|
|
Subaru
Rally of Canberra, Asia Pacific Rally:
Mar 11-12, 2006 |
|
RALLY
PROGRESS
- Toyota's hometown
hero Neal Bates today claimed his first round win in the NEC Computers
Australian Rally Championship since 2001, courtesy of a second placing
in Leg Two of the Subaru Capital Rally in Canberra. In the outright
Asia-Pacific category Cody Crocker romped to an easy victory, his third
on the event in the past four years ahead of former Subaru team mate
Dean Herridge.
- Bates finished
runner up in today's leg to Toyota team mate Simon Evans, but the combined
points from yesterday's first leg meant Bates clinched the all-important
round win.
- "I'm very
happy. it's been a very tough event, and I wouldn't say that I was being
cautious but I tried to be reasonably easy on the car and this time
it's paid dividends," smiled Bates. "It's been a few years
since my last round win, and it was 1997 since I last won my home event
here in Canberra, so it's about time!”
- "It's been
a lot of hard work developing the Group N (P) car and all the credit
has to go to the team, because now we're in a position to fight for
the lead," added Bates.
- Bates and Evans
continued a thrilling see-saw battle right up until the finish line,
but it was Evans who scored the win in today's leg and second overall
for the weekend. After 8 stages and almost 100 kilometres of rallying
on Canberra's rough and dusty roads the pair were separated by just
2.8 seconds.
- Pirtek Ford Rally's
Michael Guest retired from the event on the first stage with a recurrence
of Saturday's diff mount problem, leaving Team Mitsubishi Ralliart's
Scott Pedder to challenge the Toyota duo.
- Pedder claimed
the day's first two stage wins and held an early lead from Bates, but
it was short lived when he hit a rock and punctured a tyre, his second
puncture for the weekend.
- On the long 20-kilometre
Poppets stage Pedder lost 30 seconds to the leaders while trying to
finish the remaining 5 kilometres with a disintegrated tyre, but he
and co-driver Glen Weston pushed on but were unable to overhaul Dean
Herridge, who despite being entered in the APRC category is also contesting
the ARC, the Subaru driver picking up the last Capital Rally podium
position alongside Bates and Evans.
- Privateer Martin
Lintott held off Will Orders to claim fourth outright in the Capital
Rally section, but Orders took outright honours in the BP Ultimate Challenge
section ahead of fast charging Victorian Jesse Robison.
- It was a reversal
of fortunes for two of the sports top privateers. Jack Monkhouse was
forced to retire after the first stage with mechanical failure, while
Darren Windus made up for yesterday's DNF with a solid 4th place finish
in today's final leg of the APRC.
- Dean Herridge claimed
top privateer points in the NEC Computers ARC courtesy of his second
placing in the Asia-Pacific Rally of Canberra event.
- Herridge's former
Subaru team mate Crocker won the International Subaru Rally of Canberra
event by over one minute, and scored maximum points in the Asia-Pacific
Rally Championship. Crocker's new team mate Eli Evans claimed the runner
up spot in the APRC points followed by Japan's Hiroshi Yanagisawa.
- Finland's Jarkko
Miettinen was the only retirement from the International field. (ARC)
MITSUBISHI
REPORT: RALLIART'S EVO IX FINISHES DEBUT RALLY, NARROWLY MISSING PODIUM
- Team Mitsubishi
Ralliart has achieved its primary aim with the debut of its first Evolution
IX Lancer by finishing the season-opening Capital Rally in Canberra.
Driver Scott Pedder and co-driver Glen Weston narrowly missed a podium
after front-tyre punctures in both heats and a spin at the first corner
of the final stage after what Pedder called "a funny noise on the
start line" cost them crucial time.
However, the Evo IX won the most stages of any car in the rally - seven.
It finished in the top three on six of the other nine stages.
Pedder said the Lancer had been "fantastic - very, very good".
It was only completed a week earlier at Team Mitsubishi Ralliart's Dandenong
headquarters in Melbourne and its only pre-season test was last Tuesday,
followed by a few short sprints at Friday's shakedown for the Canberra
event.
