What’s your name? Where are you located? What do you do for a living?
Drew McPhee from Sydney, Australia. I’m a software developer. It’s not very exciting.

What got you interested in rally?
Pretty much born into it, my father Ian McPhee used to rally a Renault R8 Gordini in the 60’s and 70’s. When I was young we used to go to Port Macquarie every year to follow the famous Southern Cross Rally So from a very young age I watched and admired the super human skills of internationally renowned drivers like Rauno Aaltonen, Timo Makinen, Andrew Cowan and many more, as well as Australia’s rally stars of yester year like Greg Carr, Colin Bond, Ross Dunkerton and George Fury. My mother also raced formula V (formula fords with Volkswagen engines) in the 70’s so racing is really in my blood and it’s impossible to get out.

Then in 1988 my father decided to get back into rally driving and all his years of training me to read maps and generally develop my sense of direction were put to good use as I navigated (or co-drove) for him for the next 10 years till 1998. We started off in a LA Lancer coupe, and then moved to a JA Starion which we converted from a Group 2E Production race car, which was driven by Kevin Bartlet. That car had some very nice ex works bits, including a very rare X-Trac straight cut close ratio gearbox. Then Dad brought Bruce Robinsons ST185 Toyota GT4 and we started doing some east coast rounds in the 1993, 1994 and 1995 Australian Rally Championship’s including Coffs Harbor, Wagga Wagga and the Essanda Rally of Canberra, which was a round in the APRC as well.

My dad got a bit fed up of the running costs of the 4wd, and having kept the gearbox from the Starion, decided to put it to good use and build another RWD rally car. The brand, Mitsubishi of course!  Series 5 Galants were known as Sigma’s in Australia (unfortunately); they are big and heavy but are strong and available, and have the 4g54 as stock. I found an engine from a midget sprint car that pushed out nearly 300hp normally aspirated and we mated it to the X-Trac gearbox. The result was a tire shredding rally weapon that Dad loved driving until his health deteriorated and he had to give up rallying. That’s when I decided it was time to start driving in 1999, something I always wanted to do but was never in the financial position to do so. The decision on what rally car was not hard. My dad has instilled a lot of brand loyalty into me.

Tell us about your rally car’s. How long have you had your current car?
I have rallied Mitsubishi Galants exclusively since I started driving. I started in a GA Galant, which just so happened to have a Starion 4g63b Turbo engine fitted with a Starion 5 speed. I did my first rally in very torrential rain with this engine which was very interesting at times and my Dad, who was navigating and I are lucky to still be here having almost put the car down the side of a mountain, but finished an encouraging 17th outright. The turbo engine was not legal in our regulations at the time, and I had stored the colt speed engine from my Dad’s LA Lancer, so I put that in and did a few years of learning with a 1700 4g32. Much safer way to get used to driving on dirt and you can learn a lot driving a small capacity engine quickly.

Pretty soon I felt like we were at walking speed, so I had a 4g52 built up to 2.2 liter and dropped that into the GA Galant. It made good power and made the Galant a real treat to drive. However eventually the rear suspension ripped out of the car from fatigue, so I built my 2nd Galant rally car, a GE (aka sigma). Most of Dad’s car had been sold off, so it took some time for me to get all the bits together to make it a competitive car. I did manage to get a few bits off his car which really helped. We rallied that for nearly 8 years without any major issues, but the engine was starting getting tired. It was either dump even more money into it, or go in a new direction…

Did you buy your rally car or build it?
Whilst I was researching fitting a VR4 engine to the Blue Galant/Sigma, an e38a VR4 RS rally car came up for sale and I decided to defect to the dark side of rallying, 4wd turbos. I had done my time in RWD and it was time to move up. It was pretty cheap, and it had some history; it had been a rally car since it was purchased new in 1989, 21 years ago! No doubt it had won a rally or two in its day, but now the rules for old 4wd turbos have been freed up a bit, some more modern parts can be fitted.

