Forget the fight for outright victory, the real battle at the aptly named Subaru Rally Tasmania this weekend will be the one between Molly Taylor and Simon Evans. Both are driving current model WRX STis and should, in theory, be starting with a level playing field, but there are enough back stories here for a Steven King thriller. At the end of last season, Subaru Australia switched suppliers for their 'Subaru do Motorsport' rally program, taking the contract from Les Walkden Rallying, and giving it to Craig Brooks' Orange Motorsport operation. The Walkden team had done an incredible job, helping Taylor reach her first national crown in their first season together, but following that there was always talk among engineers 'in the know' that the car hadn't been developed to its full potential, and that it was too heavy for its own good. To complicate matters, Steve Glenney was setting some impressive times in Brooks' privateer Subaru.
While neither Les Walkden or Craig Brooks will admit as much, there's some real pecking order rallying about to take place this weekend.
Both Walkden and Brooks are from the north west of Tasmania. They're running the same model cars, and both have a point to prove. For Brooks, it's that Subaru has made the correct decision in awarding him the contract to run the factory team. For Walkden, that Subaru got it wrong, and that another driver in a similar car can do a similar, if not better, job.
And that's without even bringing Taylor and Evans into the equation.
The popular Victorian - a four time Australian Rally Champion - hasn't contested an ARC round since Rally Australia in 2016, when he controversially lost the championship to Taylor. He's kept himself busy driving a Polaris in the Side-By-Side championship, but other than that he's been busy pouring concrete in his own business. Taylor, on the other hand, has had consistent seat time in her factory Subaru, and more recently in a Subaru TCR race car run by Kelly Motorsport. She contested Rally Tasmania last year. For Evans, it's his first time at the event. All of which makes for an intriguing battle this weekend. As we know, one rally won't make or break either driver's or team's reputation, but if nothing else, there's some handy bragging rights on offer.
Searcy sat beside Simon Evans in the 2016 Australian Rally Championship. Photo: Peter Whitten

Simon Evans last contested the ARC in 2016.

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