RnB in the fight for dual crown
- 7th December 2021, 9:00am
- by RallySport Magazine
- Photos by Luke Whitten
Queenslanders Ryan Williams and Brad Jones have high hopes for this weekend’s Monaro Stages, hoping to take out the 2WD and Junior Cup title honours in their Ford Fiesta R2.
In 2WD, Williams currently holds a six point lead over fellow Fiesta driver Dean Ridge, who has moved to a higher spec 2WD for the final round of the Championship.
In the Junior Cup, Williams’ lead is 12 points, over Subaru Impreza RS driver Ryan Poel.
However, due to the altered format of the championship, Victorian Adrian Stratford also poses a big challenge to Williams’ championship hopes.
Crews are able to drop their worst performing round of the championship, meaning the battle for the first placed trophy is still wide open.
“Like everyone, we are just pumped to go and drive again,” Williams said.
“We’re in a close championship battle with Dean (Ridge), and with Ryan (Poel) in the Juniors, so we really need to be on our game in order to take it out.”
The roads around Bombala are unique and fast, and will prove to be a real challenge.
Lots of commitment will be required to come out on top, but that isn’t worrying Williams.
“The roads look super fast, and I’m really looking forward to being able to push the limits of the car and myself. There’s going to be lots of time to be made purely from being more committed than someone else, so I can’t wait to put the pedal to the metal.”
“I might even have to install an extra gear in the gearbox!”
The event holds a different format to a regular ARC, and the one day format offers different challenges.
Despite being the single day of competition, the event covers almost as many kilometres as a regular two day event, meaning the schedule is jam packed.
“I like the idea of lots of kilometres per day,” Williams added.
“You have a greater opportunity to gain and hold rhythm throughout the day, and also have the chance to pull time on others later in the day.”
A lot is on the line for Williams, and he’s more than ready for the challenges he’s faced with.
“It’s our last hurrah for the season, and we are going to give it our all. I’d love to come out of it with two championships, that would really top off a difficult year.”