Having burst onto the WRC2 scene last year, former Australian Rally Champion Scott Pedder has confirmed his plans to return to the World series in 2016.
“We’d really hoped to undertake a return year in WRC2, so to be able to confirm our plans for the year ahead is very exciting,” said Pedder, who claimed a spectacular fourth in the ultra-competitive WRC2 class on his Rally Finland debut last season.
Last seen in action at September’s Coates Hire Rally Australia behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R5, Pedder, partnered with experienced co-driver Dale Moscatt, will switch to a Skoda Fabia R5 for the upcoming season.
“We are excited to be linking up with last year’s WRC2 Champions AutoTek Motorsport in the Skoda R5,” explained Scott. “Our plan is to undertake two solid days of testing before our first event together. I really learnt last year the value of time in these cars, they are incredibly tunable and it’s important to get the right feel before the first stage starts.”
AutoTek Motorsport team principal Ken Skidmore said: “We are really pleased to welcome Scott and Dale into our team. We are really looking forward to 2016, we know that Scott is relatively new to the WRC but believe that with the experience our team has, the speed and determination Scott showed last year, that a few surprises are on the cards this year for the WRC2 regulars.”
Pedder and Moscatt will once again tackle a core program of three European events, including Portugal, Poland and Finland, before looking to tackle the debut sealed surface Round in China, then rounding the year with his home Round in Coffs Harbour.
“That’s our plan at this stage, but we’ll assess our progress and Championship position after the European Rounds and if all is going well we have options for a further two European events,” added Pedder.
Experience was the key to Pedder’s season last year, both of the events and his new car, and he’s the first to admit that there were times where he struggled significantly.
“Portugal and Sardinia were very hard events for me last year, there was just so much to get my head around like learning to drive a very different 4WD, and of course the events themselves. And then we had some reliability issues with both power steering and suspension arms in Poland but Sunday in Poland was the turning point. I would have liked to have started the year again after Finland.”
“The R5 cars are incredible but they can be very finicky. The two days testing before Portugal this year should really help me find that feeling again in the Skoda and be in the best shape to tackle the event. Having the knowledge of the stages and events from last year is also a huge advantage.”
“I’m also going to employ a smarter strategy, because there were times last year where that probably let me down. If I’d driven in the middle of the road in Portugal and made it to the finish at a sensible pace there would have been every chance of a top five finish. There will be times this year on these long and tough events where that is what you have to do, balance the speed with caution,” Scott added.
The WRC2 series has also seen a major technical change for 2016 with the Regional Rally Cars (RRC) being throttled back further with a smaller 28mm turbo restrictor. With the RRC cars essentially being marginally detuned World Rally Cars, Pedder is confident that the traditional R5 spec cars will prove far more competitive this year.
And while last year Pedder and Moscatt faced more than 30 WRC2 contenders at European Rounds a number of familiar names have elected to go in other directions this year including WRC2 Champion Nasser Al-Attiyah concentrating on his pistol shooting at the Rio Olympics and Yazeed Al-Rahji stepping up to the outright class.
Despite this Pedder will still face a fierce challenge with Skoda fielding a pair of factory backed Fabia’s for Esapekka Lappi and Pontus Tidemand, former M-Sport WRC driver Elfyn Evans in a Fiesta R5, as well as R5 entries for Armin Kremer, Julien Maurin, young Finn Teemu Suninen, as well as Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and a host of other experienced drivers.
“Last year was insane from a competition point of view, it was absolutely incredible and this year seems just as competitive,” said Scott. “I still think top three or four results are achievable this year, the competition will be just as fierce, but without the relatively unfair advantage of the RRC cars.”
So as he prepares for his second season in WRC2 how does Pedder rate his prospects? “I don’t think we are at top three pace level just yet, but maybe we can start to push for some outright splits and stage times, and if we can be consistent I think we can achieve some podiums and be right in the fight!”
Pedder and Moscatt’s WRC2 program will once again be supported by Pedders Suspension, Swisse Vitamins and Noisy Beast Advertising.
Pedder’s WRC2 Calendar
Rally de Portugal (19th-22nd May)
Rally Poland (1st-3rd July)
Rally Finland (28th-31st July)
Rally China-Beijing (8th-11th September)
Rally Australia (17th-20th November)
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