The 17 entrants in the 2007 Auspine Rally will depart the Scottsdale High School at 9am and head into the forests where they’ll cover over 150 competitive kilometres, before they return to the finish.
Leading the pack away will be the newly crowned title holders, David Waldon and Ross Ferguson from Hobart in the e-Home Subaru WRX. This team has already taken out the 2007 title, but is still waiting for their first outright victory at the Auspine Rally.
“Winning this rally is one of the last things left for us to achieve this year,” commented Waldon
“This season has just been perfect for us. Source Automotive have prepared the car faultlessly for me and it’s been a pleasure to compete in it all year.”
As always though, he’ll be chased by several others who’ll be looking to put a dent in his end of season celebration.
One of these is Lee Peterson and James Booker in the Agricultural Resource Management Subaru WRX. Peterson has never competed in the Auspine Rally before and it has been around 20 years since he last competed in the area. He acknowledges that he’ll be pushing the limit to keep up with Waldon, however he won the Hellyer Rally earlier in the year on roads that he’d never seen before either, so taking first place isn’t entirely out of the question for the former Australian Rally Championship class winner.
Another front runner is the north-west team of Lynn Rattray and Lindon Hills in the Pirtek Subaru WRX. This crew has been operating quietly in the background all year, and finished in the top three at nearly every rally run so far. Consequently they’re sitting comfortably in second position for the title. Waldon and Peterson are going to have to keep their noses clean in order to keep this team behind them.
Although outright positions are all but decided, it’s far from a done deal in the 2WD category where there is a full field. Contenders for the title include Craig Sault/Scott Creswell in a Holden Commodore, Christian Philp/Mark Watkinson in the Rockit Asphalting Ford Cortina and Mark Kyle/Glen Corner in a Datsun 1600. It’s being touted as the battle of the season and everyone’s keeping close tabs on the action.
There are others though who may well mix things up for these three leaders. There is a local Ford vs Holden battle on with Ray Skeggs/Allan Roark in the Falcon XR6 and Tim Ritchie/Barry New in the Rare Spares Commodore. Nick Kingston/Ben Korpershoek in the Smithton Laundry Service Commodore, who has had a shocking season, will also be in the mix, looking to getting a good result on the board for the year.
There are two easily accessible spectator points and guides are available in local Scottsdale shops, Legana Tyres and More, Rare Spares, Murfetts Auto Electrical, and Pedders in Launceston and Moonah Auto Salvage in Hobart.
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