The latest addition to the Total Alarm Services rally stable is the car that won the 2005 Australian Rally Championship in the hands of Cody Crocker.
It is a 2005 Subaru WRX and it has arrived in Devonport ready for this weekend’s event.
Following Crocker’s ARC winning run, the car was converted from gravel rally to tarmac rally trim, and was campaigned by Dean Herridge in Targa Tasmania and Targa West in 2006.
Most recently, it was driven by Grant Denyer in the Lake Mountain Tango in early February, where it sustained minor damage after a small incident. However, since then it has been in the capable hands of the team at STi Melbourne for repair and conversion, and the car is now ready to tackle the Tasmanian gravel.
Brooks and co-driver, Adrian Hodgetts, are anxious to get out and run the car, but won’t have an opportunity to do so until the flag drops on the first round of the Tasmanian Rally Series, starting in Launceston this Saturday.
The 2006 season was bitter sweet for the North West based team. After coming to terms with a full-time 4WD rally car, the team were set to take out the Series title, but an engine failure at the final round saw them finish a disappointing third. However, the Total Motorsport team are looking forward to a positive season in 2007 and are ready to step up to the mark right from the first stage.
“I’m really looking forward to this season and taking it up to the other teams that are also in the hunt for the title, but I’m equally aware that it might take a while to come to terms with the newer technology,” Brooks said.
“This car’s seven years younger than the orange one that we ran last year, so we’re expecting to have to make some changes in the way that we approach things.”
The competitors in the Southern Cross Mountain Stages Rally will assemble at Archers Manor in Launceston from 7:15am on Saturday, with the first car departing at 8:30am. The course will cover over 130km in eight special stages.
There are three separate locations where spectators can view the action, with the cars passing through one location three times during the day’s action. Spectator Guides can be collected from local event sponsors Southern Cross, Archers Manor, Legana Tyres and More and Thomas Parker Rare Spares, or from Autocraft in Hobart
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