RallySport Magazine September 2016

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: ROB HERRIDGE
1991 Coffs Harbour Rally.
While Subaru Australia has
firmly committed to the current
Australian Rally Championship,
the company has long been a
feature of the Australian rally scene.
In the heady days of the Australian
Rally Championship during the early to
mid nineties, the Legacy RS Turbo was
the best rally car in the championship
in the hands of a couple of outstanding
personalities.
One of those was the great Possum
Bourne, but the other was a talented
West Australian who initially backed
himself, before being invited to join the
factory Subaru team.
Repeatedly making the long trip
across the Nullabor from WA to the
eastern states, Rob Herridge proved to
be a fast and entertaining driver, and
an equally entertaining speaker who
gained a reputation for his sometimesprovocative
rally dinner acceptance
speeches.
Winning Australian Championships in
1991 and 1992 cemented his reputation
as one of the all time Australian greats,
and the gene pool spilled over with son
Dean also proving himself a capable
and competitive ambassador for the
Subaru brand.
RallySport Magazine found Rob
Herridge in a reflective mood, and
found out what he’s been up in the 25
(!) years since his initial ARC title.
What keeps you busy these days, Rob?
Still busy day-to-day with Maximum
Motorsport, but spending very little
spare time on the boat. The enigma is
that I need to be retired to do the boat
justice, and if I retire I can’t afford to
keep the boat.
I have started clay target shooting
again for the first time in 35 years.
Interestingly, I only stopped shooting
to do a bit of rallying and get the
‘motorsport bug’ out of my system.
Well, I still seem to be infected with the
38 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - SEPTEMBER 2016
1990 Rally Australia.
“I still have my
original Subaru
Legacy, the one I
built to contest, and
ultimately win, the
1991 ARC.”
Herridge and Nelson check out a works
Group A Legacy that fell off a truck on the
way from Sydney to Perth for Rally Australia.
bug.
Also, spending a bit more time on the
farm in the wheat belt, overdue time
spent with long suffering wife Debbie
(and a small amount of time in her
garden), four children, 10 grandchildren
and supporting our rally operations in
WA and elsewhere doesn’t leave a lot of
spare time.
Do you actively try to attend local, or other
rally events?
Yes, I attend nearly every rally that
Maximum campaigns a car in, whether
gravel in WA or the ARC, Targa events
or tarmac and/or gravel corporate or
sponsors days.
Clearly, Dean is now the organiser
and facilitator (as has to happen for
normal progression), but of course I
am still needed as truck driver (funny
how everybody says that someone else
can drive the truck, but nobody else
gets their truck driving licence), or the
ultimate backstop if any special build or
fabrication is required.
What does a typical day for Rob Herridge
look like?
I go in to work every day and
bounce off whatever is going on.
Whether assisting in the workshop,
dropping off or picking up stuff,
prepping motorsport cars, fabricating
components for sale or whatever
vehicle we may be preparing for
competition. I don’t necessarily meet
and greet customers day to day,
but sadly they all know where my
fabrication area and my office are.
I have come to realise all customers
bring ‘happiness’, some by arriving and
some by leaving. However, I am very
fortunate as every day I look forward
to going to work, and at the end of the
day, I look forward to going home.
Most people in rallying know that my
founding partner, Steve Wisby, sadly
succumbed to cancer at only 49 years