Rhys 19, will be competing this year for the very first time and wanted all the experience he could get, so who better than Fred Gocentas?
Fred is the most decorated co-driver in Australian rallying history, including Asia Pacific championships and numerous ARC victories with the like of Ross Dunkerton. Â
Fred, however, will be best known running alongside Greg Carr in the infamous ‘IYK 000’ Ford Escort, which included the emphatic win over Ari Vatanen by 'forty split seconds' in the Castrol International Rally.
"Fred had helped me navigate with Bill Dunn in the Fiat 131 last year and I thought I would ask him to navigate for me. I was absolutely shocked that his answer was yes," Pinter said. Â
Rhys is currently building a brand new ‘from the ground up’ Hyundai Excel to compete in the NSW Excel rally series and ACT regional rally series.
"The Excel series is a fantastic way to get started into rallying and with the cars being almost the same, having someone like Freddie can help make the difference between first and second. Just his name itself feels like your already saving a couple seconds per kilometre," he said.
Rhys’ dad and former rally diver, Peter Pinter, is absolutely ecstatic to have Fred run with his son in 2012.
"I have been building this car with Rhys since June last year and cannot wait to get it out in the forest, and to have a bloke like Fred Gocentas in a car I have built is an awesome feeling," Peter said.
To add to this interesting pairing, this will most likely be the biggest age difference in a driver, co-driver combination, spanning a difference of age of 52 years.
Fred is also excited to get back into the silly seat and help out youngsters coming through the sport of rallying.
"I started teaching Rhys how to navigate last year and when he told me he was building a car I was excited for him, and to be offered a ride in a brand new car is fantastic. I wanted to give back to the sport for what it has done for me and I feel that helping a kid like Rhys is one way to help put back in," Gocentas said.
Due to some budget constraints Rhys will miss the opening couple of rounds at the National Capital Rally in Canberra and Narooma, however the car will be ready to go for the round at Bega and beyond.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for the launch of the new rally team.
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