The 23-year-old Sydneysider and her colleagues in the WRC Academy junior development series contested two of the three days of the event (August 19-21), which was based in the historic city of Trier in Germany’s wine-producing Mosel region.
Molly and British co-driver Seb Marshall were quietly confident of a decent result as they headed into the rally following some promising tarmac test sessions, but the challenges started on the very first stage and they finished 14th outright in the Academy field.
“I clipped a corner and bent the rear beam on the first special stage and had to drive the next two stages with one rear wheel pointing in a very different direction to the other one!” Molly says.
“It was obviously a challenge but extremely disappointing to lose so much time. The guys fixed it during service and all was going well on the next stage until a driveshaft broke on a rough section of tarmac, so Day One was over early for us.”
Under WRC rules, Molly and Seb were able to rejoin the field for Day Two, but they were starting from further back in the field and that brought problems of its own.
“We were making lots of improvements in our driving but we struggled to get a clean run because we had the problem of catching slower cars in the stages. That made it difficult to put in a good stage time, which was very frustrating.
“As a result, I have very mixed emotions. I’m encouraged because we don't have much experience on tarmac and we definitely made improvements but at the same time it was frustrating to not get a clean run. We still have a big gap to make up.”
Molly is pleased to have had the experience in Germany because the next round the WRC Academy crews tackle is Rallye de France Alsace (September 29-October 2), which is also on tarmac. But first there is a short break back at home.
“I'm back at work at M-Sport this week, so it will be really busy, but I am so looking forward to heading home for a couple of weeks and coming to spectate at Rally Australia. It will be good to catch up with all my rally friends before I head back over here and the last two rounds of the season.”
The WRC Academy is a one-make, development series aimed at bringing the best young rally talent in the world to elite levels. They are tackling six rounds of the WRC, with Germany being round four.
All the Academy competitors drive identical Ford Fiesta R2s prepared by Ford’s WRC specialists, M-Sport, with tyres provided by Pirelli. Molly is one of six of the drivers on a fully funded scholarship for the year, covering all her WRC expenses.
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