At the opening Round of the Australian Side-by-Side Rally Challenge Cody Crocker’s brand new Polaris had the wood on Michael Guest’s Can-Am, but as the title race heads to the next round in South Australia this week Guest is hopeful that a number of upgrades will help him bridge the gap.
“We’ve actually got a brand new (Can-Am) Maverick for this rally,” said Guest. “It’s the same model as our previous one, just a brand new one. We’ve done a fair bit of work between WA and SA and we’re hoping we’ve been able to find some more speed to chase down Cody.”
Crocker won each and every stage at the Quit Forest Rally in Western Australia, but with a four-month break Guest is confident that the Can-Am team have been able to work on the areas of his Maverick to bridge that performance gap.
“We’ve got the bigger diameter tyres so that should give us a bit more top speed. The bigger tyres mean more track width so we’ve be a bit more stable. We’ve fitted bigger brakes and power steering, so all these things should help. The question is just how much of the gap to Cody we’ve been able to close,” Guest explained.
“The bottom line is I’m just looking forward to getting to the rally and getting my back side back in the seat. I’ve never had any stunning results down at that rally so I’m hoping to change that this weekend.”
Scouts Rally SA will be the first time the Side-by-Sides have competed at the Southern event, and it will mark the first time Cody Crocker has run since 2005.
“I was actually thinking about that the other day and I was surprised it had been that long ago,” Cody said. “It’s been a while but I can’t wait, it’s a great rally and amazing roads to race on.”
“I was reading through some old magazines and looking at how close the stage times were back 10 years ago when we had six top factory cars all racing flat out. We were 1 or 2 seconds between us all every stage, and I expect it’ll be similar this weekend racing against Guesty.”
Guest believes the roads will be well suited to the Polaris and Can-Am, which have proven their worth on rough rallies, and will now get the chance to compete on the fast, flowing roads of the Adelaide hills.
“It’s actually a pretty difficult rally despite having some of the smoothest roads in the whole Championship. Every stage down there has it’s own characteristic, and you have that added mix of going from the fast shire roads to the tougher roads in the Mount Crawford forests,” Michael commented.
The pair will need to watch their backs though with a pair of Can-Am’s entered for Nathan and Les Chivers, while Iain Hughes from Tamworth makes his first appearance in the SxS’s since last year’s Rally Victoria in a Polaris identical to Cody Crocker’s.
“Rally SA was an event I’ve never done before so when I saw it was included this year I knew it was something I needed to be a part of,” said Iain. “I’ve spoken with Cody and I’m expecting the rally to be very fast which will be interesting because I’ve never had my Polaris setup for those sorts of roads before.”
“I think we’ll set up the car stiff and low, and then try to use the pace of the new Polaris to really try to give them a good challenge!” Hughes added.
Scouts Rally SA gets underway next Friday 1st August with the ARMOR ALL Power Stage held in the Mount Crawford Forests, before the opening four competitive stages take drivers on a loop in the forests around the Mount Pleasant Showground service area.
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