He's not expecting an easy run, however."We'll be faster than last year when we were still developing the Mini Cooper AP4, but Harry (Bates) will be a lot quicker too. "Steve (Glenney) has a Skoda R5 for this event, so he'll be super fast out of the blocks as well. It won't be easy."
Eli Evans (right) and Ben Searcy started the year with third place in Victoria. Photo: Brett Keating
"It's a great chassis that doesn't really get upset by different conditions, but we may play around with some different spring rates," he said."We ran different springs in South Australia and they worked well, but we also have a couple of other set-ups that we've used earlier in the year that also worked well. "A lot will depend on the weather conditions." On that front, Evans is hoping for dry, sunny weather with high grip all the time. "I don't really like driving in Coffs Harbour when it's wet," he admitted. "There's a lot of clay in some of the roads and it becomes very unpredictable and quite treacherous when it's wet. "A few years ago (2011) it was torrential on the first day and many of the top WRC drivers crashed, and some said it was the worst conditions they'd ever driven in." That was a tricky day one, when a couple of Citroen drivers name Sebastien both crashed their cars on the opening Friday!
Eli Evans is closing in on his fourth ARC title. Photo: Geoff Ridder
"We have a good lead and we know that if Harry or Steve have a problem on any day then their chances are slim."In reality, I think we could probably drop a day and still generate enough points to win the championship, but of course we're hoping it doesn't come to that." Rally Australia gets underway on Friday, November 16, with full coverage via the 'WRC All Live' at www.wrc.com ARC points after Round 5 of 6:
- Eli Evans (Skoda Fabia R5) 338 points
- Harry Bates (Toyota Yaris AP4) 281
- Steve Glenney (Subaru WRX STI) 273
- Molly Taylor (Subaru WRX STI) 260
- Adrian Coppin (Skoda Fabia R5) 189
More ARC news:
https://rallysportmag.com/in-focus-remembering-fords-group-n-p-focus/ https://rallysportmag.com/national-entry-list-for-rally-australia-confirmed/ https://rallysportmag.com/dazda-the-original-rotary-powered-datsun-1600/VIP Exclusive Content
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