It has a lot of Evo 3 bits which makes it stronger and faster, but transmission wise its pretty stock. The car is an RS so it has the goodies like close ratio gearbox, viscous centre and rear diff, and of course a much lighter body shell. An Autronic SM4 makes the ex ralliart evo3 td05-16g really work nicely all the way up to 2 bar of boost! I have detuned it for reliability, 2 bar is awesome but with the gvr4 trannies that sort of boost will not last long.

What challenges did this cause? What benefits did you realize as a result?
The biggest thing with buying a car is, you just don’t know. It’s taken quite a bit of work to put straight all that was wrong with the car, some things I can’t put right due to the age of the car; the underside is getting very second hand. Most things were bent, suspension arms, cross members, all that sort of thing needed renewing, replacing and general maintenance. Electrics are also usually very dodgy in a cheap 2nd hand rally car which requires specialist time and money to get right. My car had burnt out wiring here and there which almost cost me the engine as the thermo fans would stop working!

I think in the long run, it’s much better and more rewarding to build your own car, but if you are not mechanically minded, or have a bad back, there is nothing wrong with buying an already prepared rally car. Just expect some things to be wrong with it.

Tell us about a time when you stuffed the rally car (or maybe had a nasty off).
I have never written off a car, touch wood. I have always driven to rallies, which might sound nuts, but it is a form of insurance. You need to drive to survive, keep it on the island and get the beast home. Having a trailer is pure luxury. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to push hard… I smacked 3 trees in 1 stage once, and only had to replace 1 front guard to fix the panel damage. We have had plenty of offs over the years, but I’ve always managed to get the car back on the road and home in various shapes and mechanical conditions. Actually I have trailered the blue car home once when the brake master cylinder packed it in.

Tell us about a time when you narrowly avoided a DNF. How did you press on regardless?
The worst one was Rally of Port Macquarie 2005. We were pushing hard and on stage 5 of the rally, we went through a left hand corner fairly rapidly (80kph plus) and there was a unseen dip right in the middle of the corner. We were already sideways when we hit the dip and it kicked the car even more sideways. The nose of the car was heading straight for a 1 meter high stump which was on the side of the road past the apex of the corner. I managed to get some steer back and got the nose pointed away from the stump, but because I had full right hand lock on, the wheel was sticking out from the side of the car. The wheel hit the stump, which instantly pushed it back into the wheel arch, which in turn pushed the drag link back under the gearbox, giving the car about 40 degrees of toe out on each wheel!

We were well and truly off the road by the time I pulled it up, so I went to work on getting it fixed with the tools I had on board. By the time our service crew arrived, I had the drag link out of the car; it was the only damaged part but was bent like a banana. I went up with my service crew to the local winery which was just up the road, where they had an anvil and solid hammers. We managed to straighten the drag link enough to get it relatively straight, went back and put it in the car, and re-joined the rally having only dropped one stage!

What’s the most rewarding part of being involved in rally? The most challenging?
Any form of motorsport is expensive. There lies the challenge. There comes a time when you really have to make tough decisions, but having people around you who support you and your crazy addiction really makes it easier. As it’s a tight community, you always have friends to call on when needed, rally friendly sponsors to supply goods, services and funds, and competitors to drive you to limits and beyond. Having someone come up and ask for your autograph is also pretty cool!

How many events did you enter last year? Is that trending up or down? Why?
I can only afford to run about six rallies a year, but I also enter a few other events like auto tests – motorkhana’s and khan crosses as we know them in Australia. These can help shake the car down and keep your eye in. Rallies are the big expense; the rallies I go in are usually two day events with up to 350km competitive driving, these sorts of rallies take a lot out of you and the car. I hope to be entering more events soon as a few possible sponsors come onboard.

What kind of cash prize structure would entice you to enter more rallies or push the car harder?
Any cash prize would be awesome! In rallying, cash prizes are very rare. We usually risk it all for a little bit of plastic known as a trophy, so goodness knows how hard we would all push if cash was involved!

How important are car classes? What class/region do you race in? How many competitors in your class at each event?
Very important. I believe young drivers should never jump straight into fast rally cars. Lower classes allow you to gauge your performance, and then be recognized for them. I belong to two clubs and am involved in two different championships. One club I am in Open 4WD class, the other it’s known as P6 for older 4WD cars. My class is fairly open and I’m up against some much older and newer machinery. There are usually at least 10 to 15 cars to battle with at each event.

