Pre-event testing with RallySchool.com.au delivered an advantage to Amos to ensure the car was fully prepared for any conditions.
“They (Rally School) gave us the opportunity to spend some time in our cars with some experienced Australian Rally Championship (ARC) drivers. I had the privilege of having Simon Evans take the Ute for a drive and help us with some suspension set up,” said Amos.
The early expectations for Amos weren’t promising with heavy rain just prior to the recce stages forcing the team to use a 4WD to gain some experience on the course, conditions that wouldn’t suit their V8 Ute.
With sunny conditions welcoming the opening day of competition, it allowed a greater level of confidence in Amos’s own driving, knowing the roads would be dry, providing ideal driving for the powerful Amos Motorsport entry.
The opening stages required some focus and management of the car to ensure it would be ready to tackle the entire weekend in optimum condition.
“Stage 1 and 2 went well, we had a bit of excessive tyre wear but it didn't worry us to much. We used a little less throttle on the tight corners to get us through the remaining two stages before service and it seemed to work,” Amos said.
A repeat of the morning’s stages after service meant the team were able to gain even more speed approaching a crucial section of the event.
“We opted to go for hard compound rear tyres to try and get a bit more life out of them. This worked well, the harder compound tyres still offered plenty of grip on the already swept stages and we pushed hard. Hitting a maximum speed of 198km/h on one crest,” said Amos.
A successful end to the opening day was delivered with the message that Amos and Ryan had achieved second in 2WD for the opening heat and 1st 2WD privateer.
“We were so happy with the result from Saturday, the team had put so much time and effort into developing the Ute over the year to make it a faster and more reliable package that we were praying for some dry weather to show off the Ute’s potential and we finally got it. I think we have really raised some eyebrows from our performance with just how quick the big Holden Ute is on a narrow dirt road,” Amos stated.
A change in weather conditions in addition to a change in the layout of stages in the second day of competition didn’t look to suit the Amos Motorsport Ute, with tyre issues early in the day, it setup nothing short of a major challenge to secure another strong result. A switch to hard compact tyres on the rear after service following a deterioration of the two from the morning stages, added pressure to Amos’s charge.
“On the first stage after service we got half way in and the heavens opened. Even with the wipers on flat out it wasn't enough to clear the water from the windscreen for about 4 kilometres and in a 1.8 tonne car, with 500hp and running a hard pack gravel tyre, traction, braking performance and turn in had all severely taken a dramatic decrease. We pushed on as hard as we could and got to the end of the stage unscathed,” said Amos.
Entering the final stage of the event, and not being aware of the current result situation, Amos was forced to ‘throw caution to the wind and just go for it’, sitting in fourth and using tyres that were hardly optimal for the conditions.
Finishing fourth for the stage behind the factory backed Mazda and Honda entries was a real accomplishment for Amos and Ryan, in addition to also being the first privateer across the line. On combined results with the second place from Saturday and fourth from Sunday, it placed Amos and Ryan in second for the event, tied with Honda’s Mark Pedder, who on a count back took second, with the Amos Motorsport entry being declared third.
“This was a great event for us! We struggled to get the money together to even get here and it was looking doubtful up until two weeks ago until I got my tax back and that, luckily, paid the entry fee. We are just so pleased with the performance of the Ute today. Many people see it as being too big to be competitive and up until now they would've been right. But we've finally gotten a dry rally and we've showed just how much of a competitive package we have and there is still a lot more speed to come from it - we just need more time to develop it,” Amos concluded.
The next event for Amos Motorsport will be the final round of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship, Rally Victoria on November 16 & 17.
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