ARC2 finalist Adam Kaplan will have two titles on the line when he and co-driver Aleshia Penney head to the Coffs Coast for the Kennards Hire Rally Australia later this month.
The pair currently sit first in the CAMS Australian Rally Championship 2WD challenge and will be vying with fellow finalist Haowen Chu for both class and ARC2 title.
While Kaplan has won the previous two 2WD challenge titles, the New South Welshman admits he is hungrier than ever to claim a hattrick of class titles.
“We’re really excited for Rally Australia and happy to go up to the Coffs Coast again,” Kaplan said.
“We’re going to be working very hard to win, so our main focus was to drive through cautiously, but I am not wired to do that so our new plan is to drive fast but conservative.
“We have won it the last two years in row and I am hoping to take out the hattrick but we need to beat Haowen at Rally Australia so we will be driving conservative and hopefully we get it.”
Unfortunately Kaplan will be without his trusty Nissan 350z for the 2018 ARC season finale after having an accident at the BOTT Adelaide Hills Rally in September.
Heading into a corner during the South Australian rally, Kaplan got distracted and went into it too hard and fast causing a dramatic rollover.
Thankfully neither driver nor co-driver were hurt, however Kaplan admits the accident was a slight error on his behalf.
“I got slightly distracted going into a corner which caused a pretty spectacular roll,” Kaplan explained.
“Fortunately it didn’t do any significant damage to the chassis of the car, it damaged every panel around it so it’s repairable, but we just ran out of time.
“I would much rather be doing Rally Australia in the Nissan but if I didn’t make that mistake in South Australia, I would be, so I just need to deal with it.”
“We were very shaken not stirred after the accident,” Kaplan joked.
With Kaplan unable to fix the Nissan in time for Rally Australia due to other commitments, he was able to recover his old car for the season finale.
“Luckily we had the old trusty Mazda RX7 that we used a couple years ago so that will be good,” Kaplan added.
“The car has been prepped up nicely and we have put in a sequential box in it for the event but apart from that, it’s running the same as it was two years ago.”
The Kennards Hire Rally Australia takes place on the Coffs Coast on 14 – 16 November and will be acting as the final round of both the CAMS Australian Rally Championship and the World Rally Championship.
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