With less than a week to the start of International Rally of Queensland young Canberra rally racer, Adrian Coppin is ready to return to the battle for the 2WD Australian Rally Championship.

After an impressive result in the treacherous conditions at Rally Calder, where he finished 3rd in the 2WD Championship, Coppin decided to sit out the Western Australian round.  The young driver is currently in 5th place in the 2WD section of the BOSCH ARC, just behind Honda works driver Mark Pedder, despite missing the WA round, but is already thinking about gathering more 2WD ARC points on the forest roads in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

“I was ecstatic after Rally Calder where I surprised a few people, myself included with my pace in the diminutive Ford Fiesta.  Unfortunately our budget didn’t allow us to make the trek to the Quit Forest Rally. But we have prepared the car for Queensland where I’m looking to score some more points in the 2WD title.  I would like to finish 4th outright in the 2WD ARC behind the works Honda’s and Jack Monkhouse in the very fast Nissan,” Coppin said.

The crew is also winning the P3 PRC Class and is 3rd in the Privateers Cup.

The team is hoping that a return to the more traditional forest stages will see the effects of a lack of power in the Group N Fiesta minimized.  Over the break the team has worked on fine tuning the setup and optimised the cars performance.  But realistically, there isn’t much more in the current vehicle in terms of matching the pace of the potent Nissan Sylvia of Jack Monkhouse, the team’s benchmark competitor.

“Really this year is all about gaining experience.  Most people don’t realize that IRQ will be my 12th rally!  So I’m learning the events, improving my speed and driving skills and working out my system for pace-notes.  My goal at the start of the year was a place in the final of the Rallyschool.com.au Australian Junior Challenge so to be 5th in the 2WD ARC, winning my class and 3rd in the Privateers Cup is awesome,” Coppin said.

The team is already considering options for a more competitive car for next year and a trip to Europe later this year to look at the options is a possibility.

“The Fiesta is an amazing little car but to keep growing I’ll need to update and like the new Ford Fiesta R2,” Adrian said.

The International Rally Queensland, round 3 of the BOSCH Australian Rally Championship takes place from May 25 to 27 at Caloundra, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

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