What do you think about recce vs pacenotes vs blind rally?
Well they both still have their place in rallying. Blind rallies are certainly the hardest. They are slower obviously as usually they are unpracticed, but stages can be re-run over the years , however you will never remember all of a forestry road, they just change so much from year to year. I usually do blind rallies. It’s very difficult at times to judge how fast to go, and pushing too hard can have grave consequences.

I have done some pacenoted events, and that is the other extreme. You know what is coming, which allows you to go faster. Going faster means if you have a moment, it will be larger than normal. Glancing off a bank in a blind rally can mean burying the strut into the firewall in a pace noted rally. Most say that pace noting is much safer, but sometimes I fail to see the logic in that argument. Either way, you need to drive to the conditions in rally.

Spectators: Dream come true or worst nightmare? Why?
Always good. You can gain up to a second a corner if someone is watching!

How do you get local gearheads involved in rally?
That is the million dollar question, and one which has kept rally in the dark for so long. It’s so difficult to get people who don’t have a deep love in rallying to get involved. Sure they can and will watch it on TV, but getting someone out to an event to watch, or even better official, is a different story. In my rally club, we actually supply free meals and accommodation to people who come help us out by officialling, and we have easy to follow spectator instructions published well in advance, and this really helps to get them out in the forests. Proper media coverage is also imperative.

What do you see is the most critical issue needing addressed by the rally community today?
Insurance. With popularity comes responsibility. Competitors need to know that if something may happen that there will be help for them. I for one have organized my own insurance and public liability so I am covered, but it is not widely known just what your rights are as a competitor. This needs improvement.

How would you address that issue if you were in charge?
That’s difficult to address. It’s a very grey area here in Australia. I would like to see more information published about just what we, the competitors, are covered for insurance wise, so people can rest assure if the inevitable happens, that financial assistance is there for them. This is not always the case when entering a rally. I actually have my own personal insurance that covers me in the event of an accident.

How do you help out at rallies when you aren’t racing?
I spent about 5 years on the club steering committee which helps the clubs executive with all sorts of matters. I have done many “setups” in the past, which often requires taking a few days off work before a rally and driving the course preparing it for competition. I also built two versions of the clubs website, the first being in 1999.

If you could enter any WRC event, which rally would that be? Why?
Rally Australia, or Rally New Zealand. Australia, as it’s my home, and NZ, because they have the best gravel roads in the world.

Your favorite Group B car?
Starion of course, closely followed by the Lancia 037 rally….The Group B Starion really never made an appearance in the WRC, but a lot of its technology worked its way into the GVR4, and so it remains the legend that never was.

We’ve all got a rally hero. Who’s yours?
Local is George Fury, International is Walter Rohrl. George was a very quiet farmer from Albury, NSW, who drove the local school bus and went on to be a works driver for Nissan. When I was 5, I wanted to be a bus driver because that’s how George started rally driving!  Walter needs no introductions. He is the only driver to win four Monte Carlo rallies in four different cars.

Do you have a local rally club? Tell us about it! (If not, why not?)
My club is a little unusual. The Australian Motor Sport Action Group (AMSAG) is a non profit association of some 300+ members which run rallies in country New South Wales. Its members come from various walks of life, split equally between the country and the city. AMSAG strives to have its rallies match the excitement and competition of those “hey days” of rallying epitomised by the Southern Cross Rally which was run between the 1960′s and 1980′s in some of the same forests AMSAG use for competition. Lately they have allowed a modern section within their competition, which gets 4WD turbos in the mix with old school classic rally cars.

How often do you get together with other rallyistas to talk shop?
Not often enough. Our club has a great social side but we only seem to get together when events are on. Social networking websites has generally improved this; there are quite a few of the rally community now on networking sites like Facebook all the way up to WRC level so you can really keep in touch with what is going on.

