Toyota's 2006 NEC Australian Rally Champion, Simon Evans, heads to the Quit Forest Rally WA on a roll after his perfect round in the 2007 season's first event, Coates Rally Queensland.
After Evans won every single stage in Queensland and established a 21-point championship lead, there are ominous signs for his rivals as the series heads to another of his favourite events.
Team-mate Neal Bates was also impressive in the very first outing for a Toyota Super 2000 car on the Sunshine Coast, finishing in a formidable second place in Heat 2.
Bates anticipates that the Western Australian event's roads will suit the characteristics of his new car.
Quit Forest Rally WA features Western Australia's unique, and very slippery, ball-bearing surface, often compared by drivers to driving on marbles.
The roads offer a wide variation of fast, flowing sections with some slower ones thrown into the mix.
The event is technically similar to the roads at Rally of Canberra.
Simon Evans, Car #1, Group N (P):
"The roads in Western Australia are really challenging - fast, flowing and really slippery. I thoroughly enjoy them because the ball-bearing surface means the car moves around quite a lot in the corners. It's like driving in the rain. I've heard Europeans say it is more slippery than driving on snow! I've always done well in WA - it has always just seemed to click for me there. My plan is to treat it like any other rally and only focus on what I have to do. I'm not really looking at what anyone else is doing."
Neal Bates, Car #2, S2000:
"I've never really enjoyed rallying in Western Australia but, for some reason, my results there have actually been quite good in recent years. It is a magnificent event but I just do not like the total lack of grip on the roads. However, the extra wheel slip in the corners may prove a small benefit for my S2000 car as it could help in getting the car on power quicker. We haven't made any changes to the car for WA because our focus is to use it solely as a mule for making the brand new car faster."
Quit Forest Rally WA begins with a Super Special Stage in Busselton on Friday 27 April, before heading to the forests surrounding Nannup on Saturday 28 April.
A second Busselton Super Special Stage will kick-off Heat 2 on Saturday night, before the remainder of Heat 2 sees crews return to the forest on Sunday.
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