A front right tyre punctured on Saturday's second stage, while the front
left punctured on Sunday's third stage.
"We were about 5km before the finish of a long stage (the 20.42km
Poppets) in the second heat and there was a rock right on the left side
of the racing line," Pedder said. "The wheel hit it and the
tyre disintegrated. We probably lost about 30 seconds driving on the
flat."
Saturday's puncture on the 10km Mineshaft stage cost them more than
a minute.
The time lost left Pedder and Weston fourth overall for the weekend,
behind the Toyotas of Neal Bates-Coral Taylor and Simon and Sue Evans
as well as the Subaru of Dean Herridge and Bill Hayes, which was entered
in the Asia-Pacific championship section but remained eligible for ARC
classification.
HEAT
1, MAR 11, 2006
MITSUBISHI RALLIART
EVO IX WINS MOST STAGES
- Team Mitsubishi
Ralliart’s new Evolution IX Lancer rally car has proven itself
fast in winning the most stages in the opening heat of the NEC Computers
Australian Rally Championship. However,
driver Scott Pedder and his co-driver Glen Weston had to settle for
second place in the first heat of Canberra’s Capital Rally and
were somewhat lucky not to have been classified third.
- Giving the all-wheel-drive,
turbocharged Evolution IX – with its new MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative
Valve timing Electronic lift and Control) engine – its debut,
Pedder and Weston won five of the day’s eight stages and finished
second in two others. The
loss of more than a minute after a puncture on the second stage of the
day put them out of contention for victory in the heat early in the
day.
- Another eight stages
in Sunday’s second heat will give them another chance to beat
the Toyota Corollas of Neal Bates-Coral Taylor and Simon and Sue Evans.
- Bates-Taylor won
the opening heat by 36.9 seconds from Pedder and Weston, while the Evans’
were third, 1 minute 26 seconds adrift of the winning Toyota but having
been penalised 80 seconds for leaving service late after attention to
an engine problem.
- The Mitsubishi
pair won all three of the day’s stages longer than 20km, as well
as the two short sprints over the 8.86km Toolbox stage. The
Evo IX was only completed eight days ago at Team Mitsubishi Ralliart’s
Dandenong headquarters in Melbourne and its only pre-season test was
last Tuesday, followed by a few short sprints at Friday’s shakedown
for the Canberra event.
- Pedder and Weston
were helped in the first heat by choosing a super-soft Pirelli tyre
compound for the Lancer. Pedder reported to Team Mitsubishi Ralliart
principal Alan Heaphy that he was “very happy, very comfortable
– the car is very good to drive”.
- The Capital Rally
is the opening round of the ARC and is being run in conjunction with
the Rally of Canberra, the first round of the Asia-Pacific championship.
- Reigning Australian
champion Cody Crocker has switched to the Asia-Pacific series and is
leading that category in a Subaru with a cumulative time for Saturday
that was 12.6 seconds quicker than Bates. Dean Herridge’s Asia-Pacific
time in another Subaru would have left him third in the ARC classifications
and would have pushed Pedder and Weston back to fourth.
RALLY
PREVIEW
FORD (MAR
2006)
- Ford's entry in
the 2006 Australian Rally Championship will officially be known as Pirtek
Rally Team Ford. The three-year partnership was announced today ahead
of this week's opening round of the Australian Rally Championship, the
Rally of Canberra.
After a 25-year absence, 2006 marks the return of Ford to what is regarded
as one of the leading domestic championships anywhere in the world.
- For Pirtek, the
Australian Rally Championship may be a new venture, but its association
with the Ford Racing program dates back to 1998 when it first joined
Stone Brothers Racing.
- Ford will contest
the 2006 Australian Rally Championship with a Ford Focus built to Group
N (P) regulations. Behind the wheel will be multiple champion Michael
Guest, with the vastly experience Mark Stacey in the co-driver's seat.
