While some of Australia’s best rally drivers, including the reigning national champion, have crossed the Tasman in search of greener pastures in 2018, those still holding onto national pride head to Tasmania this weekend for the fourth round of the Aussie rally series.
In a brand new event – the Australian Rally Championship hasn’t headed to Tasmania for over 10 years – it’s shaping up to be primarily a two-way fight between series leader Eli Evans and the up-and-coming Harry Bates
New Zealand’s national series has been dominated by the new breed of AP4 cars in recent times, and after the first event this year, it looked like things were following suit in Australia.
Harry Bates’ factory-supported Toyota Yaris AP4 took an early win, but with his own AP4 Mini Cooper floundering, three-time champion Eli Evans decided to take things into his own hands.
With the Mini struggling for speed and reliability, the Victorian leased an ex-Team MRF Skoda Fabia R5 for rounds two and three, and proceeded to win at a canter.
It clearly showed – as many had already predicted – that a well driven R5 machine still had the measure of a home-built AP4 ….. at least when Hayden Paddon is not around!
This takes nothing away from Bates, whose team are still developing the Yaris after a lengthy breaking-in period, but the ease at which Evans was able to quickly set rally-winning stage times shows just how good the R5 machines actually are.
The Australian championship is clearly not in the same health as the NZRC, and while things are definitely on the up and the competition is getting better, the divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” is still creating lots of spirited debate.
Steve Glenney’s heavily funded Production Rally Car-spec Subaru is currently the ‘best of the rest’ outside the small number of R5 and AP4 cars, but some Australian privateers are calling for more freedoms in the regulations to enable them to at least compete on “somewhat” equal terms as their rivals.
“R5 and AP4 cars are great for the championship spectacle, but it makes it a closed battle for only a few competitors,” former ARC event winner, Glen Raymond, said this week.
“Allowing freedoms for PRC cars may open it up, allowing more competitors the chance of winning, and also increasing interest.”
Others are simply saying Australia needs to copy what the New Zealand Rally Championship is doing, as it’s clearly working here.
A quick scan of recent entry lists proves the point.
The last round of the NZRC, the Rally of South Canterbury, received a total number of 97 entries. In contrast, this weekend’s Rally Tasmania has a field of 35 competitors – only 14 of which are entered in the ARC.
The Australian Rally Championship PR team will tell you that everything’s rosy and the series is in good health.
From these numbers, you’d suggest that’s not the case.
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