EVANS RETURNS IN WHAT WILL BE A HELLA-VA CHAMPIONSHIP
Four-time Australian Rally Champion, Simon Evans, will contest the full Kumho Tyre Australian Rally Championship in 2016, and has his sights firmly set on a fifth national title.
Simon Evans in his Hella-backed Subaru in the 2003 Rally of Melbourne. (Photos: Peter Whitten)
After a disappointing year in 2015 at the wheel of a Honda Jazz, the Evans Motorsport team have built a 1998 Subaru Impreza WRX STi for the 2016 season – a car similar to the famous Hella-liveried car that he ran in 2002 and 2003.
Evans will be co-driven by West Australian, Ben Searcy, and says that he can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of a Subaru.
Simon Evans is aiming for a fifth ARC title.“The car will be awesome, and I wouldn’t be entering the championship this year if I didn’t think we could win,” Evans told RallySport Magazine.
“Our old left-hand drive Hella car is still sitting in the workshop, and we thought about using that, but when we had a really close look at it the roll cage really isn’t up to the standards of what is required in 2016, so the decision was made to build a new car.
“The car will be a bit like Possum Bourne’s old Group A Subaru, and is basically based on the car that David Nutter ran in the Victorian Championship a few years back.”
As well as a newer, safer, roll cage, Evans says the car will be a big step up from the Subaru he ran in the early 2000s.
“It has better suspension, better brakes and a better engine tune,” he explained.
“You’ll remember that the Hella car ran in Group N, so with the current PRC rules we have a lot more freedoms with the car now.”
With some new sponsors to be announced in the coming weeks, Evans’ ARC campaign will be better funded than it was in 2015.
The challenge of beating Molly Taylor and her factory-backed 2016 WRX is also a carrot dangling in front of the ever-competitive Evans.
“I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t one of our goals for this year, but just being back in the ARC at the pointy end will be fantastic,” he said.
The build of the ‘new’ Subaru was completed yesterday, and Evans will test the car this weekend, ahead of the first round of the championship, the Quit Forest Rally, from April 22 to 23.
Evans won the Australian Rally Championship in 2006 and 2007 (Toyota Corolla), in 2009 (Mitsubishi Lancer) and in 2010 (Subaru Impreza).
- Peter Whitten
SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO READ THE FULL STORY
