Moore will take on the might of the many all wheel drive turbocharged machines behind the wheel of his high-powered 5 litre VT Holden Commodore, a car that is certain to thrill the spectators throughout the rallies viewing areas, as the roar of the V8 is heard and fans for some reason delight in being showered with stones and dust as it roars past sideways.
Moore generally has his wife Jo as his co-driver, and they are set to contest selected AMSAG rally events throughout the season.
For this event however, Moore will have the services of the well known Sydney co-driver Aaron Topliff, as he is very experienced in pace-noting as this event will use. Moore has a great history of rallying in rallying at state, multiclub and club level events, having recorded some impressive results over the years before he took a break to take care of his growing family.
He also is a very experienced and successful rally director, and along with Jo has organised and run many rallies up to state level through the Bathurst Light Car Club and AMSAG. He also competed in a round of the Australian Rally Championship held in Bathurst in 2005 and came third in class.
Now the ‘Husband and wife Rally team’ are back with another championship contending car, the 2000 model VT Commodore 355cubic inch V8 which has quite a rally pedigree, as Moore explained.
“The Commodore was first built by David Thompson to run in the ARC around 2001 – 2002 and won its class in the 2002 ARC, and it was then purchased by Mark Taylor from Sydney. He’s actually the husband of ARC champion navigator Coral Taylor.’
“The car then suffered a roll-over, and was eventually sold to John Bruinsma in Perth, from where we bought it.”
“We drove it as the zero car at Bathurst state rally last year and then ran it in the Bathurst AMSAG Rally last November. Were running sixth outright when the distributor failed. Though, I was pretty happy with our pace and have since replaced all ignition components. I have also recently installed new suspension and by Friday it should have some eye catching new livery.
“Jo and I have been absent from the sport for around 5 years now and we’re looking forward to throwing a few rocks around the forest again,” Moore said with a wry smile.
The Moore team has been fortunate enough to secure sponsorship from a high profile Bathurst company, and that will be announced next week.
This weekend’s event will be a CAMS sanctioned standalone pace-noted Special Stage Rally promoted by the Nissan Datsun Drivers Club.
The Black springs Hall will be rally headquarters for the weekend, with the Black Springs Forestry Reserve the venue for the servicing of cars, and there will be three opportunities for crews to take advantage of the service break.
This event is a rarity in that it will be fully pace-noted as are all World and Australian Rally Championship rounds, subsequently making for a faster event, with the co-driver playing a very important role.
Competitors are able to proceed over the course before the event in what is known as reconnaissance, and that will commence at 11.00am and run for five hours. During the reconnaissance competitors are able to go over the course in road cars, and make notes on the rally route.
At 3.00pm the Prologue for stating positions will be held, with drivers going through a 23 km stage, starting at two minute intervals.
The event proper will then start at 8.30am on Sunday, with cars leaving Black Springs at two minute intervals, with the first car due back at the finish at 3.00pm.
The event director, the vastly experienced rally enthusiast Jamie Neale, has promised a relaxed, stress free event, 205 kms in length, with six competitive stages over the best roads in the region, featuring six spectator points.
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