RallySport Magazine March 2017

ER
Co-driving
for Dean
Herridge in the
Australian Rally
Championship.
You’ve rallied in some interesting cars,
including the early front-wheel drive
Hyundais with Greg Carr, and even a
Suzuki Baleno station wagon with Tajima.
What are your memories of some of the
good and bad cars you’ve sat in?
I’ve had the privilege to sit in
some very good cars and, more
importantly, work with some great
people. People involved in the sport
seem to have an incredible amount
of passion and that is translated
throughout the teams, and I don’t think
I’ve ever sat in a ‘bad’ car.
The Subaru WRC car was great,
however, in 2006 it seemed to have
a mind of its own that neither the
engineers nor the drivers could
understand. One minute all was good,
then suddenly it felt like a completely
different car and it wanted to throw
you off the road.
We even spent a week in Sardinia
testing the car during the season to
try and understand the issues, but we
finished the week with about as many
questions as we started.
The Skoda Super 2000 and R5 are
two of the best cars I have sat in. The
S2000 chassis is amazing and the R5 car
is an impressive package, the engine is
strong and the dynamics of the car just
seem to work.
Your WRC career kicked off with Toshi
Arai in a WRC Subaru in 2001, after which
“While it may not have been
the career move we were
dreaming of, it was a paid
gig and really kick started
my career.”
followed factory stints with Dean Herridge
and Subaru Australia, and then with Emma
Gilmour in New Zealand. Did you have a direct
link to Subaru, or were they just the rides
that presented themselves at the time?
There wasn’t any direct link with
Subaru. Certainly once you establish
a relationship with a sponsor /
manufacturer it is nice to be able to
continue it.
My opportunity with Toshi came via
his previous co-driver Roger Freeman.
We were team-mates in 1999 doing
some Asia Pacific events with a pair of
Group N Subarus sponsored by Subaru
Japan.
In 2001 Toshi got the opportunity to
compete as the fourth car in the World
Rally Team and Roger was unable to
commit to the program, so went into
bat for me to get the opportunity with
Toshi.
Even before this I did a year with
Greg Graham in the 1999 Australian
Championship and a few events
in NZ, supported by Subaru.
This was my introduction to
Subaru and I think the first thing
that struck me was how much
passion both the brand and their
fans had for the sport. No matter
where you are in the world, the
philosophy of the people involved
in the brand and the enthusiasm
their fans have for the cars and
the sport is constant.
What are some of your memories with
Subaru Australia, competing with Dean and
being team-mate to Possum and Cody?
I feel quite privileged to have been
involved in the team during that era.
Possum was undoubtedly the leader of
the team and had surrounded himself
with some equally passionate people,
so it was hardly surprising that the
team enjoyed so much success.
It was also a great time to be involved
in the sport back at home. Subaru
faced some very stiff competition
from Mitsubishi, Toyota and a host of
strong privateers that made for a very
competitive championship.
To be part of such a successful
and well organised team in a very
competitive championship at home was
something that I will always cherish as a
career highlight.
Fighting to be in the top 10 was pretty
memorable, and to be able to compete
together with a good mate of mine in
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