Former Coffs Harbour car rally identities, driver Mick Gillett and co-driver Harvey Smith, will race their Hyundai Motor Company Australia-backed Hyundai Accent against the cream of Australia’s rally teams at the final round of the Australian Rally Championship (ARC) this weekend. The return of the ARC to Coffs Harbour has encouraged the 2008 NSW RaceBrakes Hyundai Rally Series winner, to step up to the premier league.
Team Hyundai Rallye comes to Coffs Harbour with form, having won the final round of the NSW Hyundai series in Canberra four weeks ago. The team were also looking forward to running their new car, the Cars Guide Green car of the year, the Hyundai I30 Diesel.
“Unfortunately we have had a delay with the new car which will mean we will take our current Hyundai Accent to Coffs," said Gillett. " We had planned on using this event to test the I30 but the weekend will now be about having some fun on the roads we both grew up on, plus seeing how good the Accent is against the leading crews in our class (P2 1300 to 1600cc) at such an elite level.”
The Hyundai will be outclassed in horsepower and weight but the car's reliability is the major strength that has rewarded the team over the past three years and given Hyundai three titles - two in NSW in 2006 and 2008, plus one in Victoria in 2007.
Hyundai will take the tried and tested Accent to Coffs which will mean that the crew can concentrate on the opportunity to do a pace noted rally. The Accent needed a bit of attention after the rough and tumble of the Canberra forests in October.
“Once the decision on what car we would use at Coffs was made, we had to ensure the Accent was ready. The boys had to replace the entire rear brake assemblies after a wheel probe failure damaged the rear brake mechanism,” said Team Manager, Wayne Luxford.
Team Hyundai Rallye has supported the Coffs Harbour and District Sporting Car Club’s rallies since 2005 when the event was both a Clubman and State championship rally. This will be the fourth year the team have competed on fantastic roads such as Sherwood Forest Road to the city’s north. The Coffs team have been building their rally every year, so it’s no surprise that it is back as a round of the ARC.
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