A record number of current specification rally cars will face the starter at the opening round of the Australian Rally Championship next week.
The National Capital Rally is the start of the seven-round series and will feature nine R5 or AP4 cars and the cream of Australia’s current rally stars.
Along with the factory Toyota GR Yaris AP4s of brothers Harry and Lewis Bates, and the much-published entry of Shane van Gisbergen in a Skoda Fabia R5, the entry list has just got a whole lot healthier.
Hyundai Australia have announced their entry into the Australian series with an i20 R5 to be driven by the vastly experienced Brendan Reeves.
This is the car that Hayden Paddon drove in Victoria’s Eureka Rally in 2019, where he was blitzing the field before he broke the car’s steering mid-way through the rally.
Reeves is no stranger to the ARC, having won two rounds in a Subaru in 2016, and has competed extensively in New Zealand, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.
“Hyundai N’s new brand line is ‘Let’s Play’ and I can fully relate to that! I’m looking forward to driving the i20 N R5 and I’m confident we have the right ingredients in place to challenge at the front,” Reeves said.
Two former Australian champions will also spice up the running of the two day rally.
For the first time since 2018, four-time winner Eli Evans returns to the ARC in his Mini Cooper AP4, a car that was initially built in New Zealand by the Force Motorsport crew.
Evans has done extensive development on the car over recent months, and is confident that the once overheating and overweight Mini will be on the pace.
The other ex-champ is Nathan Quinn – another NZ regular – who has got his hands on a G4-spec Hyundai i20 from JJ Hatton for his assault on the championship.
The car sports a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution engine and transmission, and while Quinn is still in the early development stages, he’s another who can’t be discounted.
Ford Fiesta R5s are in the hands of Luke Anear and Tom Clarke, Richie Dalton and Peter Dimmock have ex-works Yaris AP4s, while young gun Arron Windus will make his step up to the big time in a new Ford Fiesta.
Unlike the R5 cars or other existing G4 cars, Windus’ new steed has full Subaru WRX running gear, but with improved suspension, a shorter wheelbase and in a much lighter package than what he has been used to in the past.
Another former champion, Scott Pedder, also returns to the sport in the Renault Clio that took him to the title in 2014. Backed by the family suspension business, this will be Pedder’s first real foray back into rallying since his WRC2 program in 2016.
The 32 entries in the ARC component of the National Capital Rally may be a long way from a record, but the quality is greater than that seen in any national round for many years.
Under an energetic manager in Adrian Coppin, the series is making huge strides forward as it attempts to return the halcyon days of the 1990s and 2000s when Subaru, Toyota and Mitsubishi spent big bucks on gravel glory.
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