
there.
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 19
PHOTOS: Peter Whitten

RALLY AUSTRALIA SPECTATOR TOUR
EXCLUSIVE SPECTATING
After what seemed like months
of waiting, Kennards Hire Rally
Australia finally arrived, and
fans from Australia, New Zealand, Finland,
Japan and the UK arrived in Coffs
Harbour for RallySport Magazine’s
annual spectator tour.
After checking in at the Aanuka
Beach Resort, guests had a few
hours to unwind before the tour got
underway with a welcome dinner on
Wednesday night.
Guest speaker at the dinner was
WRC TV presenter and end of stage
Photos: PETER WHITTEN
reporter, Julian Porter, who kept
everyone entertained for nearly 90
minutes with stories from the WRC
and, most importantly, where he
thought the VW drivers might end up.
With buses loaded we headed
for shakedown early on Thursday
morning with a brisk walk up the hill
to the Wedding Bells jump, where
the WRC crews quickly got into their
stride. Both Ott Tanak and Lorenzo
Bertelli almost pushed too hard and
were lucky not to damage their Fiestas
after very heavy landings.
A visit to the service park and the
Rally Show completed the day – with
some time in between for swimming
in the ocean or making the most of
Aanuka’s beautiful pools.
Day 1 was the longest day of all
for the tour guests, with a 4.50am
departure time testing even the
earliest of risers! The buses drove
some of the magnificent Baker’s Creek
stage to our exclusive tour location,
where we watched the whole field
from a private spectator point.
The afternoon saw us take in the
Lorenzo Bertelli was the only
privateer running a World
Rally Car, and did it in style.
20 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

Baker’s Creek stage again before
heading back into Coffs Harbour for
the first running of the super special
stage on the jetty, where we had
grandstand seats close to the action.
Another early start on Saturday
morning led to another two exclusive
locations, the first high up on the long
Nambucca stage, the second towards
the end of the stage on the second
running of ‘Valla’.
We gave the SSS a miss on day two,
with most keen for an early night and
to prepare for the final day of the rally
– and the fight for victory between
Mikkelsen, Ogier and Paddon.
Sunday was spent at the Flooded
Gums Rally Village with a dedicated
RSM tour area at the famous Wedding
Bells jump, before watching the cars
negotiate the watersplash on the
second running of the stage.
From there it was back into Coffs
Harbour to take up our grandstand
seats at the podium finish, where
Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jaeger
celebrated a brilliant victory.
Most took to the pool again late on
Sunday afternoon to wash the dust off,
before the tour concluded with a buffet
dinner at Aanuka Beach on Sunday
night.
The official Rally Australia tour was
once again a great success, and many
of the guests have already started
planning their holidays for next
November, when the event once again
hits the NSW coast. With new cars set
to debut in 2017, it promises to be an
event not to miss.
- PETER WHITTEN
Tour guests were up close to
the action, but taking much
needed shade when possible.
PHOTOS: Peter Whitten
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 21

COLUMN: HAYDEN PADDON
The dust has finally settled following
the final round of the 2016
WRC - Rally Australia. It was a rally
we had been looking forward to for
a long time and the huge Kiwi support
made it a special event for us.
Unfortunately what should have
been a podium finish was dashed
by a puncture on the final day, but
fourth for the rally and fourth for the
championship is nothing to turn our
nose up at.
We took a lot of lessons from the rally
last year and put them into practice this
year. The target going into the rally was
to focus on a good performance, and
while this was not quite up to my high
standards, it was an improvement on
last year.
There are still key stages and road
surfaces that we are struggling on that
we must address before next season,
as at this level you simply cannot afford
to have ‘off’ stages.
We always targeted Friday as a ‘setup’
day, Saturday as ‘moving’ day and
Sunday as ‘consolidation’ day. The plan
almost played out well.
At the end of day 1 we were P4, 22
seconds back. While we would have
liked to be a little closer, it was still
a position we could fight back from,
which we did on Saturday morning.
The bulk of Saturday was made up of
two runs of the iconic 50km Nambucca
stage. On the morning pass we had a
good run (despite huge dust inside the
car) and we leapt from fourth to second
in one stage – while also halving the gap
to the leader.
In the afternoon we knew tyre
consumption was going to be a big
problem in the 30-degree air temps,
and we knew from 2015 that you
cannot not attack the stage in order to
keep the tyres for the whole stage.
So for the first 25-30km we
took a more steady approach, but
unfortunately we took it a little too easy
and despite a fastest final spilt on the
stage, we lost seven seconds which
halted our charge.
Going into the final day in P3 and
just 12 seconds from the lead, we
had to keep the pressure on the
two VWs ahead. While we missed a
little speed, we were not content to
settle for a safe third, as in the future
settling for position will not win you
championships.
So we had a go, and unfortunately it
bit back as we ran a little wide, touched
the bank slightly on the outside, which
pushed the tyre off the rim.
We continued through the final 20km
of the stage with a puncture, dropping
nearly one minute and from third to
fifth. We were able to then recover to
fourth by the rally end.
22 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016
HAYDEN
PADDON
COLUMN
While it was a missed opportunity
for a podium, we have no regrets as
we wanted to give it a nudge to maybe
climb further up the leaderboard.
More importantly, there were a lot of
lessons taken from the weekend which
will help us come back stronger next
year.
While we would have hoped for a
little more from the second half of
the year, we can be proud that we
have been consistent and have shown
significant improvements on each event
and each stage compared to last year.
2018 is the focus, and if each year
and rally we can continue to make
the planned steps, then we will be on
target.
Of course none of this would be
possible without our amazing Hyundai
Motorsport team who I am forever
thankful to. Also, our close-knit support
team of my co-driver John, Katie,
Engineer Rui and our car mechanics,
our NZ partners Hyundai New Zealand,
Z Energy and Pakn’Save, and everyone
involved within HPRG.
There are too many people to thank,
but a huge thank you to each and every
one. This is a team sport!
A huge thanks to all the Kiwis that
travelled across the Tasman to support
us – including our tour group of 110.
It’s really a special feeling representing
your country and seeing the same
enthusiasm and passion that we have
for our sport shared by so many other
people.
We look forward to hosting many
more guests at different events around
the world in the future. A huge thanks
to Katie who worked tirelessly putting
the tour together.
After Rally Australia, the WRC hosted
a Gala dinner in Sydney. Unfortunately
due to some PR commitments, we were
unable to make it, but it was humbling

to win the Certina Timing Award for
our performance on the final stage
of Rally Argentina.
It’s quite an honor to be
recognised and thanks to everyone
that voted. Also congratulations to
John who, on the same day, won
Marlborough Sports Person of the
Year award.
We now have a huge couple
of months ahead – and the term
‘off season’ seems to be quite
misleading, as it is anything but!
We have a lot of PR activities here
in NZ, the Young Driver NZ Shootout
this month, more details soon being
released about the Paddon Rally
Foundation, and of course, returning
to Europe for winter testing in
preparation for Monte Carlo. We will
keep you posted.
A huge thank you to you all for
your continued support. We will
have more news, which we will
update you on before the end of the
year.
Best regards,
Hayden.
A last day puncture cost
Paddon a podium finish.
Photos: Geoff Ridder
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 23

REPORT: KENNARDS HIRE RALLY AUSTRALIA
MOLLY’s
WRX-ellent adventure
24 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

Story: TOM SMITH
Photos: PETER WHITTEN
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 25

REPORT: KENNARDS HIRE RALLY AUSTRALIA
Simon Evans’ hopes of a fifth
ARC title were dashed with two
punctures on the same stage.
The story has been written many
times over, but there is only one
way to say it. Molly Taylor is the
2016 Australian Rally Champion driver.
The 2016 Kumho Tyre Australian Rally
Championship had received plenty
of media coverage, and in the weeks
leading up to, and after Kennards Hire
Rally Australia, specialist motorport and
social media brought the impending
three-way battle for championship
honours to an absolute crescendo.
The tussle during the 2016
competition year had been more
interesting than many in recent
memory, and the genuine rally-byrally
fight for supremacy and points
culminated in the incredible scenario at
Coffs Harbour where any of the three
protagonists could have become ARC
champ.
What started as a six point difference
between Simon Evans, Harry Bates
and Molly Taylor, ended up as an eight
point blanket over the three - with
Taylor and co-driver Bill Hayes in top
spot, clinching their first Australian Rally
Championship title.
Molly also became the first female
ARC driver’s champion, and in the
process became the youngest ever
driver’s title-holder.
The intensity of the challenge was
ever-present, and no-one was mistake
free, although Taylor and Hayes
continued their confident strategy
behind the wheel of the Les Walkdenprepared
‘Subaru do Motorsport’ Group
N WRX STI.
Evans and co-driver Ben Searcy
brought out ‘old faithful’ – the black
ETS Racing Fuels GC8 Subaru Impreza
– and as usual, drove the wheels off
the car. During Saturday’s stages, word
filtered through that the team was
chasing a replacement centre diff, and
local contacts were dragged out of
the address book in an effort to locate
spare parts.
Harry Bates ended day two in a
dominant position, staring down the
barrel of the potential top spot, when
an early puncture in the hard, dusty
stages north-east of Coffs Harbour
ripped the mudguard off the S2000
Corolla, tore off a brake line and caused
the loss of many precious minutes.
Molly Taylor and Bill Hayes
secured their first Australian
Rally Championship.
Mixing it with the best of them
and showing his best performance
all year, Mark Pedder and co-driver
Dale Moscatt drove determinedly and
quickly in the Pedders Peugeot 208
Maxi to seriously challenge for the
outright win and spoil the party.
While media focus and most
attention was centred on
what was becoming an enthralling
final round of the World Rally
Championship, and with it, the final
rally for the mighty Volkswagen factory
team – locally the fight for the ARC title
was genuinely the closest it has been in
recent history.
With the battle literally coming down
to the wire, it was a rare and unusual
error which saw a one-minute penalty
26 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

applied to the Pedders Peugot
for late arrival at the penultimate
stage.
This tiny 60 second notation on
the route card – which in many
other rallies would not have even
been the difference between first
and second placing – caused a reshuffle
of the placing and outright
point scores.
Had the time penalty not been
applied, or been overturned, the
championship winner would have
been Simon Evans and co-driver
Ben Searcy.
With so much at stake, cordial
relationships were tested after the
event as confusion and conjecture
overtook the importance of the
occasion.
In the end, Taylor and Hayes
finished on top of the ARC table,
beating Evans and Searcy by just
two points. The win adds to Subaru
Australia’s victories that include
10 consecutive ARC titles from
1996 to 2005, before the team
withdrew from domestic rallying,
re-emerging this year under the
‘Subaru do Motorsport’ campaign.
“We knew we had to beat Mark
Pedder, but we weren’t 100 per
cent certain what the result of the
penalty was going to be - whether
Mark would get a one minute or
10 second penalty - we were given
that information just minutes
before we started the final stage,”
explained Subaru co-driver Bill
Hayes.
“It wasn’t until 9pm that we were
told with absolute certainty that
we’d won the championship.”
As the results showed, a devastated
Evans and Searcy
clinched fifth place after a
double puncture and differential
problems in the first two days of
the event, which was enough for
them to hold onto second place
in the ARC title race, a mere two
points behind Taylor and Hayes.
Much has also been said and
written about the maturity of
Harry Bates and co-driver John
McCarthy. Considering that 2016
was only Bates’ second full year in
top-level rallying, his approach to
the season and this event sounds a
gong for his future at a youthful 21
years of age.
Harry offered an insight when
interviewed for the Rally Australia
crowds: “It’s a little surreal
being here challenging for the
championship in a car which my
father used to win the ARC eight
years ago.”
The event was not just a three
A final day puncture robbed
Harry Bates of the national
championship.
There was heartache for
Mark Pedder who was denied
a first ARC event win.
After a troubled season, Brad
Markovic finished sixth at
Rally Australia.
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 27

