Evans and his co-driver and wife, Sue and Bates and co-driver Coral Taylor were inseparable around the 3.2-kilometre shakedown stage in the forest near Mount Pleasant - both setting a time of 1m36s.Â
The TRD Rally duo were one second faster than the Subaru of Simon's younger brother Eli, and three seconds clear of rivals Michael Guest, Spencer Lowndes and Darren Windus.Â
Evans and Bates were pleased with the speed of their S2000 Corollas and both stated their morning pace reaffirmed the progress made during the team's test day on Tuesday.Â
Australian rallying stalwart and former national champion, Ed Ordynski is making a guest appearance this weekend driving the Zero Car that runs ahead of the field on each stage to check the roads are ready for competition cars.Â
South Australia's Ordynski will be driving the Group N (P) Corolla that Simon Evans drove to victory in the last two Australian Rally Championships.Â
Simon Evans, Car #1 - Toyota Corolla S2000:Â
"Shakedown went really well. It confirmed everything that we did in testing was correct. As we are the first car on every stage we will be sweeping the gravel off the roads, so we purposely went out first this morning and found the set-up of the Corolla was the right one - I am pleased. However, it is going to be a long rally. The new stages are great and everything is fast and flowing and it will put a lot more pressure on the co-drivers. We have to do everything right the first time as we don't get a second shot at any of the stages."Â
Neal Bates, Car #2 - Toyota Corolla S2000:Â
"The car felt great during shakedown this morning. There are a lot of new stages in the event this year and after covering them all in reconnaissance it is clear the event will be faster and feature more crests. The roads are in good shape and although we only run over the stages once this year, the roads here cope better than most so I doubt they will deteriorate much."Â
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