36 crews have entered the 2016 World Rally Championship Rally Australia, final round of this year’s series and the last event under the current World Rally Car rules.
It is the highest entry for this event since Australia 2009 and it is the biggest entry for any ”long-haul” WRC event since Argentina 2015.
There are 10 World Rally Cars (nine official team cars, plus one for Bertelli), only six R5 cars and one car in WRC3 (predictably Michel Fabre’s Citroen), but the number of entries has been bolstered by 14 cars entered under ASN rules, which admit some cars which are not internationally homologated.
In addition, there will be a concurrent supporting national category, the list for which has not yet been announced.
Interesting to note that Skoda Motorsport has honoured their equal-opportunity WRC2 pledge by entering their team drivers Esapekka Lappi and Jan Kopecky, fulfilling their maximum permitted seven appearances, but not for Pontus Tidemand, whose hopes for the WRC2 title were dashed at Rally Catalunya.
Hopefully title hopes for other drivers will not be dashed at Wales Rally GB, thus making a visit to Australia unnecessary!
The Australian driver Scott Pedder, who has entered eight WRC events in the last two years, is absent. The top seeded local driver is former Pirelli Star Driver Brendan Reeves.
- Martin Holmes
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