REPORT: KENNARDS HIRE RALLY AUSTRALIA
Molly Taylor is the first female
driver to win the Australian
Rally Championship.
car rally however, and recognition goes to Brad Markovic for
a superb top-six result, co-driven by the experienced Glenn
MacNeall.
Markovic recovered from a 100% loss when his car burnt
to the ground in the opening round of the series in WA.
Struggling to regain confidence, his finish at Rally Australia
was an apt reward for a challenging year.
Mick Patton and Bernie Webb put in a mature drive to take
fourth place in their Repco sponsored Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
X.
Rallying was the overall winner out of this unusual series
of events, with much mainstream media attention being
directed to the sport and, of course, Australia’s ‘maiden’
female rally champ.
Subaru’s return to the sport on a national basis was
carefully considered and smoothly applied, as expected, by
the Subaru Australia team and Les Walkden’s workshop, who
delivered speed, consistency and a 100% finishing rate.
With speculation that 2017 may deliver a renaissance
in Australian rallying, Molly Taylor’s continuing role as a
professional driver is guaranteed.
The Neal Bates Motorsport workshop has revealed that
a new AP4 Toyota Yaris is under construction for the new
season, and recent announcements from Harry Bates that he
intends to focus on the national series (instead of a potential
push overseas) also bodes well for a continuation of the new
Bates/Taylor era.
Final results, Kumho Tyre Australian Rally Championship:
1. Molly Taylor/Bill Hayes, Subaru Impreza RX STi, 3:08:06.5
2. Mark Pedder/Dale Moscatt, Peugeot 208 Maxi, + 39.3
3. Harry Bates/John McCarthy, Toyota Corolla S2000, + 1:46.7
4. Mick Patton/Bernie Webb, Mitsubishi Evo X, +2:52.5
5. Simon Evans/Ben Searcy, Subaru Impreza WRX, +0:31.6
6. Brad Markovic/Glenn Macneall, Subaru Impreza WRX Sti,
+06:17.5
Australian Rally Championship driver standings (final):
1. Molly Taylor 329, 2. Simon Evans 327, 3. Harry Bates 321
Adrian Coppin jumps his
pretty Toyota Corolla S2000.
TAILOR-MADE PACKAGES TO
28 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

BATES MASTERS KENNARDS KLASSICS
The Toyota man was
in a class of his own
at Coffs Harbour,
reports Tom Smith.
With a battle raging in the final
round of the 2016 World Rally
Championship at Kennards
Hire Rally Australia, and a new dramatic
chapter simultaneously unfolding in
the Australian Rally Championship,
the Classic category delivered results
headed once again by the Neal Bates
Motorsport Toyota Celica RA40.
Bates and long-time co-driver,
Coral Taylor, focussed on the task at
hand, undistracted by their respective
offspring challenging for ARC
prominence on the rally roads ahead.
Bates and Taylor were pleasingly
challenged by the newly-arrived BDA
Escort of Irish visitors McCormack/
Mitchell and the crowd favourite S1
Quattro replica of Mal Keogh/Pip
Bennett.
After three long days of competition
in hot, dry and dusty conditions, it
was the ex-Alistair McRae Escort of
Dermody/Moynihan which clinched a
sound second place behind the Bates
Celica, and Badenoch/Kelly in the sister
Celica who grabbed the last spot on the
podium.
The tough event saw a large number
of retirements including the muchfancied
local Wayne Hoy (Datsun 1600),
and motorsport entrepreneur Tony
Quinn in his BMW M3.
With the Australian 2WD Classic Rally
Challenge all over bar the shouting,
Neal Bates celebrated the outright win
with 263 points, over clay Badenoch
on 196 in the second Toyota, and Tom
Dermody taking third in the brilliant red
Escort.
Coral Taylor took top Co-Driver’s spot,
from Eoin Moynihan (with Dermody)
and Cate Kelly (with Badenoch).
Keogh and Bennett were the 4WD
winners in the beautiful Quattro replica.
The 2016 Classic Rally Challenge
delivered stronger fields throughout the
year, proving again that the category
is growing in competitor popularity,
and continues to be a drawcard for
spectators.
Local star Wayne Hoy was great to
watch in his Datsun 1600.
It was a good
event for the
Toyota Celicas
of Bates and
Badenoch.
SUIT YOU
To advertise in RallySport Magazine call Dominic on
0499 981 188 or email dominic@rallysportmag.com.au
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 29

FIVE MINUTES WITH ....
5
minutes with ...
MOLLY TAYLOR
In her first year as a factory driver, Molly Taylor was hoping for a
top three finish in the ARC. She did better than that ....
First of all, congratulations on winning your first Australian title.
Has it all been a bit of a blur since the rally?
Thank you! Yes, to be honest none of it has sunken in yet.
It’s always been my dream, but I honestly didn’t expect it to
happen this year.
Your Subaru ran faultlessly all season, and you didn’t put a mark on
it - was your number one goal to be consistent all year?
This season was my first year as a factory driver and also
in an all-wheel-drive car, so my main focus was making sure I
did the very best job I was capable of.
After working for so long for an opportunity like this, it was
very important to me to grab this with both hands and put
everything into it.
I think running as the only Group N car in most events
actually forced us to concentrate on our own race and tick
every box we could as a team.
We knew we had a strong, reliable and well built car, so of
course we had to play to our strengths. The team, and what
we are all here to achieve, is so much bigger than me trying
to satisfy my ego on one stage, I am just one piece of a jigsaw
puzzle and it only works if we all fit together.
Presumably you were confident in yourself and your car heading into
Rally Australia, but did you ever let yourself look ahead and think what
could be on Sunday afternoon?
I didn’t want to entertain the idea of winning during Rally
Australia. Our plan was the same as every rally, to do what
we could to put ourselves in the best position possible, but
coming into the event I thought that if we could finish the
year in the top three it would have been a fantastic result for
our first season together.
I was so happy with the whole team’s performance during
the rally and how hard we all worked. Coming into the final
day I thought, whatever the result, we can be happy knowing
we have done the best job we could have.
Les Walkden (left) built a strong a
reliable car for Subaru.
30 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

What does it mean to bring Les Walkden and Subaru an Australian
title?
It’s incredibly special. Subaru and Les took a chance with
me and I’ll always be so grateful for that.
From our very first test we all gelled really well and have
become a family. I think this has been one of the reasons for
our success, and it also makes it all the more special when
you share this journey with a group of people all working for
the same dream.
Is the plan to campaign the same Group N Subaru in 2017, or is it all
still up in the air? Could the car be up-specced for next year?
It’s something we will discuss, but we haven’t confirmed
any plans for 2017 yet.
The last three factory Subaru drivers to win the Australian title are
Possum Bourne, Cody Crocker and Molly Taylor. Has does that feel?
That’s the first time I have seen our names together and,
wow!
I remember Possum used to stay at our house when I was
little and he really was a hero figure, even if he was Mum and
Neal’s rival too!
I’ve also looked up to Cody a lot and his incredibly
consistent success. They have set the benchmark within
Subaru and helped develop the brand’s fantastic culture.
I certainly still have a long way to go before I’m confortable
with having my name in the same sentence ...
What will you be doing over the off-season?
We have a busy few weeks now with the upcoming launch
of the all-new Impreza, which I am really excited to be a part
of.
An incredible amount of development has gone into this
car and it’s already had rave reviews from everyone who’s
driven it so far.
We are also planning some other events and activities over
January and February, so it’s going to be a busy summer :)
Can Subaru do Motorsport make it two in a row, and can Molly
Taylor go back-to-back?
Well, we are certainly going to give it a crack!
- LUKE WHITTEN
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 31

FEATURE: A DAY WITH COLIN CLARK
A DAY WITH THE VOICE OF RALLY
Dmack technicians check
Tanak’s tyre temperatures.
Broken rear suspension
for Lorenzo Bertelli on the
Nambucca stage.
32 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016
As a gap year student in
2016, I have been trying
to get as much work experience
as I can to best decide a
career path for myself, so in the
lead up to Kennards Hire Rally
Australia, I got in contact with
Colin Clark, enquiring about the
possibility of some work experience
at the final round of the
championship.
The opportunity would let me
explore what goes on to produce
World Rally Radio from the stage
end itself - right in the thick of the
action. Much to my delight, the
well-known ‘Voice of Rally’ was all
too happy to have me along.
So, after the day was arranged,
I was dropped in the pretty town
of Bowraville early on Saturday
morning by one of the RallySport
Magazine tour buses and met
Colin at the Old Coach Inn for
breakfast.
Talking rallying, careers,
marketing and more rallying, we
chatted over breakfast.
Colin got into rally radio by
coincidence. Taking an open
mind into everything and taking
up opportunities can play in your
favour immensely. A huge fan
of rallying first and foremost,
he now travels the globe doing
something he loves.
While it’s difficult to give a
blow-by-blow description of what
‘A day in the life of Colin Clark’
looks like, here’s a few highlights
of my day ….
Ott Tanak’s mysterious run
ins with the local police
were a talking point, as
were tyres for the morning’s loop
of stages (including Nambucca).
World Champion Sebastien
Ogier’s surprising choice to take
a majority of soft tyres set up an
interesting loop of stages. It was
agreed, however, that if anyone
could pull it off, it was Ogier.
Time would tell.
Arriving at the stop control of
Nambucca on rapidly heating
bitumen, we immediately
felt welcome by the fantastic
volunteers that met us - a
testament to the people of the
rally.
The hospitality at the stage
end was unbelievable, both for
the drivers and the WRC media.
Water, lollies and a friendly smile
Story & Photos:
LUKE WHITTEN
greeted everyone in attendance.
The timing board, in particular,
had a great showing of a
personal Australian touch.
Colin, now live on air, would
pace up and down the stop
control talking to Becs Williams
back at Rally Radio HQ in the
service park.
On this morning, he was armed
with a New South Wales police
hat and badge, which had been
‘loaned’ to him from a local
officer.
Unlike other sports
commentators, the action is not
followed play-by-play or ballby-ball,
so it is difficult to bring
excitement and anticipation for
a commentator, who, for the
majority of his time on air- is
seeing no action.
Relating it to cricket, Colin gives
excitement when needed, fills in
time on appropriate topics, but
all in all, commentates off the
bat and as he sees it – there is
no plan, and no manufactured
excitement.
It was business as usual for the
WRC media. Julian Porter was
atop of all things regarding split
times, and the stage went hiccup
free on radio.
Unsurprisingly, Hayden Paddon
won the stage he had targeted,
albeit with dust billowing into his
i20. Ogier’s soft tyre gamble had
also paid dividends through the
first stage of the morning. The
surprising choice was the right
one.
A dozen or so cars passed
through before we set off to the
Raleigh Raceway Super Special
Stage.
We were on track with plenty of
time to spare, but with hundreds
of spectator cars halting our
entry into the stage, it was touch
and go whether we would make
it.
Conveniently, we could just
sneak up the right hand side of
the road and made it with only a
couple of minutes to spare.
To further inconvenience us,
we struggled to transmit at the
stop control. This led to me being
thrust in as chief aerial holder.

