Following a full days testing in Canberra, Adrian Coppin has described his feeling with his Citroen DS3 as ‘the best ever’ as he prepares for the opening round of the 2015 East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship.
While Coppin has a year’s worth of experience in the DS3 already under his belt, it proved to be a day of firsts as he welcomed both a new co-driver in Erin Kelly, and a new team behind him in the shape of Neal Bates Motorsport.
After completing over one hundred kilometres Coppin was elated with how the day had progressed. “Today went awesomely,” he beamed. “A really, really good day and the best I’ve felt in the car, ever!”
“We made some really strong progress with the setup of the car and it felt stable in the fast stuff, and much less wheel spin in the slow,” Adrian explained at the end of the long day held on the Miowirra test stage on the outskirts of Canberra.
“Aside from the feeling in the car it was great working with Erin (Kelly) for the first time. From our very first pass in recce everything clicked. In the rally car she delivered the pace notes perfectly, so I’m really excited for our year together.”
“And I can’t praise the whole Neal Bates Motorsport team enough, having that knowledge and expertise behind you gives you so much confidence as a driver. Working with some one as experienced as Darryl Bush was incredible, he had a plan for how the day was going to run and it went without a hitch,” Adrian added.
While the test was designed to give Adrian a chance to work with his new co-driver and team, it was also a chance for him to get back to grips with the front-wheel drive Citroen.
“I’ve done a couple of tarmac sprints, but to drive the car competitively on gravel again, well I haven’t done that since Rally Victoria last November,” said Coppin.
“It felt really good to be back in the car, and it’s the first time since I got the DS3 that I’ve been able to hand it over to someone else (Neal Bates Motorsport) and just focus on driving the car rather than worrying about car preparation.”
Overnight rain had provided an extra element to contend with, the traditional Canberra gravel surface damped down and providing extra grip, while a late afternoon storm allowed Coppin to get a feel for more slippery conditions.
“I know the surfaces we had today aren’t representative of those that we’ll face in WA, but today gave me a lot of confidence and I’ll carry that through the next few weeks getting ready for the Forest Rally,” he explained.
As an added bonus for Coppin, the reigning Australian Rally Champions Scott Pedder and Dale Moscatt were in attendance and offered up some useful insights.
“I probably did ten laps with Scott, and his feedback was great, it’s amazing to have a Champion sitting beside you telling you where you can go faster. His main comments were that I was driving the car too neatly, and that I needed to let it slide around a bit more.”
“I think the neatness comes from all the years driving under powered cars, and having to stay neat to keep the corner speed up. With the DS3 I can afford to be more aggressive and as Scott explained use the pendulum effect more to set the car up for corners.”
The Quit Forest Rally, held in the seaside town of Busselton three hours South of Perth, gets underway on Friday 27th March. Full information can be found on rally.com.au.
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