Brad Markovic is set to restart his Australian Rally Championship campaign at the Courier Eureka Rally this weekend in Ballarat.
After a 2017 season that started well but was ultimately cut short, Auto One driver Markovic is hungry for success and determined to build on the progress he made last year.
After a solid top-10 finish in the 2017 Eureka Rally, the West Australian driver followed it up with a podium finish at his home round at the Forest Rally, and then ‘first Aussie home’ when he competed against the international Asia-Pacific Rally Championship teams at the National Capital Rally.
“2017, for the events we competed in, was really positive,” the Auto One driver commented during preparations for the Eureka Rally.
“We were improving round-on-round, and banking championship points at each event. Strong results in Ballarat and Canberra, plus the podium at our home event in WA... the season was looking really good.”
But immediately after the success of Canberra, it became clear that surgery was the only way to repair a back injury that was causing him significant pain. While the surgery was a success, an extended period of recovery spelt the end of his 2017 season.
“I’ll be honest, it’s been frustrating. It took a lot longer to recover than I’d planned. But I’m feeling better than ever, and really excited to get back in the car and pick up where we left off back in May.”
For the Courier Eureka Rally, Markovic will again partner with experienced co-driver Toni Feaver in the Auto One Subaru WRX STI, prepared by Maximum Motorsport in Perth.
“Ballarat did have its challenges last year. We had a great start with a top-five time on stage one. But we has some clutch problems later in the day, and the Sunday stages were really rough and we suffered a series of punctures.”
“Even so, Toni and I battled on. To still get a top-10 result was pretty positive. The event was a bit of an ‘unknown’ last year, but we’ve now got that experience under our belts. The Maximum Motorsport crew have the car prepared and ready to go. So we’ll work on our pace notes, refine them a little bit, and start again. I can’t wait!”
The Courier Eureka Rally starts on March 3, with stages held to the north-east and south of Ballarat.
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