RallySport Mag’s Luke
Whitten with Colin Clark.
Colin chats to Ogier at
the end of the Raleigh
Raceway stage.
“Colin commentates off the bat and
as he sees it – there is no plan, and
no manufactured excitement.”
I was to hold the aerial up
as high as possible, with the
hope of improving the signal.
A minor inconvenience to
me, but it meant I had to be
up close and personal, as
Colin interviewed the world’s
best drivers.
The issue was a hassle, and
rather frustrating as we could
hardly be heard speaking to
some drivers.
As there were no troubles
at this location on Friday, it
was thought to be an issue
with the second ‘back up’
aerial in use.
Just like the competitors
themselves, I found out first
hand that one of a number
of things can go wrong at any
time.
A quick lunch stop was had
back in Bowraville, and with
the heat now beaming off
the tarmac at 44 degrees, we
were back at the second run
of Nambucca - perhaps the
most critical stage of the rally.
As they were in the
morning, the DMack guys
were gathering tyre data from
their man, Ott Tanak, in what
was some of the harshest
conditions of the season.
Ogier, now on equal road
conditions, showed his
class and won comfortably
against his closest rivals. Yet
surprisingly, he was the only
driver to get out and inspect
his tyres.
In a failed effort to be fast
and save his tyres, Lavala’s
ploy to ‘push, then calm
down,’ did not work ideally,
but a stage win gave him
some consolation.
Italian, Lorenzo Bertelli,
unbeknowns to him and his
small army of fans at the
stage end, entered with a
broken suspension arm, while
Hubert Ptaszek suffered a
right rear puncture on the
marathon stage.
You simply cannot
match the human
drama of a rally and
the excitement that it brings.
Being there in the thick of the
action was a real thrill.
All too soon the day’s
stages had come to an
end, as had my time with
Colin. As he headed back to
his accommodation, I was
dropped at the end of the
Valla stage where I was soon
reunited with the RallySport
Magazine tour group and the
trip back to Coffs Harbour. It
had been a day I’ll not soon
forget.
In closing, I’d like to
thank Colin Clark for the
opportunity - it may well
change my career path.
Seb Ogier checks his tyres
on the crucial second day
at Rally Australia.
A dusty Paddon after he
won the first run through
the Nambucca stage.
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 33

FEATURE: FRANK KELLY
“THE ONLY WAY IS SIDEWAYS”
PART 2
This month in RallySport Magazine we continue with
part 2 of the Frank Kelly story. As a skilled and entertaining
rally driver, we invited Frank to introduce
himself to the southern hemisphere a little more personally.
We found that Frank could turn a phrase very well and his
own story of his early years in a range of small Fords has
proven to be extremely entertaining.
This story, combined with an amazing range of photos of
Frank in action, adds further to the legend status of the man
behind the wheel of ‘Baby Blue’.
Special mention is made, and recognition given, to the
various photographers who provided these spectacular
photos to Kelly Motorsport.
At Kennards Hire Rally Australia in November, Aussie
spectators were introduced to another Irish Escort driver,
Marty McCormack, who brought his amazing Escort out to
compete in some local events.
RallySport Magazine and Australian spectators hope that an
opportunity may arise for Frank Kelly to show his own special
talents in an Australian or New Zealand event in the near
future.
Read on, as Frank Kelly brings readers up to speed with his
more recent achievements and future plans.
- TOM SMITH
“Around this time I discovered DMS
suspension in Australia. Jamie
Drummond was keen to develop a
set-up for the Mk2 and I was guinea pig.
What a revelation they were - without
34 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016
doubt the single biggest improvement
I have ever felt. Straight out of the box
we were flying, literally. I now had a
set-up that could move from gravel to
tarmac with only minor adjustments,
and this opened another rally chapter
for us.
2011 was a complete change for me.
With shipping still out of the question,
Liam suggested we do a few tarmac
rallies to see what it was like. I thought
he was bonkers, but we decided to give
it a go.
Although I did a few tarmac rallies
over the years, I was always more
comfortable on gravel. We signed
up for the Dunlop National Tarmac
Championship and had a go at Class 13
with a 2-litre JRE engine installed.
It took us a couple of rallies to get
adjusted to the surface change, but we
were much closer to the pace than I
expected.
With brake upgrades, suspension
tweaks and the feel you get from the
Kumho tyre, it all started to click. By the
end of the season we clinched Class 13
and just missed out on the overall 2WD
title by one point!
It was a “no brainer” to come back

in 2012 and give it another go, this
time with a 2.5 JRE under Baby Blue’s
bonnet. It turned out to be the season
of our lives. It seemed we could do no
wrong.
Victories on the Mk2 challenge in
Carlow, the Ulster National Rally, Cork
20 National Rally and outright victory on
the GSMC Mini Stages Rally were high
points, and our only big disappointment
was the Donegal International when
we retired on SS2. We were able to fit
in some gravel rallies and won 2WD on
every one we did.
It would be very difficult to pick a
single highlight from the year but
Carlow, with the nature of the stages
and the battle that we had that day,
will live with me for a long time to
come. We ended the season with the
2WD Rally Championship, Mk2 Escort
Champions and overall Top Part West
Coast Champions.
Following a very successful 2012
season I gave Baby Blue a complete
rebuild with a development
version of JREs 2.5 Vauxhall engine
installed. With Liam taking a year out
to get married, I didn’t commit to any
championships and decided to pick and
choose events.
We won the coveted Mk2 Challenge
in Carlow again and became “Master of
the Woods” in the Cork Forest Rally.
The year was rounded off with being
voted “Driver of the Year” by the ANICC.
For 2014 I built a brand new outright
tarmac Mk2 (Baby Blue 3). We did a
deal with Millington to run their new
2.5Ltr Series 2+ engine - 350bhp of pure
insanity!
We planned to use the year to
develop the car and didn’t expect much
success, but things went well and with
Liam back in the passengers’ seat we
won the Dunlop National 2WD and Mk2
championships again.
We also sent Baby Blue 2 to Trinidad
after an invite. It was an amazing
experience on excellent gravel
roads. First 2WD and fifth overall
was a great bonus.
In 2015 we set out to retain our
championships, but on the first
round we had a massive accident
when we aquaplaned in heavy
rain. BB3 was a mess, but Liam
and I were unhurt.
BB2 was on her second trip
to Trinidad, so it took a while
to rebuild and our season was
patchy. Trinidad was fantastic
again and when we got BB3 back
on the road we had a couple of
great results.
Then came another BIG
off on the Laois Heartlands
Rally two weeks before our
scheduled outing on the Donegal
International.
We rolled three times at
high speed and it wasn’t good.
Immediately my thoughts went to
BB2. She was at sea on her way
back from the Caribbean.
Rosemarie tracked her
down while I stripped what was
salvageable from the tarmac
car. With nine days to Donegal,
BB2 arrived home. She was very
tired after a tough Trinidad and
needed a rebuild.
The tarmac engine, gearbox and axle
from BB3 all went into her to get to
Donegal. Amazingly we made it, and
even more amazingly, we completed
the three-day marathon and came
second overall in the national. BB2
finished off the season with three more
2WD victories.
For 2016 BB3 was fully rebuilt just
in time for the AutoSport show in
January, where she was a big hit. We
did selected events with Paul Twomey
in the hot seat, but had a lot of bad luck
with engine problems and differential
failures.
We cut a few rallies and channelled
all our efforts towards Donegal. It was
a fantastic weekend with Mick Coady
navigating. The crowds were massive
and the buzz was unreal.
We led going into the third and final
day, but unfortunately the diff let go
again and we were demoted to second,
but it was still an epic weekend.
As a result of being the first Irish crew
home, we won an all-expenses paid trip
to compete in the Mull Rally in Scotland
for our efforts.
The Galway Summer Rally in August
is always a good fast event. We were
in a great battle, but on the last stage
it all went wrong and there I was again
hanging upside down after a 120mph
accident. So the season was over there
and then.
Rallying has become a complete
family obsession at this stage.
Our lives revolve around the
rally calendar and most of the banter at
the dinner table is rally talk.
I am very lucky in that regard to have
the support at home. There is never an
argument about lack of money because
rallying has gobbled it all up.
I enjoy building and developing
my Mk2. I spend a minimum of two
or three hours every night in the
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 35

FEATURE: FRANK KELLY
workshop after work fixing what I’ve
broken, and trying to improve the car.
Rallying in Ireland has such a cult
following it’s hard not to get sucked in.
Competition among the modified
Mk2s is fantastic. Any event we turn
up at you can count at least 10 or 12
men capable of winning, and no matter
where you go on this island you will
bump into rally people.
We have some of the best, most
challenging roads in the world and
some of the most dedicated clubs,
clubmen and supporters in the world as
well, who pull the whole thing together.
Sometimes I have to pinch myself
when we are hurtling down a closed
public road and revel in the fact that we
get to do this.
Having said all that, my first love is
gravel. Being brought up on the loose
it will always be my favoured surface.
Real good gravel roads are getting
difficult to find and maintain around
home. We find ourselves having to
travel more or do more tarmac instead.
It probably explains my way of
driving. I only really feel comfortable
when the car is sliding as if it’s on
gravel. It’s high risk and there are those
who keep telling me to tidy up to go
faster.
Sometimes I set out to do just that,
but something takes over when the
flag drops and that tingle feeling starts
at the back of my knee, and next thing
we are sideways or 10 feet in the air,
or both, at a ridiculous speed. It’s
addictive, so I’ve given up trying to
change.
None of this would be possible
without the Kelly Motorsport team.
My brother Gary has kept me running
through all my rally seasons, with onevent
servicing and pep talks when I’ve
lost the plot.
Rosemarie (my wife) hasn’t said
a word when I have spent endless
hours at night preparing the car for
the next event. She takes care of our
“My first love is
gravel. Being bought
up on the loose it
will always be my
favoured surface.”
merchandising both on events and
online, she’s a diamond.
Both my kids, Lauren and Jack, clean
the car and make sure it is looking good
for the next rally.
Lauren is gifted when it comes to film
editing and she makes me look good
on screen, which can’t be easy. She
navigated for me for the first time on
the Glens of Antrim gravel rally last year
and did such a brilliant job. I was so
proud of her that day.
But it’s Liam that I owe the biggest
debt to. For a large period I struggled to
get anyone to rally with me, and when
it was becoming impossible he stepped
in.
I’ve tried to kill him several times, but
he has always kept the faith and has
never said: “You made a mistake Frank,”
even when I have dropped some
serious clangers!
He is world class and most of all, a
great friend, and I don’t say that lightly.
Sponsors have also played a big part
in keeping us rallying and they include,
Bathshack.com, Jefferson Tools,
Charlie McEnery Motor Services, GRP4
Fabrications, PH Shotblasting, Campbell
Contracts, 1st Alert Alarm Systems Ltd
& MM Graphics.
Close working relationships with
Samsonas Transmissions, Millington
race engines and DMS suspension has
been very important in the quest to find
those extra few seconds.
Right now I have a busy winter ahead
with two cars to rebuild, but I’ll put the
head down and we will get there.
We will look at the opportunities
we have to rally abroad in 2017, and
maybe even get to rally down under.
It would be a dream come true to rally
some of those iconic gravel roads in NZ
or Oz.
The retirement plan is to build an
historic BDA in gravel spec (Baby Blue
4), fit a tow-bar, buy a caravan, sell the
house and tour the world from rally to
rally! Sounds like a plan?
36 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