Tell us about some people who have made your rally dream a reality.
Thank a volunteer (or group of them) here.
I currently don’t have any sponsors, so it’s really my family and friends that I have to thank. Especially my wife Karen, who has funded a few rallies over the years, and my Father Ian who has provided me with so much help over the years. I would also like to thank all of the people that run our club and come out to help official when the rallies are on. Without them there would be no rally.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in the rally community?
Always make the effort to help someone, no matter what. You never know when you will need that help yourself.

Thank you, Drew, for sharing your story with us. We wonder, have any of our readers grown up in a family that rallied? What about manufacturer loyalty? Did the vehicles your parents drove impact your choice of rally car at any point in your rally career?

A clip of Ross and Jason demonstrating what R. Sout means at Gallangowan 2009.

The bloke calling the shots from the silly seat in the R. Sout Galant VR4 is, more often than not, Jason Page. Jason hails from Albury/Wodonga in New South Wales and is an instrument technician by trade. He rides a motorbike to work and Ross tell us that, for fun, Jason goes mountain biking with his mates.

Conveniently enough, Jason happens to live and work close to Ross, which makes getting together to sort out pre-rally paperwork a drama free experience. An integral part of the team, Jason often wears the go-fer hat when there’s work to be done on the rally car.

Image: Mat Jones Photos

Ross tell us, “We are starting to gel and I find, on pace-note events, I trust his timing and description and am better able to concentrate on driving.” Jason and Ross have been a team since 2008,  an ordinary year, in which they experienced a broken wheel hub at one event and a blown engine at another putting paid to their year.

2009 was better, as the boys shared the P6 Class win with Alan and Gavin in a Mazda Familia 4wd (GLC, Protege).

In-car with Ross and Jason on Kandanga in 2008.

We’ll let Ross share the recent Benarkin story in his own words…

2010, event wise, was off to a crook start with wet weather meaning the first event, the first round of the KCF Short Course Rally Series, was cancelled. Eventually, the KCF was run on the weekend of the 17^th April and as luck would have it, Jason had gone to Turkey to commemorate the worst loss of a battle in Australia’s wartime history, ANZAC Day, the landing at Gallipoli.

An old friend Barrie stepped in the ‘silly seat’ and we went to Benarkin for the first event of the season. The weather had again stepped in and the event, previously two stages run three times was changed to a single 23km stage.

There was a fair bit of carnage and a number of cars had suspension failure, flat tyres and/or broken wheels. Barrie and I drove to the conditions with a 16.27, 16.25 and 16.28 for the three runs.

At the end of the event we had finished outright third!!!And first in P6 Class. Woo Hoo. We followed a Subaru STI first and an EVO 1 in  second. Great result for the 21 year old car.

A slippery corner at KCF Short Stages at Benarkin 2009.

Ross is looking forward to the next couple events. He’ll run one without Jason as he will be out of state working, but he’ll be back for the pinnacle event, a round of the Asia-Pacific Championship being held in  South-East Queensland on the 30^th July-2^nd August. It is a two day rally, tough on cars and all crew but a hoot just the same.

Gearbox Magazine would like to thank Ross for keeping in touch with us after the original interview. Though we may not meet many of the people we interview, in going through the process, we find ourselves becoming big fans.

Main image courtesy: Kristian Hayes

Where are you located?
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

What do you do for a living?
I own small manufacturing business.

What got you interested in rally?
A mate asked me to help setup a rally in the Early 1990′s. I loved it. I was involved in setting rallies, everything from mowing the forest roads to Deputy Course Checker at a round of the National Championship. I started competing with my son Jon in 2003, he stayed co-driving till 2005 but after I wrote off the first car he decided he had had enough rallying. Since then I have won P3 Clubman Class in a 1904cc Gemini (Isuzu), finished  8th in the State level cars in a National Championship round in the Gemini, won Clubman outright in the Galant VR4 in 2007 and won the Qld Rally Championship P6 Class in 2009 in the Galant VR4.

