The crew from GTi Motorsport have been kept busy over the last few weeks getting their entries ready for the Quit Forest Rally, the first round of the Australian Rally Championship, due to start this Friday in Busselton, Western Australia.
There have been some major changes for the start of the year within the team. Justin Kinnear and Adam Pearson, regular entries in the Western Australian Championship in the Shell Racing Solutions-sponsored Mitsubishi EVO 7, are both taking a year off. Kinnear has just had a back operation whilst Pearson has recently married and moved into a new house and is devoting any spare time (and funds) getting into the family life!
This left the EVO 7 without a driver or navigator until Mark Cameron and Ian de Boer stepped up. Cameron and de Boer are the regular driver/navigator of arguably one of Australia’s fastest rally Suzuki GTi’s. Having driven Suzuki GTi’s for the past six years, Cameron has always been keen to try a 4WD turbo rally car and didn’t pass up the opportunity to enter the EVO in the Forest Rally.
“We booked a test day to give Mark and Ian some time in the car to get some experience before the Quit Forest Rally,” team manger Shane Kinnear said.
“Stepping up from a fast front wheel drive to a turbo 4WD is supposed to be a natural progression, but we didn’t want to take any chances and enter the Forest Rally with absolutely no experience at all.
“During the early part of the test day, the boys found their limit and had an altercation with a tree. The car wasn’t too badly damaged and they were able to continue, but the EVO went straight to the panel shop when we got back to Perth and was “patched up” and only made available to the team on the weekend before the rally. The boys have once again done a great job and have had to spend some extra time over the weekend and early this week to get the EVO 7 ready,” Kinnear added.
It will be a learning weekend for Cameron and de Boer, getting some competition experience under their belt in a much faster car. The plan will be to bring the car home in one piece and hopefully finish well within the top ten of the Western Australian Championship.
Along with the EVO 7, GTi Motorsport is entering the Suzuki Swift GTi of Tim Williams and Paul McGriskin in the Clubman section of the Quit Forest Rally.
GTi Motorsport wishes to thank all their sponsors: Shell Racing Solutions, Ralliart, Transtor, RyForm Doors, Easifleet, CTi Taxi Trucks, Major Motors, Howard Porter Bodybuilders, WW AutoGraphics and Suzukishop.
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