Following a five-year layoff, the Pedders Suspension Rally Team will again grace the forests in the rejuvenated 2010 Australian Rally Championship. Brothers Mark and Scott Pedder will run Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX’s in Australia’s premier rally category.
Pedders Suspension celebrates 60 years of providing the best suspension and related services this year and the reformed Pedders Rally Team will sport the familiar black, yellow and red that has featured throughout the thirty years of Pedders rally involvement where teams have been fielded in international, national and local championships.
Team Principal and driver Scott Pedder: “We have actually taken yellow out of our corporate branding over the last few years but with so much history and tradition associated with yellow and Pedders rallying it was an easy decision- we’re back and so too is the yellow!”
Leading the team will be Scott Pedder, who last competed in the Australian Rally Championship as part of the Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Team in the 2006 ARC.
The Pedders Rally Team went into hibernation at the end of the 2004 season, when Scott joined the factory Team Mitsubishi Ralliart for the 2005 and 2006 Australian Rally Championship seasons. Following the suprise withdrawal of Mitsubishi from the championship, Scott persevered, competing in the 2007 Rally New Zealand and was the second fastest Group N driver on combined times over the second and third days of the event despite a day one rollover.
In 2008 Scott contested the Asia-Pacific Championship with the MRF Tyres Rally Team. Event wins in the 2005 Rally of South Australia and the 2006 Rally of Melbourne shows Scott has the skills to run at the front and the whole team is looking forward to collecting more silverware in 2010.
“Ironically we won the very last round of the ARC in 2006, the Rally of Melbourne, so I suppose in one way I come into this year in good form!”
“Sitting back and helping out behind the scenes as a director of the ARC in 2009 was incredibly rewarding- however it made me realise my passion and love for this great sport. My brother Mark put the idea of a return to competing in the ARC before Christmas. Not long after it was pretty much decided- we want back in! We’ve had some great times in the ARC over many years and met some great people and I honestly can’t wait to do it all over again.
"The championship is wide open this year and the ARC Directors have implemented some changes that have not only added to the sporting side but will assist in the overall promotion of the championship.”
Co-driving for Scott will be Jon Mortimer who in 2008 was part of the Pirtek Ford Rally Team and has been a long time co-driver for Darren Windus.
Pedders Suspension Managing Director Mark Pedder will dust off the race boots following a five year competitive lay off. Mark said the decision to return was based on several different factors. “We had many great times as a team and it is fantastic to get the band back together. The Pedder Suspension business has experienced enormous growth and success over the past few years and it is testament to the team at Head Office and throughout the store group.
"As always, we will be including the Pedders people in the team wherever possible as we move around the country from event to event. We are also very aware of the commercial opportunities that particularly the 2010 championship will present – especially if we can achieve our goals as a team. Returning to the ARC will fulfil our goals as a business and satisfy our personal passion for this wonderful motorsport.”
Joining Mark will be a relatively new face to the championship – Catherine Smallbone has been a highly successful state level co-driver for many years and brings a new level of enthusiasm to the team.
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