Leigh Hynes will be going for his fourth Experts Cup Rally victory in a row when round four of the WA Rally Championship (WARC) gets underway in Collie on Saturday June 28.
Hynes (Subaru WRX) is on top of the leaderboard ahead of Dylan King who’s hoping he can make up for a disastrous last round. King withdrew from the Newmont Boddington Gold Rally (NBGR) after rolling his WRX early in the event.
It’s a race against the clock to have his car repaired in time and while King couldn’t guarantee all the work would be done, he said: “It’s getting there.”
Provided the WRX is right to go, King said he would have to play it safe for at least the first stage of the Experts Cup Rally because there would be no time for pre-event testing.
2WD leaders Sean Keating and Caleb Ash in the Boddington Newmont Gold Rally. (Photo: Gemma Lucas)In the 2WD competition, Razvan Vlad can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of his Ford Fiesta. Vlad missed the NBGR because of a holiday.
It’s been a challenging year for the reigning 2WD Champion who so far hasn’t scored any championship points.
Vlad said his plan was to go flat out again while main rival Sean Keating (Nissan Silvia), who has a healthy lead on the championship said: “I will be concentrating on finishing rather than taking risks.”
Sitting behind Keating in the 2WD Championship and leading the 2WD Challenge is Andy van Kann (Toyota Corolla) who said: “Our plan is to keep plugging away at the back of the field, keep up our finish rate, and collect as many points as we can.
Rookie co-driver Abbey Hayes will again call the shots for van Kann who said: “She really is a rising star co-driver destined to soon be at the sharp end of the field with a quick driver.”
In the Clubman Cup competition, Greg Flood, who was fastest at the NBGR in his Mitsubishi Lancer, will be back with his rookie co-driver, daughter Deeann.
“She has done two rallies now both in the day light,” Flood explained. “This event will have half the event run in the dark so it will give her a bit of training at night.”
“This is the best way to teach her, so far she is enjoying the experience and it is good fun.”
Flood sits behind Carl Rattenbury (Ford Escort) on the points table.
Rattenbury has a strong 36 point lead on the championship and is the only Clubman Cup competitor to have finished all three rounds so far this year.
Meanwhile, reigning Clubman Champion Mark Travers will be MIA for this round. He rolled his Toyota Sprinter at the NBGR and said he would take some time to repair and improve the car.
The Experts Cup Rally will be run over almost 130 competitive kilometres of roads around the Collie forests and Wellington Dam. The Clubman Cup series covers nearly 85 competitive kilometres.
The event kicks off from the Wallsend Grounds in Collie at 1.30pm on Saturday June 28.
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