It’s a truly remarkable record – three consecutive Australian Rally Championships, four consecutive Asia-Pacific Rally Championships, and a now four consecutive Side-by-Side titles – and the Cody Crocker steam roller shows no sign of abating anytime soon.
So the obvious question, does Cody ever get used to winning? “I hope I never get used to the winning, you certainly never get bored with it!” laughed Cody. “I think the incentive is that you don’t ever want to come second, so after you’ve won once the only way to go is down hill.”
“You set your goals, some people maybe are just happy to get onto the podium, but for me every rally I start all I’m concentrating on is being the winner by the end. It’s played out really well in the past, and it’s continuing, and I’m certainly not even thinking about giving up or slowing down.”
But is there a secret to the record of success Crocker has achieved over the past eleven seasons?
“The secret to winning a Championship is it’s a secret!” Cody chuckled. “For me it’s all about being prepared. The great thing for me about working with a guy like Greg (Foletta) is that he’s so diligent, he’s the most diligent person I know, so he drives me to be the best I can be just by being himself.”
“Even in testing I’ll do what I’m happy with, I think I set a fairly high benchmark for myself, and then Greg will just continue on past that. So over many, many years that’s what has gotten us to that extra level.”
Four wins in four years in the Side-by-Side Rally Challenge, which pits Polaris against Can-Am, and Crocker against arch rival Michael Guest, how much of a challenge have the last four years been but in particular this year?
“Guesty is such a fierce competitor, one of the fiercest I’ve ever competed against, so that’s always extra motivation. Plus this year we knew they had a faster car than us, so that makes this year one of the most unlikely Championship wins,” Crocker explains.
“We started the year with the goal of winning again but we knew we were up against it, compared to last year or the year before.”
So you never expected to hold the Championship again this year?
“Internally no, we knew we were always going to arrive at every rally ready to win. We had a great build up to the year, a great pre-season test, and we’d been working hard on our car even with a limited budget. “
And what does the future hold now for Cody Crocker and Greg Foletta? Is there a Side-by-Side title number five?
“Between Can-Am and Polaris no one really knows what’s going to happen next year. I think the desire is there, to even expand it to more events and get more people involved. The off-road series is big and there are other types of events I’d love to do, like sand dune races in WA or even the Safari, that’s what appeals to me.”
“But right now, I honestly am not sure. I hope to be back to go for title number five, it’d be pretty awesome to have three ARC’s, four APRC’s and five Side-by-Side titles!”
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