- A full factory
operation, Pirtek Rally Team Ford will be run from its own workshop
within Ford Australia's Broadmeadows Manufacturing precinct.
- "Pirtek has
been a great friend of ours for a number of years, now it's great to
have a true partnership in a program that we are both excited about,"
said Ford Racing Manager Ray Price. "Our goal is to ultimately
enjoy the same success with Focus in the Australian Rally Championship
as we have with Falcon in V8 Supercars.”
- "Although
this will be our first foray into Australian rallying for some time,
we expect that the experience of the people involved in the rally program
will ensure we are competitive throughout this season."
- Pirtek is the market
leader in providing its diverse group of customers with a comprehensive
portfolio of fluid transfer solution products and services. "For
Pirtek the opportunity to get involved with a brand new and very professional
program like this has us all very excited," said Managing Director
of Pirtek, Glenn Duncan.
- "Our philosophy
of supporting organisations and individuals in their infancy has paid
off over the years for both parties. With Pirtek Rally Team Ford we
are confident of another success story.”
- "Racing has
provided Pirtek with many highlights over the years and our partnership
with Ford in the rally arena is sure to see that list grow. The great
thing with rallying is that it gets our name to not only a new audience,
it also provides our franchisee network with further opportunities to
promote themselves through this spectacular form of motor sport."
- The Focus is rear-wheel-drive
with a 2.3 litre normally aspirated (non-turbo charged) in-line, 4-cylinder,
16-valve, twin-cam Duratec engine. Drive is delivered through a six-speed
sequential transmission.
After numerous test sessions leading into the 2006 season, Michael Guest
is confident of good performances throughout the year.
- "The Pirtek
Rally Team Ford Focus will be spectacular," said Guest. "An
enormous amount of work has gone into the program and I'm sure the outcome
will be very positive for everyone involved, including Pirtek and Ford.”
- "I've had
the opportunity to spend some time with Pirtek and the most pleasing
thing is that we are all sharing the same amount of enthusiasm for the
year ahead. Likewise I've seen the enthusiasm within not only the rally
community, but also the wider sporting community about Ford's return.
From all accounts we have already started the season on the right note."
MITSUBISHI
(MAR 7, 2006)
-
MITSUBISHI RALLIART’S
EVOLUTION IX LANCER SET
FOR COMPETITION DEBUT IN NATIONAL CAPITAL
- Team Mitsubishi
Ralliart’s first Evolution IX Lancer will make its debut at this
weekend’s Rally of Canberra.
- Driver Scott Pedder
wants to win the season-opening rally but he and Team Mitsubishi Ralliart
principal Alan Heaphy are intent first and foremost on getting the brand
new Evo IX to the finish.
- Construction of
the all-wheel-drive, turbocharged Lancer was only finished last Friday
at TMR’s Dandenong headquarters in Melbourne and it is having
its only pre-season test near Canberra today.
- The car has the
new 2-litre MIVEC - Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic lift
and Control – engine.
- However, it will
not have the new brake package homologated by the world governing body
of motor sport, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile
(FIA) - with four-piston calipers front and rear and bigger disks –
for Canberra.
- Heaphy said TMR
had made some suspension improvements to the Evo IX but it would run
on last year’s Pirelli tyres at this first event in the national
capital.
- “The car
is pretty much as it came out of the box,” Heaphy said.
- “The dynamometer
tests we did last week showed that the MIVEC engine was a little more
powerful than what we had in the Evo VIII last season, but it’s
early days with that yet.
- “We’re
doing everything we can to ensure that our preparation of the car is
to the absolute highest standard, but it would be a lot to expect that
we could win first time out with this car.
- “The vitally
important thing for Canberra is that we get the Evo IX to the finish
on Sunday afternoon.
- “Winning
championships is about accumulating points, and we want to walk away
from Canberra with Scott Pedder and his co-driver Glen Weston having
a bundle of points.
- “Finishing
is what it’s all about, to get through with the new car, and hopefully
to finish well up.”
