The recent National Capital Rally presented a major milestone in Dale Moscatt’s rally career – it was his 300th rally as a co-driver.
“It was 1993, because I’d just finished high school, and it was the SSS Oberon Rally,” said Dale when asked what his very first rally was. “I co-drove for Nathan Groom, he was one of my best mates all through school.”
“At the time I was actually into circuit racing with some mates, and got invited to come and do a rally and that’s how I got started. 2,000 corners in a rally sounded better than just 12 corners on a circuit, and it seemed like more of an adventure.”
Unfortunately for Moscatt that first rally came to rather an abrupt end. “I don’t know how I got hooked on rallying because we only made it 1.8 kilometres into the first stage! Everyone got bogged in a big hole, and we’d stopped to help push everyone out, we were the last car on the road so there was no one left to push us!”
“When I look back at my rally career as a whole that’s what it’s been – an adventure! It’s a pretty nice milestone to chalk up in Canberra,” he added.
Moscatt’s rallying has taken him across the country and around the World over those past twenty-two years, but he says he’s not done yet although the next major milestone will probably take a different tact.
“The next milestone will be to slow down a bit actually!” he laughed. “Even co-driving professionally trying to do more than ten rallies a year is a bit much. It’s very, very hard work and along with that it’s an incredibly hard work/life balance. I’ve got young kids now and it’s important that I spend as much time with them as I can.”
At its peak Moscatt says he did twenty-three rallies in one year, almost an event every second weekend, but he says that’s getting more and more difficult.
“It’s just not as easy as it used to be to do twenty rallies a year. The preparation to compete is incredible. For example to attend a WRC is a weeks worth of time, but to prepare for that event is easily double that. Two solid weeks of preparation before you even think about getting on a plane and heading off.”
“So for me the next step is stay focused and keep on doing the better events. As a co-driver, the longer you do this job, you actually feel like you become more valuable. So you’re always looking for a lower volume but higher quality of drives out there,” Dale said.
“Plus it’s really enjoyable to do those bigger events as well, that’s where everyone’s heart lies in rallying, to do those top-level events.”
The conversation then turned to the stand out memories from Dale’s long rally career. “The obvious highlights would be the Australian Rally Championships with Cody Crocker and Scott Pedder, they are fantastic,” he commented. “Also the IRC Production Cup with Toshi Arai. They are the things that stick out the most because you get the biggest trophies for winning them.”
“But I’ve sat with some terrific people along the way and that’s probably been the real highlight, to work with guys like Toshi and Martin Rowe who are at the top of their game and the amount I’ve been able to learn from guys like that.”
Equally Dale admitted that working with young drivers has also provided a real highpoint for him. “To be able to share my knowledge and experience with some younger drivers like when Molly started in the ARC and working with Adrian Coppin last year in Germany and showing him what the WRC is like has been great.”
But what about low points? “A lot of people ask the question about what you do for a living and when I tell them I’m a rally co-driver they immediately say I must be living the dream, and for sure I’d agree with that but for all the good times there are plenty of challenges,” Moscatt continued.
“I’ve been in some monumental accidents where you immediately wish you were anywhere else in the World, so yeah, there is a balance in there somewhere between the highs and the lows, and always trying to stay above the lows!”
Last weekend’s Rally de Portugal alongside Scott Pedder was Moscatt’s 301st rally as a co-driver, and he promises he has no plans to retire anytime soon.
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