FOOTNOTE: Kelly Motorsport
Merchandise is looked after by
Rosemarie (Frank’s wife) and is available
to purchase from most events, as well
as online.
Lauren (Frank’s daughter) and Ciaran
(Frank’s nephew) take care of the media
side of things.
Lauren, who operates LK Media, is
responsible for capturing the day’s
footage and posting it onto YouTube, as
well as looking after the team’s Twitter
page.
Ciaran, an up-and-coming
photographer, snaps away to capture
“baby blue” at her finest so that his
images can be shared via the team’s
Facebook page, as well as his own page
CMG Pics.”
RallySport Magazine thanks Frank Kelly for
sharing his incredible story with us.
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 37

TEST DRIVE: FORD FIESTA
FIESTA TIM
It’s obvious that there’s a world of difference between a standard
Ford Fiesta and the World Rally Car version that tears up the
WRC stages. One looks purposeful and mean, the other …. well,
let’s just say it doesn’t look like a rally car.
Story: PETER WHITTEN
Photos: GREG BROWNE
38 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

E
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 39

TEST DRIVE: FORD FIESTA
So when the opportunity arose for
me to test drive one of the cars
earmarked for next year’s Ford
Fiesta Rally Series in Victoria, I jumped
at the chance. But to be honest, I wasn’t
sure what to expect.
I’d seen plenty of Fiestas in various
trim running in events across Australia
and New Zealand, and while they
looked to be reliable and fun to drive,
they didn’t look like something that
would get me out of a rear-wheel drive
Escort and into a front-wheel drive
shopping trolley.
Luckily for me, preconceived ideas
can be quickly thrown out the window.
Victorian rallying stalwart, John
Carney, had offered me a drive of a car
that he’d recently purchased to run in
the series that he and Col Hardinge are
the brains behind. Also the founders
of Victoria’s Hyundai Excel one-make
series, John and Col thought the time
was right to expand on their idea.
While the Excel series will continue as
a true entry-level category in the sport,
the Fiesta series will be for those with
either a little more coin in their pockets,
or the desire to go faster in a more
modern car.
My test drive was held on Brendan
Reeves’ own test track, which he also
uses for his driver training courses
throughout the year. About a kilometre
and a half in length, it offers a wide
variety of conditions and cambers, and
is ideal to test a car’s capabilities.
Carney’s Fiesta really is a wolf in
sheep’s clothing. It looks racey from the
outside with a great colour scheme, but
when you open the door and sit in the
driver’s seat you can tell that it’s more
than a standard Fiesta.
The most notable addition is a
sequential five-speed Sadev gearbox. I’d
used a sequential box many moons ago
in Simon Evans’ VW Golf Kit Car, so was
looking forward to blasting through the
gears with clutch-less changes.
By the time I got my chance behind
the wheel, Carney and Reeves had
already ensured that the front tyres
were shot, but with dry and dusty
conditions that wouldn’t prove to be
much of a problem.
After a sighting lap around the track,
and with Reeves sitting shot-gun, I put
my foot down and was immediately
amazed by the power of the Fiesta’s
1.6-litre engine. The engine seemed to
pull right through the rev range, and
hitting fifth gear on the short straights
was achieved effortlessly.
Once the brakes warmed up I could
keep the car turned in with left-foot
braking, and while the seating position
was less than ideal (I struggled to
reach the pedals!), it gave you great
confidence that the car would do what
you asked of it.
The handling was also impressive,
despite the lack of grip from the front
tyres.
The Fiesta series regulations allow for
some variations in specification, and
with a sequential box and a computer
management system installed this car
is at the higher end of those regs, but
it was clear to see that even a standard
Fiesta would be incredibly enjoyable to
drive.
With only a few laps in the car it is
difficult to give a detailed impression
on the car’s good and bad points,
particularly as it is still being developed
by Carney and his Gunnawyn
Motorsport team, but it’s obvious it has
huge potential.
And perhaps the most telling
question I’ve been asked since is
“Would I buy one?”. The answer is a
definite yes.
While my heart lies in a rear-wheel
drive car that you can power slide
through corners, the lure of a modern,
front-wheel drive car that would leave
most of its ‘rooster tailing’ rivals in its
wake is difficult to ignore.
My two rally-mad sons are already
scouring eBay and Gumtree looking for
possible project cars …..
40 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

To the winners,
the spoils.
Also doing laps of the track on the day was Nathan Berry in his magnificently
prepared R2-spec Fiesta (pictured above) that he’s spent
three years building.
Formerly a Lancer Evo punter, Berry’s Fiesta build had taken longer than
expected, but the announcement of the new Fiesta one-make series was
the shot in the arm he needed to get the car completed.
After purchasing a complete R2 kit from M-Sport in the UK (including roll
cage, suspension, engine management and gearbox), the car is at the top of
the price scale, but is a real work of art and is indecently fast.
At Rally Australia last month I took more of an interest in the R2-spec
Fords running in the event, and while they looked painfully slow compared
to the WRC cars, I now know from experience that looks can be VERY
deceiving.
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 41

RETROSPECTIVE: PNG SAFARI
PNG
SAFARI
Story:
TOM SMITH
While Australia battled for recognition in its efforts
to obtain international rally status in the late 80s
with Rally Australia, another international event
was on its doorstep, and it wasn’t New Zealand.
Papua New Guinea, to the north of Australia, enjoys a
large expatriate Australian contingent of residents and
workers, and with a largely undeveloped country it’s no
surprise that rallying found a home as one of the few
motorsport options.
The South Pacific Motor Sports Club, whilst providing a
social hub for rally nuts in Port Moresby, has a rich history,
founded in 1965.
While the club may have initially been formed more for
social gatherings than motorsport competition, members
combined resources to develop events based out of Port
Moresby.
The club has been famous for staging the original Papuan
Safari, renamed to the ‘Independence Safari’ after PNG
gained independence in 1975.
The first major competition on the calendar was a 300
mile rally that became the annual Papua Safari of 500 miles.
The Safari took place over mainly wartime roads and at
its peak it attracted works teams from Australia, including
Australian rally champions, and Brian Culcheth, who was
flown in from the U.K. to drive a works Leyland for PNG
Motors.
Australian drivers were attracted north in the early years,
including Colin Bond, Evan Green, Bob Riley and Ross
Dunkerton. During the late 80s and early 90s the event
continued to attract quite a lot of interest from leading
Australian drivers, including Murray Coote, Doug Briscoe
and Richard Anderson, who was a two-time Safari winner in
1993 and ’94.
In the latter years of the Safari, the event was held over
42 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

four days and somewhere in the region of 40
special stages. What was equally challenging
for the crews were the ‘rally’ stages – liaison
or transport to those elsewhere – which were
so testing, crews were just as likely to incur
time penalties on ‘open’ roads as they were on
closed stages.
Perhaps not surprisingly, a number of
ex-works cars found their way into the
hands of PNG ex-pats who could afford
such machinery.
Japanese manufacturers also had a strong
presence in the country, with local Boroko
Motors prominent in the PNG market. One
advertisement offered a free pig with the
purchase of a Datsun 1200 ute, such was the
value of the livestock in the country.
Long-time supporter of the event and Clerkof-Course
many times over, Mike Ryan, was
a favourite of the Australian contingent with
whom he forged very strong friendships.
When Mike unfortunately passed away in
the late 90s, a close-knit group of his closest
Queensland rally mates instituted the Michael
Ryan Memorial Trophy, a medal which was
awarded to a competitor judged to have
shown the spirit of rallying that Mike aspired
to in his life.
Most often awarded to the Championshipwinning
co-drivers each year, the 2016 winner,
Neill Woolley (Qld Champion Co-Driver), was
awarded the 20 th and final ‘Mike Ryan Trophy’.
Sadly, the PNG Safari is no longer a feature
on the international rally calendar, but the
South Pacific Motor Sports Club is alive and
well.
The club’s website and Facebook pages
reveal some of the history of this important
rallying community. See more at www.spmsc.
org.pg/index.html
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 43

FIRST LOOK: 2017 HYUNDAI I20 WRC
Hyundai’s presentation of their
2017 World Rally Car was the
first opportunity for the media
to inspect a car built to the new
WRC regulations, and a chance
to understand the significance
and the challenge that the new
regulations presented.
Martin Holmes reports ...
Michel Nandan doubles up not
only as Hyundai Motorsport
Team Principal, but is also
head of the engineering side of the project
to build not only their third World
Rally Car model in three years, but a
winning car evolved in what in many
respects is uncharted territory.
And, of course, living up to
expectations of being a favourite for
the 2017 championship title, having
finished second behind the now absent
Volkswagen this year!
Of the three main factors about the
2017 regulations – aero work, central
differentials and more powerful
engines - Nandan is sure that the
biggest challenge with the new
technical regulations is to judge how far
to go with aerodynamic work.
MN: These cars are being driven on
gravel roads and a lot of parts can
be damaged which will change the
balance of the car. It is a compromise
but we cannot go too far in some
areas because the car is not driving on
smooth circuits.
So it is probably one of things that
has been difficult. Also, because the
car is riding on gravel the effect of the
aerodynamics is a little bit less - the ride
height is not constant even before the
pieces become damaged.
MH: What is the main change caused by the
aerodynamic changes?
Jari Ketomaa took second in his
Mitsubishi Mirage.
MN: Well, it provides downforce to
44 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016
keep the balance from front to rear.
When we had just the rear wing, it was
not possible to do so much.
Now with wings front and back it
is possible to balance the car a bit
more, even though the effect of the
downforce for cornering is still limited.
And regarding the increased drag we
now have 80 more horsepower, so the
extra drag is compensated easily.
MH: What about improving the balance side to
side?
MN: This is a bit trickier but the new
skirts help. They can help increase
downforce, but the pieces can also be
damaged. We have tried to reduce
damage to the parts that are under
the car, the front splitter and the rear
diffuser for example.
They all have to be made stronger
just to resist all this abrasive effect of
flying stones and impact damage.
MH: What about drag? Is the total amount
of drag from the car now higher than it has been
before?
MN: Because the car is wider and the
rear wing is higher you have more drag,
but it is not something which is really
changing the car because, as I told
you, we have more power so we can
compensate easily.
MH: Many aspects of your aero changes are
very old. They had Kamm tails before the war
(WWII). The Americans used Naca ducts just
after WWII. These double scoops that you’ve got
on the wings remind us of the Lancia S4 in 1995.
Is there anything new about the aero work or has
it really gone back to original days?
MN: A lot of the new things they do
in Formula 1 are forbidden in rallying,
so it is quite conservative when you
look at the car. You have a rear wing,
a diffuser, a splitter in the front, things
that were used 30 years ago, but I think
a lot of these things are also still used
on circuit cars!
MH: Regarding engine changes, Sebastien Ogier
was saying that the character of the Volkswagen
2017 engine was a lot more power but not much
more torque. Is that the same for you (for the
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)?
MN: I think it will be the same for
everybody because the increase of the
restrictor size is giving more power, but
we still have the limit on boost, so we
cannot increase the torque a lot more.