- Mitsubishi has
a long and proud record of success in Canberra, with the legendary Ross
Dunkerton giving it four outright victories and Ed Ordynski two. Dunkerton
also won the national rally in Canberra in 2004 in the all-wheel-drive
Mitsubishi Magna VR-X in which he and TMR went on to win the Australia
Cup.
- Announcing TMR’s
2006 rally program recently, Mitsubishi Motors President and CEO Robert
McEniry said motorsport was at the heart of the marque’s brand
values.
- “I certainly
believe that success in motorsport translates into success in the showroom,”
Mr McEniry said.
- Apart from the
Australian Rally Championship on gravel, TMR will enter another Evolution
IX Lancer in tarmac events such as Targa Tasmania in late April and
Targa West in early September, to be driven by Sydney pair Warwick Rooklyn
and Linda Long.
- Scott Pedder has
excellent form on the gravel in Canberra, with second places as a Mitsubishi
privateer in 2002 and 2003 in an Evo VI Lancer and sixth place last
year on debut with TMR and the Evo VIII after two flat tyres on the
first day from hitting rocks.
- Pedder, of Melbourne,
and endodontist – or root canal specialist – Weston, of
Brisbane, won the South Australian round of the championship in 2005,
finished runner-up in the Tasmanian round, and in the top three in seven
of the season’s 12 heats.
- Pedder was second
in the drivers’ championship until an unfortunate crash in the
first heat of the final round at Bathurst, NSW, saw him finish fourth
in the most competitive Group N (showroom production) rally championship
in the world.
- Toyota is expected
to be TMR’s main rival in the ARC this year with its Corolla prototypes,
while Ford is entering the championship with its Focus. Subaru is not
fielding a factory team in the GARC and its reigning national champion
Cody Crocker has joined an Australian-run satellite team that is contesting
the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship.
- Canberra has long
been a round of the Asia-Pacific series and competitors in that championship
are scheduled to drive one more stage this weekend than ARC drivers,
who face 16 stages and 220 competitive kilometres in the two-day event.
- Pedder and Weston
are seeded third, behind the Toyota pairings – Simon and Sue Evans
and Neal Bates and Coral Taylor.
- “Time in
the seat is going to be invaluable because we haven’t had the
opportunity for a lot of testing like our main rivals,” Pedder
said.
- “Of course,
I would love to win (the ARC round), but the main aim for this year
is the drivers’ championship.
- “You don’t
have to win every rally to win the championship.
- “First of
all we want to finish as many heats as possible.
- “If we do
that we should be in with a good chance.
- “Canberra
is one of my favourite events in the championship.
- “The roads
are very challenging. They are tight and twisty … very technical
and requiring precise lines.
- “There are
some very special stages - especially Mineshaft, which can make or break
you.
- “You can
make a lot of time on a stage like that, or lose a lot of time.
- “It is a
little disappointing to see a couple of the traditional stages gone
this year, but it’s still a great course. It’s a rally that
really rewards commitment.
- “The roads
won’t be as dusty as they have been the past couple of years because
there has been some rain leading into the event this year.”
- While Pedder and
Weston did not have the opportunity for off-season testing they kept
in close contact and are confident they can make further progress together
this season.
- “Glen is
a fantastic co-driver – a benchmark of professionalism,”
Pedder said.
- “He’s
very precise and very organised, which I believe are the main attributes
a co-driver needs.
- “He’s
also very experienced and passionate. He just lives for it.
- “We’re
both very hungry for success.
- “Last year
was a great learning year for us. This season we want to be more consistent
and maximise our performance - and that of the Evo IX.
- “It’s
exciting to be stepping into the Evo IX, and one of the big things I
learned last year was that TMR’s standards of preparation are
absolutely first-class, so it is going to be up to Glen and I to make
the most of the car we have.
- “We gelled
very well in our first season together and we can only get stronger,
and to have an Evo IX and the professionalism of TMR around us gives
us great confidence.” (Geoff Harris)
|
Advertising
Enquiry
|
