Christchurch rally driver Dylan Thomson along with co-driver Amy Hudson are making their mark on the 2019 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship. Currently third overall after four rounds, they are not only debuting a new Subaru WRX STi but it is their first time in the top 4wd category.
Part of their success is a unique relationship with Christchurch rallysport business, Specialised Auto Services (SAS). They’ve been around for three and a half years and are serious about one thing and that is rallying. Servicing, building and running rally cars.
Before that it was a hobby but then Jason Anderson and Richard Baddock decided to ‘just do it’, so that they could go rallying. Jason explains….
“A few years ago we thought we would just do this so we could go rallying. It was mainly for our car and then helping our mates out.
“Then we were starting to get busier so we decided to do more and more and today we are looking after a number of cars.
“Dylan (Thomson) approached us wanting to buy the car he is currently driving.
“At the time it was a very partly-completed car that was standard (road car) with a half-(roll) cage in it. He was going to finish the cage and put it together to a Group N specification.
“We had a chat with him and it reminded us of where we were when we started out and we kind of new that if he had a car like that he never would be competitive in Cat 1 where he wanted to compete.
“Richard and I came to the conclusion that we would finish building the car and give it to Dylan to race with. It would be a tool for us as a show piece for our company and to help Dylan out who is a very good driver.”
The car was debuted by Thomson and Hudson at Rally Otago in April where they finished 11th in the NZ Rally Championship classification.
The International Rally of Whangarei followed with an improvement to fifth followed by sixth at the Canterbury Rally earlier in June. Fourth at the South Canterbury Rally last weekend has now moved them up to third overall on the NZRC points table. An impressive result for a new car!
“So far we are really impressed with how it has gone,” commented Anderson.
“Dylan’s very very good at the car preparation. We are all there til late at night and we do everything methodically.
“He’s always there well before an event. He knows the car inside out and knows what is going on and can let us know what to do at service.
“He’s a smooth driver first, learning to become faster. There are a lot of drivers’ out there who are fast but not smooth and you just end up in a mess.
“So the aim this year is to finish and achieve some top ten results. We are already there at the halfway point in the season. Anything above that is a bonus. They are not far away from getting a podium.”
While the emphasis by top competitors has been on competing in the new AP4 category car, is this ‘older’ Subaru the car capable of beating the AP4s?
“Once it has been developed, yes,” said Anderson! “There’s no reason why it cannot be as competitive. It has all of the good bits in it – gearbox, suspension, engine.
“It is just above minimum weight, everything is what it should be and so will be competitive.
“Everyone is pushing for AP4 cars which are brilliant. It’s just we couldn’t afford one and we are mainly Subaru based. A lot of our geometry is close to the AP4 as we can get it without modifying it too much. Keeping to standard components keeps reliability, which is important.
“Most of these (cars) that were rallied were modified Group N cars. we have started from the ground up that I think gives us an advantage.
“That’s why we did this car. If someone comes along and says I want to do that then we can build and or service their car.”
Keep watching this team and Thomson and Hudson’s results and let’s not be surprised when the podiums start coming.
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