So torque is similar to what we already
had and it is only the power that is
different.
MH: How does the bigger restrictor affect
areas of design of the car?
MN: Transmission is not affected
so much because we did not have so
much torque. The transmission is not
affected and that is why we keep 80%
of the components from the previous
transmission (on the NG i20 2016 WRC).
The fact that you have more power
and that the power is coming a bit more
quicker means it affects the tyre wear,
so you need to work much more on the
suspensions, really to get more grip.
But I have to say that the effect of the
extra power is not affecting the balance
of the car, but it really affects the grip,
especially on gravel.
So we need to be more careful with
tyre wear and work constantly on the
suspension for that.
MH: There is only a marginal increase in the
number of tyres that you can use next year (by
being able to reuse the shakedown tyres). Isn’t
the extra power going to mean that tyre wear is
going to become more difficult than ever?
MN: Well I think in some stages in
some events it could be crucial. Not in
all the events, but in some.
Even this year (2016) you already
had quite a big tyre wear like in Rally
Australia, with warm temperature and
everything, when tyre wear was already
quite significant.
For sure next year with more power
if we have almost the same number of
tyres it has to be more difficult.
One other change in 2017 was
about the kinematic positions of the
suspension, now all the kinematic
points are free. On
the 2016 car our
problem with the
front suspension
was that we had to
stick with standard
position. Now we
can really optimise
the travel and the
footprint on the
stage.
MH: What changes
to design and to driving
will the newly allowed
central differential
make?
MN: It could
make those things
very complicated,
especially for
the engineers! I
think in terms of
driveability and
adaptation to the
driver it is helping a
bit because we can
try to reduce the
oversteering effect
we have to turn in.
It can also
optimise the traction between the front
and the rear axle, but I think the main
change is you can reduce the normal
understeering.
As for the effect on tyre wear, it can
have a small effect because of the
improvement in turning in to corners,
but maybe distribute better the tyre
wear.
MH: Anything new electronically?
MN: Nothing really new because we
use the same ECU, in fact with the ECU
we have we can do a lot of things, but
it is not allowed, so we just add central
differential on it, but everything is
driven by the ECU.
Traction control is completely
forbidden. Okay, you could get some
traction control benefit in other ways,
but all the time what you are doing in
the car it is recorded in an FIA box, so
they can control the parameter and
it is very easy to see if you are doing
traction control.
Plus, the fact that software is checked
and controlled by FIA, approved by FIA.
- MARTIN HOLMES
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 45

HOLMES COLUMN
HOLMES
INSIDE
LINE
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Story:
MARTIN HOLMES
Sometimes I feel that rallysport
unnecessarily makes life difficult
for itself!
The arrival of the 2017 World Rally
Car rules are some of the most exciting
days in recent decades. We not only
have countries and drivers to get
excited about, we have new cars!
The FIA has broken away from the era
of stagnation in its rally cars – however
well meaning for financial aspects
– and offered us fresh rules, fresh
technologies, and a fresh team. But
what to call these new cars, that is not
so easy for the teams.
When a new family member arrives
in our world and the gender is
established, the first thing to choose is
the name. When a new rally car arrives,
it is almost the last. One glance at the
world of colleagues in Formula 1, the
name of new cars is the first thing to
be defined. Each new car follows a
numerical sequence. Not so in rallying.
For Citroen a problem does not
arise. It had been decided long ago
that the name DS was to disappear
from Citroen’s products and eventually,
even though reluctantly, the name C3
was spoken about publicly in corporate
circles. The rally car name C3 WRC was
straightforward.
Hyundai also has a new basic
model for 2017, the Coupe, so the
name Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC was
also obvious, and a welcome escape
from the 2016 car that was called the
cumbersome New Generation i20 WRC.
Toyota, however, is venturing into
new territory completely, not just in
the cars but also with the name of
their team. Who dreamed up the
name Gazoo? Is it true that Toyota’s
worldwide sport carries the name of a
Flintstones character?
Among the many elements of
Japanese life that the western world
find hard to comprehend, Gazoo is right
there high in the list.
For years we baffled over Lancia’s use
of the title HF in their cars. The only
coherent explanation offered by Italy
was the name originated from early
days of High Fidelity high quality sound
reproduction, a spirit pursued by Lancia
for their more sporting range of cars, a
name that then stuck.
When it comes to the Toyota
Yaris WRC, we have a long
history of confusion. Yaris
cars were long considered as possible
competition cars by Toyota Motorsport
GmbH. A project in world championship
rallying was one of them.
TMG built prototypes, leading to
conjecture that they were first off the
blocks in developing 2017 cars. Actually
it was not correct. As soon as Toyota’s
global managers could see what was
happening, the TMG project was
canned and the Toyota Gazoo Racing
operation took it over, moving from
Germany to Finland.
These TMG prototype cars were
never real World Rally Cars, being built
before the 2017 rules were written, so
the TMG car could truly be called Yaris
WRC.
That brings us to Ford… Their 2017
rally car has no new name, even though
it was based on the latest version Fiesta
production car. It is called Ford Fiesta
WRC.
Familiar? Partially. The name they
used from the start of the Fiesta WRC
era was Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Ford’s way
to honour the most exciting looking
top-level rally car is to drop the “RS”
part of the name!
Ford has never been good at names,
a problem right from the top. Who is
responsible for the un-scintillating car
name? Who doesn’t want this car fondly
remembered in history?
It was a corporate decision. Any
surprise? The corporate supremo went
to Dovenby recently to indicate the
support of Ford to the latest project.
His name was Henry Ford III.
Ford have dropped the ‘RS’
name from the new Fiesta WRC.
46 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

The grand father of Henry Ford III
is famous for two quotations. One for
speaking fervently about the colour
black, and then for saying that history
was bunk.
Who controls rallying? Who are
the most powerful people?
If there was ever doubt, the
most accomplished rally driver of the
moment is certainly Sebastien Ogier.
He had the chance to capitalise on his
opportunity to develop the Volkswagen
Polo R WRC cars to his personal taste
and four straight championship titles
were the result.
Power? That did not become evident
until VW announced they were stopping
their world championship programme,
leaving their competition personnel
potentially looking for different
employment. That was the moment
that the sport stood still.
Ogier announced he would like to test
the four various prototype cars being
prepared by other teams, so he would
know which team to approach for
future employment.
Two of the teams (Toyota and
M-Sport) complied, Hyundai had
already scheduled their 2017 team
launch date, while Citroen sat back and
said nothing. Both Hyundai and Citroen
considered their teams were already
full of drivers for 2017.
So what stopped Ogier from
negotiating with Citroen? The strained
circumstances in which Ogier left
the team at the end of 2011 were
presumed to be the basis of a lack
of enthusiasm at the idea of Ogier’s
return.
And as for Hyundai? Obviously that
was the power of promotion people,
or did Hyundai feel they are already
favourites for the 2017 titles without
Ogier and his Volkswagen cars?
For all Ogier’s impressive performances,
the only unanswered
question is knowing how
much of Ogier’s success was down to
Volkswagen.
Without the power of the promotion
people, rally drivers of Ogier’s level
have nowhere they can go! So far
the situation, however unusual, was
understandable.
Then Volkswagen, who had publicly
stated that their 2017 cars were
prematurely due for museums, said it
would be a pity not to rent these cars
out to a team, so long as the project did
not cost them money.
For Ogier, that statement must have
come as an even greater shock than
the original withdrawal! Suddenly there
was one more dimension to Ogier’s
puzzle.
Happy 80th
Andrew Cowan
If the world championship is all that
matters in the world of rallying,
one of Britain’s finest rallying stars
would slide into obscurity.
All to do with the fact that rally life, as
we know it now, did not start until the
Monte Carlo Rally in 1973.
Cynics could say that Andrew Cowan
was born at the wrong time, which is
why we talk about him again, now.
He is 80 years old this week. His
professional rally career embraced a
huge variety of manufacturers not seen
on the stages these days.
They included Sunbeam, Rover,
Hillman, BMC, Triumph, Alpine Renault,
Polski-Fiat, Chrysler, Mercedes and
Mitsubishi. All teams absent from the
stages these days.
It was his achievements rather
than his opportunities which are best
remembered.
In WRC terms, all the driver Cowan
could be remembered for are podium
positions on the Safari and in the Ivory
Coast.
But in the vast, timeless world
of rallying, his three huge victories
were winning the London to Sydney
Marathons in 1968 and 1977, then the
20,000 miles Tour of South America in
1978, as well as five times winner of
Australia’s premier event, the Southern
Cross, and New Zealand’s vast Heatway
Rally in 1972.
WRC people, however, best
remember Andrew for leading the
world championship Mitsubishi Ralliart
team which won the 1998 world
championship for Manufacturers, and
provided Tommi Makinen with four
straight titles in the Drivers’ world
championship.
For his family, and especially his wife
Linda, he is just a Scottish farmer.
- MARTIN HOLMES
Andrew Cowan at home
on his farm in Scotland in
1995. (Photo: Holmes)
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 47

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48 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

REPORT: INDIA RALLY
Skoda’s Fabia R5 driver, Gaurav Gill,
won his country’s event, the Coffee
Day Rally India, the final round
of the 2016 Asia Pacific Rally Championship,
scoring maximum points on all six
rounds of the series and winning five of
the events outright.
His teammate, Fabian Kreim,
lost stages after damaging his car’s
suspension, but ended up as the FIA’s
Pacific Cup Champion and was second
in the APRC series.
Kreim took the initial lead on Friday’s
super-special, but on the narrow roads
of the nearby coffee and banana
estates Gill moved into a commanding
lead on the remaining three days. He
was aided by Kreim’s problem when he
blocked the stage and the German was
out for the rest of the day.
When Kreim fell back, Cusco team
driver, Yuya Sumiyama, took over
second place but fell back with brake
trouble in his Group N Subaru, and
eventually went off the road.
Fellow Cusco driver, the New
Zealander Mike Young, was struggling
with a down on power engine and
over-heating brakes on his Subaru but
moved up to second place, which he
kept despite power-steering trouble on
the final morning.
GILL WINS AT HOME
Third place went to another Indian
driver, Sanjay Takale, also driving a
Cusco team Subaru.
Takale also won the India Rally
Championship round run concurrently
with the APRC event.
The event was based at Chikmagalur
in the Indian state of Karnataka.
Final results:
1. Gill/Macneall, Skoda Fabia R5, 3h
39m 37.9s
2. Young/Read, Subaru WRX STI, 3h
51m 10.3s
3. Takale/Takeshita, Subaru WRC STI,
4h 03m 51.0s
APRC points: Gill 230, Kreim 157,
Young 110, Takale 93.
- MARTIN HOLMES
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 49

