Subaru driver, Cody Crocker, is looking forward to joining his gravel-racing expert team-mates, Chris Atkinson and Dean Herridge, for the WPS Bathurst 12-Hour Showroom Enduro on Easter Sunday (April 8).
The trio all learnt their trade on gravel roads, although each has done more tarmac racing over the past 15 months of their career.
But for Crocker, a three-time Australian Rally Champion and reigning Asia-Pacific Rally Champion, Bathurst will be his first experience of head-to-head racing.
While aware of the many challenges he will face, the Victorian is looking forward to his Easter Sunday outing.
“It’s something new for me, a big challenge, and everyone I speak to says how daunting the race track actually is,” Crocker said.
“Bathurst is the mecca of Australian circuit racing so it’s going to be an amazing experience just to be there.
Crocker has done three recent tarmac rally events – the Mt Buller Sprint, Lake Mountain Sprint and Rally Tasmania
He has felt increasingly confident behind the wheel of the tarmac-spec Impreza WRX STI, having notched up three consecutive second placings.
“It will be very interesting to see how the event goes,” Crocker said. “I’ve driven the car in tarmac-spec plenty of times. We'll just see how we go with a whole lot of cars on the circuit at the same time.
“I think we'll be praying for rain. That might help us with car control and grip.
The other big change for Crocker is the time that he will have to spend behind the wheel in full race mode.
“In rallying, the longest that I've done in a stage is 45 minutes. We're going to need hours on high concentration and focus. It will be quite an amazing thing.
“I think for my first event it will be such a high, and such a fantastic event to be at, we'll probably stay hyped for the whole time, and that will probably help us in the long run.
“But we have to make sure we are there for all 12 hours. No point doing one fast hour and 11 slow ones.
“I think to finish in this sort of event, an enduro, would be a great thing for us, so that is our first goal. As the event goes on we'll see where we are and decide what we can achieve.
The second Subaru Motorsport Impreza WRX STI will be driven by Neil Crompton, Grant Denyer and Chris Alajajian.
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