Tell us about your rally car/truck.
Our team is called r.sout rally team. {Say it out loud, ignoring the full stop/dot}

My car is a 1989 Mitsubishi Galant VR4 2000cc Turbo 4 door sedan running an Autronic SMC computer with antilag. Four spot calipers on the front with Queensland Friction Materials Pads (local manufacturer), VR4 front rotors on the rear with big 2 spot calipers and Queensland Friction Materials Pads. Series Production Rally Car regs allow standard inlet and exhaust manifolds, but the exhaust is free after the turbo. I have a three inch exhaust from the turbo with a muffler at the rear. The inlet is free up the the throttle body but as the rules mandate a 34mm restrictor and the standard intercooler I run 38mm piping all through to the throttle body. I have the pipe from the inter cooler do a tight turn and go direct up to the throttle body to lessen the length of the inlet tract. Aluminum radiator with two fans. Night rallies are lit by 4 Hella 1000 lights in a pod with HID bulbs. Brantz Laser 3 trip computer and Peltor 120 intercom. My co-driver and I have Peltor helmets with the built in headsets.

How long have you had it?
I bought the VR4 early 2006.

Did you buy your rally car or build it?
I built the 1904cc engined Gemini from a beat-up old Diesel Gemini in 2004 to a 110hp 4 wheel disc braked little weapon with an LSD. Could do 100mph quite easily.

I bought the VR4 as an incomplete rally car and spent a year rebuilding it and learning to drive a 4wd rally car. The difference in acceleration was amazing, top speed of 120mph in the trees was an eyeopener as well.

Photo: Darren Cowell, DC Photography

What challenges did this cause?
Re-manufacturing engine mounts and remodeling the chassis rail from a 2wd front 1/4 cut stretched my skill as a welder. Three partial engine rebuilds before finding a sick injector was character building, but I am good at removing/replacing the engine gearbox now.  Wiring the Autronic computer was interesting but it all works, so happy with that.

Photo: Mat Jones

What benefits did you realize as a result?
When I started racing a 4wd my speed increased and I found I was finishing in the Top 10 in State rounds. Consistency is my biggest problem as I sometimes set  third fastest times in stages and the next one, back to 8th or 9th. Enjoy the extra challenge of wet racing though.

Tell us about a time when you stuffed the rally car (or maybe had a nasty off).
I wrote off our original Isuzu Gemini sedan at the end of 2004. We were 800 metres from the end of the last stage at about 9.30pm after starting the stages at 1.00pm.  An old bloke who has been rallying for many years was co-driving for me. I had an intermittent sticking throttle so had to use both feet on the brake pedal at times to slow our speed. Tony’s call was ’100-road goes right’. I was carrying way too much speed for my talent and the old car. We slid off the road and mounted the slight slope up off the road and were flying along very close to the tree line with my foot flat to the floor trying to get it back on the road. I swear to this day it looked like we were going to centre hit a large white barked tree. I swerved slightly right to miss it, the car slewed into a pine tree, collecting it just on the back left wheel. Broke the wheel and axle, tore the axle from the diff and spat us back on to the road. The car slid along to the right but both right side wheels collapsed after hitting some rocks that sent us into a one bounce on the roof roll into the lantana. When we stopped moving, I asked Tony ‘Mate, you ok?’. He said, ‘Yes, done this before’. Car was completely stuffed broken wheels, bent chassis and bent roll cage so I sent it to car heaven at the metal recyclers after removing usable bits for the new car.

What’s the most rewarding part of being involved in rally?
The fact one can have a broken part (the spare being at home on the workshop floor) and another competitor will give you his spare so you can stay in the event.

Watching my service crew, r.sout rally team, (young brother Brett and friends, Andy, Ray and Brett) work some magic at service breaks to keep the car in the event.

Photo: Mat Jones

The most challenging?
Keeping the car going on a small budget, doing most of the work myself, although I have lots of support from Saab Care Motorsport Services here in Brisbane. Staying on the mental side of the rally, just drive as best as I and the car can and let the chips fall as they may.

How many events did you enter last year? Six.
Is that trending up or down?  Down in 2009.