REPORT: CLASSIC ADELAIDE RALLY
BUSBY’S CLASSIC WIN
Michael Busby and John
Caldicott won a sensational
Shannons Classic Adelaide
Rally, powering their Mazda RX7 home
to victory by just over 30 seconds after
two days of competition.
They extended their margin on
Saturday morning as the rally launched
into the incredible driving roads that
made up the Adelaide Hills stages.
Despite losing five seconds on the next
stage (Mount Bold), they rebounded on
SS17 (Scott Bottom) to take their third
stage win of the day to consolidate their
margin, before slamming home their
advantage with another win on the last
hills stage - at Mount Lofty - to all but
secure their victory.
Conservative runs through the two
Adelaide City Council night stages that
concluded the rally saw their margin
reduced to a slim, yet ultimately safe 31
seconds at the end of the rally.
Behind the leader, an intense fight
for second and third was decided
in the favour of Craig Haysman and
Julie Boorman, their Triumph TR7 V8
just beating the Toyota AE86 of Oscar
Matthews and Darren Masters for the
final two spots on the outright podium.
“That was a really hard rally,” Busby
said. “We suffered some mechanical
dramas on the way to Anstey’s Hill
(on Saturday) by losing the power
steering, and once we did lose the
power steering we actually had a pretty
hard charge and managed to gap the
competition.
“We just drove hard and fast and flat
out all weekend.”
Behind them the fight for second and
third was the most intense of the entire
rally, with the Haysman and Matthews
never split by more than 10 seconds
throughout the entire day.
50
Photos: | RALLYSPORT
Red
MAGAZINE
Bull Content
- DECEMBER
Pool
2016
The margin between Haysman and
Matthews was only four seconds after
Gorge Road, while Matthews took
two seconds back on the run through
Castambul early in the afternoon.
Haysman dragged that time back on
the run through Mount Bold, the TR7
back to four seconds adrift as the field
regrouped ahead of the final two hills
stages of the day.
It was on the final hills stage up
Mount Lofty where the Triumph made
its biggest break of the entire event,
gapping the Toyota by 22 seconds
heading into the final two sprint stages
in the city.
The final margin of 48 seconds
between the pair belied how close the
battle was for most of the event. The
Matthews / Masters Toyota would also
ultimately win the Late Classic handicap
competition.
Nick Streckeisen and Mike Dale had
held fourth outright until the final hills
stage, their Porsche 944 Turbo in touch
with the leaders for much of the rally
before mechanical failure saw them
stop just before the end of the Mount
Lofty stage.
Their misfortune elevated Cameron
and Tania Wearing’s Triumph TR7 to
fourth place, the long-time Classic
Adelaide Rally
competitors
enjoying a
consistent run
throughout the
entire event.
A tight battle
for the Early
Classic handicap
went the way of
the Datsun 240Z
driven by Roger
Lomman and
Annie Bainbridge, who also finished a
strong fifth outright.
The Datsun duo edged out the Glenn
Dean / Jacob Streckeisen Ford Escort by
less than 30 seconds for Early Classic
honours, with Guy Standen and Andrew
Coles third in their Alfa Romeo.
Martin Farkas and Tristan Catford
stormed to a comfortable victory in the
GT Sports Trophy, driving a BMW M3,
winning the rally by three minutes over
Kristian Downing and Clayton Webber,
driving a Subaru WRX. Michael Lowe
and Kerry Chevis finished third in their
Alfa.
In the Thoroughbred Trophy, Porsche
911 driver Tim Pryzibilla and Dainis
Sillins fought a close battle with the
BMW M3 of Phil Peak and Sam Hackett,
the pair split by less than 30 seconds at
the end of the day. Karl vanSanden and
Alexander Visintin were third.
Finally, the TSD Trophy went to
the stunning Jaguar F-Type driven by
Christoper Waldock and Christine Kirby.
Final results:
1. Busby / Caldicott (Mazda RX7)
2. Haysman / Boorman (Triumph TR7)
+31s (pictured below)
3. Matthews / Masters (Toyota AE86)
+48s

REPORT: BEGONIA RALLY
MUD MASTER
Story:
CRAIG O’BRIEN
In atrocious weather, Andrew
Pannam and Tim Batten (Subaru)
reigned supreme, winning the Bully
Zero Begonia Rally on November 13,
ahead of Andrew Daniell/Emily Leech in
a Datsun Stanza.
Luke Sytema and Adam Wright
rounded out the podium with third in a
Ford Escort RS1800.
Following heavy overnight rain,
37 crews set out under threatening
skies for the fifth and final round of
the Focus on Furniture Victorian Rally
Championship.
Based in Ballarat the event was to
consist of 10 stages divided into two
heats, using the technical forestry
tracks of Caralulup Forest and the more
open roads near Creswick.
In becoming the first back-to-back
drivers’ champion since Mark Fawcett
in 2008/09, at last months’ Akademos
Rally, Darren Windus came into the final
round targeting a win on home soil to
cap off two dominant seasons.
His bid was short lived when a broken
driveshaft ended his day on SS3.
Pannam and Batten, who were only
one second off Windus after the two
opening stages, then seized the lead.
Behind them another classic battle
for 2WD supremacy was unfolding.
Coming into Begonia, Neil Schey/Scott
Middleton held a slender lead over
Michael Conway/Jenny Cole and Grant
Walker, all in Ford Escorts, while Daniell
and Sytema ultimately battled it out for
2WD event honours.
Young gun Andrew Daniell
impressed again in his
Datsun Stanza.
Conway held a nine second
advantage over Schey following the two
Begonia winners Andrew
Pannam and Tim Batten.
Mike Conway and Jenny
Cole push their Escort hard.
opening stages, before extending his
lead when Schey dropped more than a
minute on the long challenging SS3, and
maintained his position over the next
two stages to end Heat 1 ahead of his
two rivals.
In the Our Auto Rally Series for
Hyundai Excels, Stephen Eccles/
Simon Pilepich in a borrowed car,
having seriously damaged theirs at the
Akademos, comfortably won the heat
ahead of Luca Giacomin/Brett Williams.
With persistent rain becoming
torrential at the completion of Heat 1,
event director Arron Secombe made
the decision to cancel Heat 2 under
safety grounds, and avoid any further
road damage.
The cancellation resulted in Conway/
Cole securing the 2WD championship,
Eccles/Pilepich the Excel series, and Joe
Brick outright co-driver.
Photos: Greg Browne, John Doutch
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 51

NEWS@RALLYSPORTMAG.COM.AU
KAHLER’S
MEMORIES
Peter Kahler, son of George,
contacted RallySport Magazine and
offered his own recollections of the
story which featured in last month’s
edition.
“Dad did have a laugh at the
missed sponsorship opportunity
when he lost his daks. Here’s a
bit of background as to how it
happened.....
“He went through the water splash
and flicked on the windscreen wipers
on the dash, but accidently flicked
off the fuel pump switches as well
.... That is why the car stopped! He
had no idea why the car stopped and
didn’t realise the switches were off.
“Now the pants - he had a long
waist so would undo the Velcro on
his racing pants when sitting in the
seat to be more comfortable ... he
jumped out of the car to push it, and
down they came!
“They were only 180 metres from
the timing marker so he drove the
car on the starter motor - holding the
key on with one hand and steering
with the other. There were no other
hands to hold up his pants -. what a
sacrifice!!
“Duckhams, his sponsor, were
furious they didn’t get worldwide
coverage and Murray Coote thought
his name would have looked good
blazed across Dad’s butt as car
builder!
“The family was mortified, but
Dad thought it was hilarious! He was
famous. Or is that infamous?”
Thanks to Peter for sharing these
memories.
STONIE CLASSICS
SIX ROUNDS FOR ‘17 NZRC
An exciting six round calendar has
been announced for the 2017 Brian
Green Property Group New Zealand
Rally Championship. Otago, Whangarei,
Canterbury, Coromandel, a new
addition of the Waitomo Rally and
the return of Rally New Zealand as
the season Grand Finale, form the six
rounds of the 2017 championship.
The 2017 calendar includes an even
balance of two day (Otago, Whangarei
and Rally New Zealand), and one day
events (Canterbury, Coromandel and
Waitomo), and with all six rounds
to count for the overall title the
championship is set to be wide open to
the final round.
The class titles (2WD and Classic)
will continue to be contested over five
rounds (allowing competitors to drop
their worst score from the opening five
rounds) and the Gull Rally Challenge will
continue the popular four round format.
The iconic Otago Rally will host the
opening round of the championship
over the weekend of 8-9th April and
includes the hugely popular Otago
Classic Rally. The International Rally
of Whangarei which also doubles as a
round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally moves
to the later date of 28-30th April as
round two of the championship.
Queen’s Birthday long weekend
on 4th June, will take crews back to
the South Island for the Lone Star
Canterbury Rally, a true winter forest
rally that has featured snow and ice in
recent editions.
Following an 11 week mid-season
break the championship then returns
to action at the beachside holiday
destination of Whitianga, the venue for
the Gold Rush Rally of Coromandel on
26th August. The challenging roads of
the Coromandel ranges have become a
driver and fan favourite.
The penultimate round of the
championship sees a return to the
gravel roads of the Waikato for Rally
Waitomo on 14th October.
The season will then culminate
with the return of Rally New Zealand
at the new host venue of Tauranga
as the organising team continue to
prepare for the future return of a World
Championship event in 2018.
The 2016 Brian Green Property Group
NZ Rally Championship attracted one
of the most competitive fields in recent
years and with continued growth in the
new generation AP4 style rallycar at
least 10 different manufacturers are set
to contest the overall championship in
2017.
2017 Brian Green Property Group NZ Rally Championship Calendar
8-9th April – Otago Rally - Dunedin
28-30th April – International Rally of Whangarei
4th June - Lone Star Rally Canterbury - Christchurch
26th August – Goldrush Rally of Coromandel - Whitianga
14th October – Waitomo Rally - Waikato
25-26th November - Rally New Zealand – Tauranga
52 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

