After a year away from the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship Mark Pedder is set to burst back onto the scene in 2015, and in the process become the first driver to embrace the new Maxi Car regulations when he unveils a Peugeot 208 at the opening Round in Western Australia.
With plans to contest the National 4WD Rally Series at all five Rounds this year, Pedder was determined to be the first to make the step into a Maxi Car.
“It’s exciting news, I can’t wait to get into the car for the first time let alone be able to show it off to all the other competitors, officials and spectators this year,” exclaimed Mark.
“When I first heard that the ARC was going to adopt the Maxi Car regulations I knew that was the direction I wanted to head, and I’m more than happy to be the first down that path.”
“It’s an exciting transition for the sport, and I firmly believe the Maxi Cars are the way forward into the future. So if I can showcase how much fun these cars are to drive and watch this year, and that inspires a few more drivers to step into them after this year or next year then that’s a huge positive,” Pedder added.
The car, a Peugeot 208, a brand new and was built by Baratec in Argentina and is currently enroute to Race Torque in Western Australia. Pedder, who ran with Race Torque in last year’s Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, will link up with the team once again this season.
While Maxi Cars in South America have previously run with a 2.4-litre, normally-aspirated engine, the car Pedder will campaign is the latest specification and will run a 1.6-litre, turbo-charged engine.
“Everything I’ve seen and heard about the Maxi Cars says that they will be awesome fun to drive, and exciting to watch. They are light, they are fast, and they should be super competitive against the traditional Group N and even Super 2000 cars,” said Mark.
In a further move Pedder has also locked in the co-driving services of reigning Championship navigator Dale Moscatt. With Moscatt already joining Scott Pedder on his WRC2 campaign, Mark Pedder said it was the perfect solution.
“Dale is a true professional, he’s proven that by winning two Australian Rally Championships with Cody Crocker and with Scott. So when we realised that the dates for the ARC were clear, with enough time for Dale to get overseas to join Scott in the WRC, it just made sense to do something together,” Mark continued.
For Moscatt it means that while Scott Pedder has departed the ARC this year, he will still be an active part of the sport. “I love the ARC, so to be able to continue this year with Mark is an opportunity I didn’t want to miss out on. And to be the first in a Maxi Car, that’s even more exciting for me,” Dale said.
The only complication to the plan may arise at Rally Australia, an event both Scott and Mark are planning to contest.
“There may well be a bit of a fist fight between Scott and Mark to work that one out,” laughed Dale. “If all is going according to plan with the WRC2 campaign then obviously that would be the priority, but we have some other ‘Plan B’s’ in place if need be to help Mark.”
Mark, Dale and a host of leading National and State drivers will converge on the Busselton region in Western Australia from the 27th to the 29th March, for the Quit Forest Rally, the opening Round of the 2015 East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship.
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