Why?
The WRC {Rally Australia} came to Northern New South Wales about 300klms from my home. I had a job on the organising crew, along with seven other enthusiasts organising and placing between 100 and 150 people on road blocks in the stages each early morning before the WRC cars entered the stages.. Meant I had official duties in an event in the mountains between New South Wales and Queensland, a ‘trial event for new volunteers’, so was unable to compete, and I missed a round at the start of the year due to a shortage of funds.

What kind of cash prize structure would entice you to enter more rallies or push the car harder?
Pipe dream, but…   I think a cash prize for stage winners (in each class) up to a maximum of the entry fee then one becomes ineligible for more cash could be fair. i.e. If it was $100.00 per stage class win and there were 10 stages = $1000.00, but if the entry fee was $600.00 and if I won six stages the cash would stop and then second in class would take the cash. Means a lot of money up for prizes though… 10 Stages-6 Classes = $6000.00. It will never happen…  LOL
Here in OZ we mostly compete for fun. There are no cash prizes. As the time has gone on since I started the entry fee costs have increased, I admit, to a point where it means I will pick and choose events in the future, unless I can pick up a kind sponsor. I noticed on the net the Supp regs for an event in New York. The entry fees were comparable for the distance of the events.

Photo: Mat Jones

Should rallies be run as for-profit corporations?
Difficult question. I am member of Brisbane Sporting Car Club run as a business by a board of club members. The club is always upgrading radios, timing clocks, Stage boards etc. These costs also reflect in the entry fees.

If there is value for money why not. Again value for money should be the criteria. If a company was to run rallies for just profit, I think it would be a difficult proposition.

There are clubs in Queensland that run less expensive Club events in different areas of the State, and they also accommodate juniors and beginners by running Motorkhanas and Rallysprints. They are run on a volunteer basis, with a President, Secretary and Treasurer in charge of the club. They sometimes hire equipment from my club.

Photo: Mat Jones

How important are car classes?
For me, very important. I enjoy racing blokes in similar cars, while still competing for overall positions.

What class/region do you race in?
My Class P6 is older 4wd cars, such as the Galant VR4, Celica GT-4, Nissan GTi-R, Mazda Familia, Audi Quattro. I race in the Queensland Rally Championship events, and Short Course Rally Pace-noted events three times a year.

How many competitors in your class at each event?
Worst case-Two.
Best case-Six or Seven

What do you think about recce vs pacenotes?
I thought recce was to make your own pace notes. We call other events, blind rallies. These events have a ‘road book’ supplied to competitors before the event, noting blind corners and obstructions on the stage. Essentially drive what you see. I guess if one is supplied with a really good ‘road book’ it is a safer way to rally.

Recce and doing one’s own ‘pace notes’ is fantastic fun, especially when one has run many times with a steady co-driver who knows your timing and can read the notes accurately. I feel best when I can drive and trust what I hear in my helmet. To slide over a crest at full noise and have the road going the way it should it the best feeling… lol. A drawback is when you go off the road in a pace note event it is usually at a quicker speed so there is more damage.

Photo: Mat Jones

Spectators: Dream come true or worst nightmare?
Love spectators.

Why?
I like to speak to interested people at the service park who know how to wait for the opportunity to chat. I never hear them in stage, but it is good fun after the event talking to people who watched you through the spectator points. Don’t like people who can’t handle their alcohol though, in the bush or in the service park.

How do you get local gearheads involved in rally?
See the answer to ‘How would I address that issue’ question down the page… lol

Need to get the idea that Rallying is a race against the clock, on a closed road. You cannot blame someone else if you go off the road, nor do you have to rely on someone’s interpretation of your style to win an event. It is not a Drag Race either, so barking on about HP or 1/4 mile times is not the idea. It is the only Motorsport where I can race the Australian Champion on the same roads, on the same day. He will whip my arse but I know how quick I am against the best in my country.

I try wherever possible to engage people who ask about the car if it is on the trailer going to an event. Some have turned up at a rally, been given a job to do and get hooked.