TRAVELLING MAN ...
At the end of a very exhausting
season in which every journey
back home between rallies
involves travelling around the world
again, New Zealand’s Hyundai WRC
driver, Hayden Paddon, gave some
insights into his unseen expertise in
travelling, during Hyundai’s rally car
launch in Monza, Italy.
Hayden lives not just in New Zealand,
but well down the South Island at
Wanaka. The first question fans always
ask is his secret in overcoming jetlag.
“There is no secret unfortunately. I
think the more you do it the easier it
becomes and you just don’t think about
it, you hop on a plane and hope to
sleep and wake up at the other end,” he
says.
So does he go to sleep on planes
easily?
“Actually no. I try to, but I quite enjoy
long plane rides because it gives you a
good chance to do a lot of work and not
be interrupted. It’s a good chance to
catch up on things.”
Can you give any advice about jetlag
to people who don’t travel as much as
you and don’t get used to it?
“There is no secret, really. I’ve
tried all the things under the sky, the
medications, the tricks and all sorts.
Probably the biggest thing I’ve found
useful is to drink lots of water, drink like
a fish, and make sure you are hydrated
all the time. And try to have some
sleep. Just try and be as rested as you
can.”
Is going to sleep helped or made
worse by alcohol?
”I don’t drink alcohol so I’m not the
Your
say ...
I
know this is being pedantic, but while
Molly is the first female to win the
Australian Rally Championship as
a driver, her mum, Coral, has been a
multiple ARC Champion co-driver.
Please do not diminish the
importance of rallying as a team sport
which demands as much of the codriver
as it does the driver.
Have always enjoyed RSM and hope
to for many years to come.
- Malcolm Hobrough
By MARTIN HOLMES
best judge of that. Another good thing
when you get to your destination is
to go out immediately and do some
exercise.
“If you arrive at 3, 4, 5 o’clock in the
afternoon and you want to go to sleep,
you must put on your running shoes
and go for a run or a bike ride. That
keeps you awake. You’ve just got to
stay awake and make sure you don’t
go to bed too early.
“Physically you have to fight to do it.
You have to do it when it’s very easy
to fall asleep. You just have to keep
telling yourself mentally and physically
that you must not fall asleep!”
Does global travelling give you a
buzz?
“The novelty of it has all worn off.
A lot of people say you’re so lucky to
travel the world and do what we do, but
we’re lucky to drive the rally cars and go
to some pretty amazing countries, but
you get over the thrill of actual travel, of
the airports, of the planes.
“I spend more time in airports and
planes than what people do at home.
The motivation is that you get to hop
into a rally car when you get to the
other end. That’s what keeps me going!”
How long do you think you will
continue all this travelling with living in
New Zealand? Will you permanently
move over to Europe some time?
“At the moment we have a base
in Europe so we spend more time in
Europe than in New Zealand, but our
sponsor commitments back in New
You’re right Malcolm. Coral, and
before her, Kate Officer (Hobson) are
pioneers of Australian rallying and
deserve plenty of credit for breaking
down the ‘male only’ barriers.
I
first met Molly Taylor at her
motorkhana debut in Armidale when
she was a 14-year old student at New
England Girls School.
On the Friday at the WRC rally I was
Stage Commander at Bakers Creek,
Stage 2.
When she was waiting at the time
control, I went to the Subaru and said
that this is an endurance event, get
to a pace where you and the car are
comfortable, maintain that and watch
as the other contenders crash and
burn.
She and Bill both nodded.
Zealand means we have to go back five
or six times a year for PR and media
commitments.
“And of course I like going home. For
me it’s the best place in the world, so
any opportunity I get to go back to New
Zealand I’ll take it.”
And the weirdest aspect of Hayden’s
work is that his regular co-driver, New
Zealand bred John Kennard, actually
lives in Finland!
“John’s wife is Finnish. Together they
export a lot of their wine business
products in New Zealand to Finland, so
I guess travel for John is a bit business
and personal.
“He has got to go back to New
Zealand where they grow the wine so
he can actually sell it in Finland. They
have a cottage in Finland where they
can base themselves, especially during
the mid part of the European season,
but he goes back and forth between
New Zealand and Finland.”
And therefore I am claiming a teeny
bit of assistance in Molly and Bill’s
result.
- Richard Opie
A
huge thank you to RallySport
Magazine for making our first
(won’t be the last) visit to a WRC
event such an amazing experience.
We were able to get immersed in this
amazing motorsport from some truly
awesome exclusive viewing points,
without having to worry about the
logistics of getting from point to point,
all the while sharing the company of a
great group of people from around the
globe.
Couldn’t recommend them more
highly!
- Matthew Spriggs
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 53

REPORT: SILVER FERN RALLY
ESCORT SERVICE
Story: ROSS MACKAY
Photos: JOHN CROUCH
54 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

Stewart Reid had Kiwi Dave
Neill calling the corners.
Watch all the Silver Fern Rally video highlights HERE
New Zealand’s biennial Silver Fern Rally - the sixth edition having
just been run and won - is a celebration of everything that was, and
by all accounts still is, good about long-distance marathon-style
events in the Shaky Isles.
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 55

REPORT: SILVER FERN RALLY
Derek Ayson won the
Silver Fern Challenge in his
Nissan-powered Escort.
In theory it is a revival event, but
in practice it is much more, as
the winner of this year’s 2,700km
odyssey in the country’s South Island,
Ford Escort RS1800-driving Welshman
Meirion Evans, confirmed on the final
day.
“It’s been an adventure, a challenge
and overall just absolutely brilliant,” he
said.
The current run of events (which
started in 2006) was created to
commemorate New Zealand’s original
Silver Fern Rally held in 1969. And
this year 45 crews came from all over
the world to sample its unique mix of
sublime roads, state-of-the-art timing/
car tracking logistics and laid-back, ‘cando/not-a-problem-mate’
Kiwi spirit.
History will record that Welsh pair,
Meirion Evans and co-driver Iestyn
Williams, won this year’s event by
just 45 seconds from Aussie Stewart
Reid and co-driver, Dave Neill, in what
effectively is a sister car to the Evans/
Williams one.
There was more – much more – to
the story of this year’s event than that,
however.
Stuart McFarlane, Porsche 911
For a start, Challenge category
winner Derek Ayson and co-driver
Gavin McDermott from Gore in rural
Southland were first home – by almost
four minutes to boot. Their MK2 Ford
Escort was outwardly virtually identical
to the RS1800s of Evans and Williams
and Reid and Neill, but ineligible for the
main Historic class.
The Ayson Escort has a well-worked
FJ20 Nissan four-cylinder engine under
the bonnet, so was running in the
Challenge class against contemporary
cars like Aucklander Dave Strong’s
Honda Civic Type R, the Toyota 86 of
Brent Taylor, and later model (but not
quite) classics like Aussie veteran Ed
Mulligan’s E30 BMW 325i.
Reid and Neill were also quicker -
on the road at least - than Evans and
Williams.
The trans-Tasman pair were second
to the Mk2 RS1800 of 2014 event
runner-up, Simon Tysoe and co-driver
Paul Morris, after the first day, and led
Evans and Williams at the end of the
fourth.
But it was always going to be an uphill
battle for the popular Queensland ace
after problems on the first stage on the
second day saw him copping a 4m10s
time penalty for arriving late at the start
of the next stage.
By the time Evans and Williams finally
got, and managed to stay in front of,
Reid and Neill (on the sixth day), only
a crash or catastrophic car failure
was going to change the result on the
seventh.
The Evans/Williams Escort led home
Reid and Neill by under a minute, with
the first local duo home, Allan Dippie
and Paul Coghill from Wanaka, 10
minutes back in Dippie’s Porsche 911S.
The Porsche 911s of Dippie and
Coghill, and Hamilton father and
son Stuart and Brad McFarlane (who
Stewart Reid, Ford Escort
56 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

finished sixth), were the
exceptions that proved the
rule in this year’s event,
dominated numerically
and on the road by Mk 2
Ford Escort RS1800s
Brit pair Phil Squires and
Nigel Hutchinson were
fourth, Aussie husbandand-wife
duo Keith and
Mary-Anne Callinan fifth
(after losing out in a fight
for third with the Dippie/
Coghill Porsche when a
ball joint broke on the final
day), and Brent Rawstron
and co-driver Ian McKee
seventh.
Quick, but out of overall
contention, were former
national champion Brian
Stokes and co-driving wife
Anne, who ended up 13 th
overall after a couple of
off-road excursions, and
2014 event winner, Vince
Bristow and co-driver
Tim Sayer, who finished
17 th after a combination
of mechanical issues and
(spectacular!) trips off the
road.
No-one finishes an event
as long and arduous as the
Silver Fern without some
sort of heart-stopping
moment (or two), and for
Derek Ayson and Gavin
McDermott theirs came
on the final day when a
rose joint in the car’s rear
suspension cried enough,
forcing them to slow down
for two stages before they
could replace it at the
lunchtime service.
Once the rose joint
and a wheel stud were
replaced, they were back
on the front-running pace,
however, to claim line and
class honours, just over
half-an-hour up on the
BMW of Ed Mulligan and
Tony Brandon, and almost
three-quarters-of-an-hour
ahead of the Mk 2 Escort
of Dunedin duo Brodie
Anderson and Brad Lyon.
2016 Silver Fern Rally -
Final classification
Historic
1. Meirion Evans/Iestyn
Williams (Ford Escort Mk2
RS1800) 9:48:03.4
2. Stewart Reid/Dave Neill
(Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800)
9:48:49.2 +0:45.8
3. Allan Dippie/Paul Coghill
(Porsche 911) 9:58:41.2
+10:37.8
4. Phil Squires/Nigel
Hutchinson (Ford Escort
Mk2 RS1800) 10:02:01.6
+13:58.2
5. Keith & Mary-Anne
Callinan (Ford Escort
Mk2 RS1800) 10:07:25.8
+19:22.4
Challenge
1. Derek Ayson/Gavin
McDermott (Ford Escort)
9:44:09.7
2. Ed Mulligan/Tony
Brandon (BMW E30 325i)
10:18:03.7 +33:54.0
3. Brodie Anderson/Brad
Lyons (Ford Escort Mk2)
10:26:12.6 +42:02.9
4. Darryl Campbell/Phil
Walker (Toyota Altezza)
10:32:13.1 +48:03.4
5. Charlie Evans/Sue
O’Neill (Honda Civic 1800)
10:32:59.0 +48:49.3
Craig Salter, Ford Escort Mk1
Keith Callinan, Ford Escort RS1800
Dennis Green
(BMW) passes
James Shand
(Escort).
John Spencer was spectacular
in his Datsun 1600, but things
didn’t always go his way (right).
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 57

REPORT: NSW RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
QUINN CROWNED
NSW CHAMPION
PHOTOS: PETER WHITTEN
Nathan Quinn has taken out the
Gary’s Motorsport Tyres NSW
Rally Championship, following
his win in the final round at Rally
Australia.
For the second consecutive
year, Quinn has narrowly won the
championship over Peter Roberts, who
finished the event in third place.
The duo were trading times at each
event throughout the year in a tightly
fought battle.
The final round of the championship
saw Roberts hampered by dust early in
the first pass of the 50km Nambucca
stage, giving Quinn a 49 second lead,
which he went on to extend to 1 minute
18 seconds by the end of the day.
With Adrian Coppin finishing second
in the NSWRC field, Roberts collected 36
points from the event, Quinn 40, giving
the Coffs Harbour local the title.
Peter Roberts’ co-driver, Andrew
Crowley, scooped enough points on
the day to give him the title of first
outright co-driver in the championship.
Suffering from heatstroke during
the event, Crowley’s efforts to guide
Roberts through the challenging stages
were commendable, and the title is a
fitting result.
Competing in a Citroen DS3, Tony
Sullens and Kaylie Newell finished the
event in third place, elevating Sullens to
third outright in the championship.
Heading into the final round at
Coffs Harbour, Tim Wilkins led the
pointscores, with Tom Clarke narrowly
behind. A broken gearbox towards the
end of the first stage put to bed any
of Wilkins’ hopes of a podium finish,
unfortunate after a near-flawless year
competing in his Nissan S15 Silvia.
Clarke was driving to impress at the
58 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016
event, but was unable to catch the Evos
of Quinn and Roberts, and had to settle
for seventh place in the rally.
Tom Dermody and Eoin Moynihan
in the red Escort once again took out
the Pocket-Rocket class, and Moynihan
finished the year with enough points to
see him finish third overall co-driver.
Rally Australia was included in the
2016 Gary’s Motorsport Tyres NSW
Rally Championship following a lengthy
collaboration between the NSW Rally
Panel and the event organisers.
The NSWRC
component of the
event was designed
to provide statelevel
competitors
an opportunity to
compete at the
most prestigious
and exciting event
on the Australian
rally calendar,
without the typical
time and cost
commitments
required by such an
event.
The NSWRC was
conducted over
the six Saturday
stages of Rally
Australia only,
giving crews 130
tough, competitive
kilometres.
Competitor
feedback from the
event has been
extremely positive,
and the event will
remain on the NSW
rally calendar for
2017.
Information on the presentation for
the NSW Rally Championship will be
released shortly on www.rallynsw.com.
au
The 2016 pointscores have
been finalised, and the outright
championship winners are:
Driver
Co-driver
1st Nathan Quinn Andrew Crowley
2nd Peter Roberts Katie Fletcher
3rd Tony Sullens Eoin Moynihan
Nathan Quinn, Tom Dermody
and Tony Sullens in action at
Rally Australia.

