There was never any doubt that Shane van Gisbergen was going to be fast on his Australian Rally Championship debut. But THIS fast?
I’ll put up my hand and admit that his second outright on debut in the ARC was far better than I thought he’d achieve. In fact, my pre-event predictions didn’t have him in the top five.
That’s not to say that I didn’t rate his chances. Far from it.
It’s just that I thought that two days of hard-fought rallying on some of Australia’s toughest and roughest stages would take their toll.
That SVG was not only able to master the conditions and his new Skoda Fabia R5 was one thing. Coming to grips with pace notes so quickly and driving an error free rally was quite another.
His co-driver, former Australian champ Glen Weston, admitted that van Gisbergen had done an incredible amount of study in the lead up to the National Capital Rally in Canberra. He’d been glued to the onboard videos provided to crews prior to the rally, ensuring he was up to speed.
Yet even Weston was surprised at his driver’s consistency. Sixteen stages of essentially blind roads over two days, with a co-driver chirping in your ear the whole time, is not someone the Supercars champion is used to.
Not unexpectedly, van Gisbergen got faster as the rally went on, and he won two stages on the final day, including the final Power
Rally winner, Harry Bates, was adamant that he couldn’t have driven much faster on that final test, showing just how quickly his new rival had learnt the intricacies of the Skoda Fabia R5 and, perhaps more importantly, the control Hoosier tyres.
Of course, he’d love to do more on the gravel, but that’s not as easy as it sounds.
“I knew if we got it right we would be good. It’s special in rally when you get that harmony with your co-driver. We were going pretty good there.
“I would love to do more rallies and hopefully this weekend helped.”
Unfortunately, despite being second in the championship, the next round in Western Australia clashes with a Supercars round, so it may be some time before we see the popular Kiwi back in the ARC.
Still, the seed has been sewn, and we’re likely to see him back sooner rather than later, including in September’s Rally New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Harry Bates’ victory over van Gisbergen and the Hyundai i20 R5 of Brendan Reeves was his toughest win in years, and bodes well for the championship’s future.
With a brace of new cars competing, and more commercial involvement than for many years, the sport in Australia is looking up, as it is in New Zealand.
This week’s announcement that both Toyota and Ford are backing teams in the New Zealand Rally Championship is fantastic news.
The Japanese giant is backing Jack Hawkeswood in a Yaris AP4, while Ford NZ are getting behind another second generation star, Robbie Stokes, in a Ford Fiesta.
All this comes a few days after Skoda’s announcement that they will be supporting Ben Hunt in a Fabia R5.
Hyundai may still be holding the cards with Hayden Paddon in their pack, but the competition at this weekend’s Otago Rally is likely to be hotter than we’ve seen for a long, long time.
It’s the start of what will be a white-knuckle ride right through to season’s end.
Sit back and enjoy the ride.
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