Having announced at the start of the year that’d he’d be taking a year away from the sport, reigning National 4WD Champion Ritchie Dalton will make an unexpected reappearance at the upcoming National Capital Rally thanks to a last minute deal with his sponsors.
“It all came about right at the eleventh hour with my sponsors. At this stage it’s just a one-off for Canberra, but I’m very excited to be back in the car and really looking forward to the challenge,” explained an excited Dalton.
In announcing his year off Dalton had sighted the escalating costs, as well as a need to focus his energies on his growing business, as the reasons behind his decision.
But at a recent ride day for his sponsors, which Dalton described as a “thank you for the support they showed me last year”, the excitement and enthusiasm to see the Irishman back competing again quickly formed into an entry for the National Capital Rally.
“It was a case of taking a few of my sponsors and supporters for a ride in the car, but it became a lot more than that by the end of the day,” Ritchie laughed. “I’m very lucky to have such a great group of people behind me who want to see us out competing again.”
“The first thing I did was call John Allen to make sure he was available to co-drive. When he said he was that pretty much cemented the deal, and we lodged an entry for Canberra right before the close,” Dalton added.
“We’ll be in our Evo 9 but the cars had a complete refresh since last year and we’re looking forward to debuting a brand new colour scheme!”
With a raft of experienced 4WD campaigners expected to fill the Nat Cap entry list when it’s released, Dalton is expecting a massive tussle will unfold in Canberra. “A few people have been contacting me to see if I was running, so I have a fair idea who I’ll be up against in Canberra. It’s going to be exciting, I can’t wait!”
It’s widely expected that 2011 Australian Champion Justin Dowel will debut his Hyundai i20 ‘Dytko’, Mark Pedder has taken delivery of his Peugeot 208 ‘Maxi’ car from Argentina and is rumored to be giving it it’s first test in the coming week and local driver and recent Quit Forest Rally 4WD victor Mick Patton will line up in his Mitsubishi Lancer.
In addition entries are expected from Central Coast driver Gerald Schofield, WA competitor Graeme Miles and former Ford factory driver Darren Windus.
“I can’t wait to see these new cars for Justin (Dowel) and Mark (Pedder). I’m expecting they will both be fast, but I think the guy we all need to watch out for is Darren Windus!” said Dalton.
“For me this is a one-off event,” added Ritchie, before adding. “But if it goes well, and we get a good result, well, we’ll see!”
The National Capital Rally, Round two of the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship, begins in Canberra on Friday 15th May.
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