REPORT: SOUTHERN CROSS RALLY
MORE ‘CROSS MEMORIES MADE
The Historic Rally Association
added another iconic event to its
portfolio of revived classics when
it ran the Southern Cross Gold Anniversary
Rally in November.
The club has previously revived
the classic BP Rally of South Eastern
Australia and the Alpine Rally that dates
back to 1922.
The 3000km Southern Cross event,
run to celebrate the 50 th anniversary
of the inaugural ‘Cross in 1966, started
in Albury on Tuesday, November 8
with a welcome BBQ function at Lake
Hume Resort, attended by special guest
George Fury (pictured right), winner
of the 1978 and 1979 Southern Cross
events.
The course for the first half of the
event generally followed the route
of the 1966 event south through
Mansfield, Pakenham and Sale, then
north over the scenic and challenging
Barry Way along the Snowy River to
Jindabyne, Cooma and Canberra to
Sydney.
Sadly Ian Reddiex and Mike Mitchell,
all the way from Queensland, had an
engine failure in their highly favoured
Datsun 1600 before the start, and
took no part in the rally. Apart from
this, reliability among the field was
pleasingly high.
Fittingly, the first touring stage of
the event followed one of the sections
of the notorious 1966 Bethanga
Stampede, where four competitive
loops were run into and out of
the tiny town in an atmosphere of
absolute pandemonium. The locals still
remember it.
The rally was run as a Touring Road
Event, which allowed vehicles not fitted
with roll over protection to compete,
lowering costs for competitors.
Competition included several timed
sections each day, mixing closed road
forest sections, autocross tracks, hill
climbs and other venues with touring
stages along the original Southern
Cross route. To reflect the retrospective
By BOB WATSON
nature of the event a night navigation
stage was held in the Mullungdung
forest south of Sale.
A dinner was held in Sydney to
farewell Albury to Sydney sector
competitors and welcome those
competing from Sydney to Coffs
Harbour. Highlight of the evening was
a live TV cross to six times Southern
Cross Rally winner, Andrew Cowan, who
chatted with former team mates Dave
Johnson, Barry Ferguson, Bob Riley and
John Bryson about Southern Cross days
(pictured below left).
Commentator Will Hagon gave
an excellent retrospective of the
significance of the original Southern
Cross events, which placed Australia
firmly on the international rally scene.
Winners of the Albury to Sydney
sector were Steve Blair and Dave
Johnson in the ex-Shekhar Mehta
Datsun PB210 from the 1977 ‘Cross.
From Sydney the rally headed
north to Coffs Harbour via Taree, Port
Macquarie and Kempsey, to join in the
activities of Rally Australia, the final
round of the World Rally Championship.
Another night navigation stage was
thrown in near Kempsey, and the route
followed many of the famous Southern
Cross roads of the 1970s. The event
gave a true taste of what the original
events were like.
The Southern Cross cars took part
in WRC forest stages at Lower Bucca
and the WRC Super Special stages at
Coffs Harbour and Raleigh Raceway.
Iconic venues such as the site of South
Australian Tom Barr-Smith’s hair raising
high speed crossing of the Pacific
Highway, the Taylor’s Arm Hotel (Slim
Dusty’s ‘pub with no beer’) and the
Gordonville ford near Bellingen were
included in the route.
Winners of the Sydney to Coffs
Harbour segment were Mark Pickering
and Dave Boddy in Mark’s Peking to
Paris Rally winning Datsun 240Z. The
sound of this car’s engine is like a
mechanical symphony!
Overall winners in a Datsun 1600
were the experienced combination
of five times Aussie rally champ and
1980 Southern Cross winner, Ross
Dunkerton, navigated by wife Lisa, but
the win was far from easy.
Hot competition from Steve and
Benjamin Marron in a beautifully built
and driven Mitsubishi Galant, Darryn
Snooks in an immaculate George Fury
replica Datsun 710 Violet, and John
Rawson and Jenny Pollock in a very
Husband and wife teams were a feature of the
Southern Cross Gold Anniversary Rally.
rapid Datsun Stanza all took fastest
times on occasions, and in fact the
Marrons scored more fastest stage
times than the winners.
Mike Batten/Steuart Snooks (Datsun
1600) and Ian and Val Swan in the much
rallied Volvo 242 kept them all honest,
and Andrew White’s beautifully restored
Volvo 122S (an original Southern Cross
Rally car) was jaw droppingly quick and
sounded magnificent.
The finale was another outstanding
dinner at the Sawtell Golf Club where
trophies were presented, tall tales told
and another brilliant live TV cross, this
time to George Fury’s navigator Monty
Suffern in Texas, was again organised
by communications guru Mike Ward.
The SCGAR was a fitting
commemoration of the first Southern
Cross Rally. The format of touring,
mixed with short, sharp speed tests and
plenty of socialising time is popular with
competitors and officials.
We look forward to the concept,
originated by Australia’s best road
finder and road director, Graham
Wallis, leading to more of such events.
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 59

RETROSPECTIVE: AUGUST 2005
History noted
We take them for granted now,
but pace notes have a unique
history that may surprise you.
By JEFF WHITTEN
It would be easy to assume that
pace notes were a relatively new
invention, particularly from the
Australian point of view.
It wasn’t all that many years ago that
pace notes were introduced after years
of using tulip instructions and route
charts and, even earlier, map-based
navigation.
However, it may come as some
surprise to realise that pace notes were
first used not by a rally driver but by a
racing
The ‘Supreme Rat Traps’
Vanguard stuck in a bog in
the 1955 Redex Trial.
The original notes were very basic, but
they did the job and set the scene for
rallying of the future.
60 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016
driver, as
far back as
1955 in the
annual Mille
Miglia race
in Sicily.
The first use of pace notes is credited
to Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson,
who used the system to win this high
speed annual event that was held on
the mountainous roads of southern
Italy.
First, a bit of background. Stirling
Moss was a well-known driver in the
Formula 1 grands prix of the 50s
and had heard about the famous
Mille Miglia (which literally means
1000 miles in Italian) race, which
had been running since 1903.
The event was more often
than not won by Italian drivers,
simply because of their intimate
knowledge of the route, which
they were able to drive whenever
they chose.
Moss was friendly with Denis
Jenkinson, a small, bearded,
gnome-like man who was editor
of the English Motor Sport
magazine. Jenkinson was no
stranger to motorsport either
– he was a former motorcycle
sidecar World Champion
passenger.
The pair had been discussing
the event and Jenkinson
mentioned to Moss that he
would like the chance to
compete in the event and beat
the locals at their own game.
Jenkinson (or ‘Jenks’ as he
was commonly known) also
mentioned his desire to an
American driver, John Fitch, a
former fighter pilot who had
driven a Nash-Healey in the
1953 Mille Miglia.
Fitch claimed that the only
way that a non-Italian could
be beaten was by applying
science to make up for the
lack of local knowledge.
Jenkinson went away and
thought about what Fitch
had said. He already had knowledge of
much of the route through his many
trips through the country chasing
motorcycle events, while Moss had
competed in the event itself four times
in a Jaguar, without success.
Although Moss had accumulated
a great deal of knowledge about
the hazards on the route – the
bumps, the blind corners, the railway
level crossings – there was still no substitute
for local knowledge.
Between them they believed that they
had a reasonable amount of knowledge
of about a quarter of the Mille Miglia
course.
Early in 1955, Moss secured a drive in
a Mercedes 300SLR for the forthcoming
event, so the pair soon got serious
about their preparation for the big
event.
They decided that route notes that
described every straight, every bend,
every geographical feature or landmark,
should be prepared.
But covering a 1000 mile route was
no mean task, so over a period of time
the pair drove the course at speed,
while Jenks took notes.
Eventually, Jenkinson had recorded
around 17 pages of detailed notes and
Moss was confident that he could take
many blind brows at 100mph, still well
below the speed that the locals drove.
With his comprehensive hand written
notes massaged into some sort of
order, the next problem was how he
was going to be able to deliver them
to Moss in an open-top sports car at
speeds of up to 170mp/h.
After much thought, Moss came
up with the idea of building a small
aluminium box to hold a continuous roll
of pace notes.
The box contained two shafts around
which the pace notes were rolled, and
there was a clear Perspex window on
the top through which the appropriate
notes could be read.
The box was sealed with adhesive

Moss and Jenkinson on
their way to victory in the
1955 Mille Miglia.
Things have changed a lot.
This is a page of Neal Bates and
Coral Taylor’s pacenotes.
tape so that rain could not get in and
obscure the penciled notes.
Jenks spent hours in his hotel rooms
over a period of weeks transcribing the
notes he had taken on the recce run
onto the continuous roll that would be
used in the event.
Finally, race day arrived and Moss
and Jenkinson rolled the big Mercedes
out in readiness for the race start at
6am.
The race attracted tens of thousands
of people as it raced through towns and
villages, up and down mountains and
through straw-baled corners.
As Moss drove his Mercedes
absolutely flat out, Jenkinson called out
instructions to his driver as he inched
the rolled notes slowly through that
famous aluminium box as each feature
along the route came and went.
Using a mixture of yelled instructions
and hand signals, they were able to
avoid crashing and keep all the other
competitors at bay.
By the time they reached the finish
later that day, the pair had beaten all
the local drivers to win the prestigious
event. Amidst all the popping
champagne corks and wild celebrations,
Moss and Jenkinson emerged as
champions, thanks not only to Moss’
superb driving, but to Jenkinson’s
painstaking preparation of his route
notes.
On Sunday, May 1, 1955, pace notes
were officially born, thanks not to a
rally crew, but to an F1 driver and a
motorcycle sidecar champion.
Truth is often stranger than fiction.
NEWS
Hayden Paddon’s new 2017 helmet design
features a striking green and gold look.
Lucky escape for Ross
Kaikoura driver, Regan Ross, had
a lucky escape during the recent
earthquakes that have devastated his
home region.
His high-revving Ford Escort RS1800
was sitting underneath the hoist
supporting brother Nigel’s Fiesta ST,
which thankfully stayed in place.
A large collapsing tool box narrowly
missed the back of the car, thanks to
the fact the car had been wriggled
forward by a couple of feet.
- BLAIR BARTELS
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 61

PHOTO OF THE MONTH
Matthew Robinson and Sam Collins tackle
Dansey’s Pass in their Fiat Abarth 131 during
the Silver Fern Rally.
Photo: John Crouch
62 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 63

NEXT MONTH IN RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE
NEXT
ISSUE
FEATURE STORY
No ordinary Gemini
✸ Full Monte Carlo Rally preview ... who wins?
✸ Where are they now: Adrian Morrisby
✸ Interview: Dale Moscatt
✸ We look at 2016’s state champions
✸ And much, much more!
AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 2
BUY NOW: 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.
l Exclusive to RallySport Magazine
l Order now for the 2017 season
Click here to order your copies
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64 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016