This weekend the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship ventures to the West for the Quit Forest Rally. The second Round of the six-Round Championship returns to the Margaret River Region of Western Australia for the fifteenth time, taking in the townships of Busselton and Nannup, and also marks the events thirtieth year in the series.
“This is a very special year for our rally as we celebrate thirty years as a round of the Australian Rally Championship. Quit Forest Rally is the longest running continuous round of the ARC, something that the West Australian Car Club and the WA rallying fraternity are very proud of,” explained Clerk of Course Ross Tapper.
The traditional start to the rally, the shore side Super Special Stage in Busselton, will feature a noticeable difference in 2014.
“As the City of Busselton is currently redeveloping Barnard Park, the Super Stage has been redesigned quite dramatically which should test out all the previous competitors as well as new ones,” said Tapper of the 2.53km stage which will run twice on Friday evening and then again in a 4.91km configuration on Saturday evening.
The focus of the weekend will undoubtedly be the battle for supremacy between Brendan Reeves and Scott Pedder. The two have been left to dice it out after news that Eli Evans wouldn’t mark his return to the series until the third Round in Queensland.
“I can’t wait for the rally to start,” said Scott Pedder earlier in the week. “I’ve always loved the challenge of the West Australian roads, the unique ball-bearing gravel that we only ever get to experience on that side of the country.”
“To know that Eli won’t be there, and that Brendan took the win at the opening Round in Canberra, well that just motivates me to make sure we come out swinging!” Pedder added.
Reeves carries the momentum from his first Round victory, however the trip to the West last year didn’t prove kind to Brendan or his rallyschool.com.au Mazda2 and he’ll be hoping for a much cleaner run this time around.
The leading pair though will have to avoid trouble because they’ll be instantly under pressure if they suffer even the slightest hiccup, primarily from the chasing pair of Citroen’s.
Tony Sullens leads the charge for the fledgling team, while team mate Adrian Coppin has the experience from his visit last year, albeit he’s now driving a much more powerful Citroen DS3.
Mick Patton will be hoping for a less stressful run in his VW Polo, the Canberran driver was beset with an overheating engine during the first Round, while Victorian Alan Roe will look to build on his strong start to the year in his locally built Ford Focus.
Local interest will be focused on the pair of Sean Keating and Razvan Vlad, the West Australian drivers not only set to battle each other but also to take the challenge up to the ECB ARC regulars.
In the 4WD National Rally Series, former Renault front runner and Nannup local boy Tom Wilde will be first away in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, although he’ll be expecting a stern test from the outset from the experienced likes of Lee Hynes and Doug Tostovin amongst others.
The Quit Forest Rally also sees the start of the 2014 Side-By-Side Rally Challenge, pitting the best of Can-Am against Polaris, with rally legends Cody Crocker and Michael Guest always spectacular on tarmac and gravel.
New South Welshman Nathan Chivers makes a return in his Can-Am, having tasted a Round win at last year’s season ending Rally Victoria, while two local crews, Alan Grier and Dylan Minear, join the scrap for SxS glory.
While a bumper State and Clubman entry list rounds out the rally action for the weekend.
Stay tuned to rally.com.au throughout the weekend for all the latest news, results, photos and videos, starting with Friday mornings Armor All Power Stage from the Busselton Super Special Stage.
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