RallySport Magazine September 2016

FIVE MINUTES WITH ....
5
minutes with ...
BRAD MARKOVIC
New Zealand’s fastest lady rally driver is
more than a match for her male rivals.
It’s been a tough
season for the
talented WA
driver
Name: Brad Markovic
Age: 38
Marital status: Married to Joanne
Children: 2 daughters Alexis (9) and
Amelie (7)
Occupation: Director of Auto One
Australia and Franchise owner Auto
One Kalamunda
Place of birth: Kalamunda, WA
Where do you live: Kalamunda, WA
Any other hobbies? Golf and Gym
Markovic and Macneall
on the charge in a round
of the WA Championship.
Photo: Gemma Lucas
RSM: It’s been a tough start to the year.
Has it been more a mental strain on you, or a
financial one?
BM: It’s been both. I’m very fortunate
to be surrounded and supported by
many commercial partners, family and
friends, so the decision to acquire a
new car as soon as possible to get us
to Canberra was an easy decision to
make. Unfortunately, I underestimated
the impact the fire was to have on my
mental state going forward.
The fire in WA must have been even more
frustrating given that you showed incredible
speed early in the event. Is that the case?
That was the biggest disappoint for
us as Glenn (Macneall) and myself had
worked so hard last year on refining
my driving and the car to showcase our
speed against Australia’s best. To come
away with no car and no result when
we were sitting in second place behind
Harry (Bates) and in front of Simon
(Evans) was the hardest pill to swallow.
Things didn’t go to plan with the new car
in Canberra. Did that further knock your
confidence, or was it more the car set-up
that frustrated you?
With the short turnaround time of
three weeks between events, to even
get to Canberra was a huge win for
us and the team. Unfortunately, the
time taken in transporting the car
back and forward across the Nullabor
meant that we weren’t able to test or
run it in a similar specification as our
previous one, so the media day was an
interesting drive, to say the least.
As for the confidence, unfortunately
the very first real rally stage on the
Saturday morning in Canberra, Glenn
and myself were the first car on the
14 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - SEPTEMBER 2016