Despite finishing second outright at the recent International Rally of Queensland Adrian Coppin looked like a driver completely lost in the wilderness as he struggled to find the confidence in his car, and himself.
“I’m not sure how to sum things up,” when asked to encapsulate his weekend in Queensland. “I didn’t drive well, that’s for sure.”
The weekend got off to a less than ideal start with Coppin suffering the after effects of a flu, then it compounded on itself when he struggled to get to grips with the setup of his car over the opening stages on the Saturday.
“It didn’t start of great for us, I just had no confidence in how the car was feeling and how I was driving. Looking back I might have placed a bit too much pressure on myself from the form we had on the Sunday in Canberra.”
“I woke up feeling a lot happier on the Sunday and I think our pace showed that. But you know at the end of the day it was an endurance event and we knew we just had to get to the end to get the points, and we did that,” added Adrian despite the almost seven minute margin to victor Eli Evans.
“Eli was just on another planet with the times he was putting in! I was happy with my times, I was around Mackenzie, Molly and even somewhat Simon’s times on the Sunday.”
With Coppin and Eli driving identical Citroen DS3’s this season, it’s given Coppin a yard stick against a dual Australian Rally Champion, where as last year he was unsure how he stacked up against the similar pace of former team mate Tony Sullens.
“Seeing Eli’s times definitely motivates me. He’s a class act and to see what he can achieve in the same spec car definitely motivates me as a driver. I see glimpses of what I’m capable of in the car in Canberra, but in Queensland I just wasn’t on it, I didn’t have the feeling,” he admitted.
“I think my confidence was shot so early in the rally, and I lost a heap of time in the process, so really I just knew it had become a case of getting to the end regardless of the gaps in front or behind us. I found myself in no mans land a little bit.”
In an effort to rebuild his confidence and to continue his strong working relationship with Erin Kelly, Coppin confirmed that he has a strategy to deal with the nearly two month break before the next round in Coffs Harbour.
“Erin and I are actually going to go and do a couple of pace noted NSW Championship rallies, just to keep us in the car and working on our combination together, plus there are some setups I want to try with the car,” he said.
With Rally Australia, our local round of the World Rally Championship, contested over three days Coppin is confident that he can rebuild his speed while maintaining his proven consistency.
“It’s another endurance event, Erin and I have both been there a number of times so we know what to expect, and you know it’s another case of keeping our noses clean because who knows what can happen around you.”
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