Photo: Jen Reynolds

Photo: Mat Jones

What do you see is the most critical issue needing addressed by the rally community today?
I would consider the rising cost of the sport, even at the entry level, is stopping lots of young blokes from starting rallying. Over governance, the over the top safety aspects. I have never heard of a Rally car at up to National level here in OZ bursting into flames and killing the occupants. FIA suits give you an extra 15 secs of time in a fireball… MMMM. I can see the perceived need for cars competing at the upper levels to have good cages, the occupants to have good helmets. But a slow beginner in a basic Hyundai with a half cage should be able to compete at Club events in a pair of fire resistant overalls, fire extinguisher and a good helmet, seat and seat belts.

How would you address that issue if you were in charge?
Again, difficult question. In a perfect world I would ask car companies to donate some older model used cars to the sport, fit them with half cages, race seats and belts, maintain them during the season and allow them to be hired for events so there would be a ‘Come and Try’ aspect to entice more competitors. Lets face it, if I was allowed to hire a car for a couple events and then decided to go on and build one myself, I would be more likely to make my first rally car the same as the one I had hired.

How do you help out at rallies when you aren’t racing?
As I said earlier I have performed in many positions on Rally crews from initial survey, to clean up of forest roads, to Stage Setup, to Deputy Course Checker, to Deputy Clerk of Course. I will do a start or finish control and am the Competitor Relations Officer at the first Short Course Rally this season. At the WRC round I was Team Leader for the road bock set-up crews. There were some problems with stability of the database at the WRC and it was a headache to get everyone placed on stage. There were some disappointed people I admit but generally it went well.

Photo: Mat Jones

If you could enter any WRC event, which rally would that be?
Greece I think. Rally Australia second. Although the yumps in Finland would be EXCITING!

Why?
I always do well on the Playstation/xBox Rally games rallying in Greece… LOL. Greece seems to be closer to the conditions on some rallies here in OZ.

Your favorite Group B car?
Audi Quattro. Noise is incredible. Saw a YouTube clip of Michell Mouton driving one and it wheel stands along a short straight. Would be an absolute handful to drive.

We’ve all got a rally hero.  Who’s yours?
Marcus Gronholm. Complete professional, bit dry maybe.

Do you have a local rally club?  Tell us about it!  (If not, why not?)
Brisbane Sporting Car Club. We run the Queensland Round of the Australian Rally Championship and the most rounds of the Queensland  Rally Championship. Also a Classic Challenge Rallysprint inside the Motorsport Complex at Willowbank near Ipswich west of Brisbane. There are two Touring Road events run as navigation events with special tests at race tracks around South East Qld. The club is not run for share holders, but we have a full time secretary who handles requests for information about rallies in Qld, collates the entries for events, the Supp Regs and results for events. We also co-run, with the Goondiwindi Off Road Racing Club, a Round of the National Off-Road Racing Championship at a country town called Goondiwindi in Western Queensland (Google Earth is your friend…lol).

How often do you get together with other rallyistas to talk shop?
During the season, Tuesday night is rally night at Saab Care Motorsport Services. We get cars up on hoists and the mechanics help us with identifying problems. Most weekends I have someone drop in at home to lend a hand. Second Wednesday in the month is Club night, a social night with guest speaker sometimes.

Photo: Mat Jones

Tell us about some people who have made your rally dream a reality.
Steel Blue Premium Industrial Footwear, an Aussie Boot Company have sponsored me since 2003.  Saab Care Motorsport Services have helped me since 2003, I am greatly indebted to the blokes who own the shop and work there. Autolec at Stones Corner in Brisbane are my Auto Electrician sponsor, again since 2003. Since 2006 Kawana Brake and Clutch on the Sunshine Coast look after the brakes, drive-train and suspension. Am looking for 2010 sponsorship at the moment.

Thank a volunteer (or group of them) here.
My heartfelt thanks goes to the people who go out into the bush and sit on a chair for between 8 and 12 hours in the sun and then in the dark so we can compete in Rallies. Jason and I always try to remember to thank them each time we stop at controls. Also the men and women who put up their hands and give their time to set rallies, TOP JOB!!!!

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in the rally community?
That the sport is bigger than any one person, and although there will always be someone who is willing to cut the legs off an idea without even investigating it, the most important thing is it is FUN!!!!