Third place and some valuable championship points have been grabbed by Sydney driver Molly Taylor during the third round of the 2015 Australian Rally Championship.
Taylor, 27, and experienced Perth-based co-driver Bill Hayes had been in second place on Day One of last weekend’s event (June 20-21) before a mixture of issues with their Renault Clio R3 saw them finish third outright after two full days of competition and in second place on the championship points ladder.
Eli Evans and Glen Weston (Citroën DS3 R3) won the International Rally of Queensland to put them a scant eight points ahead of Taylor/Hayes with two rounds remaining in the series, while Adrian Coppin and Erin Kelly (Citroën DS3 R3) finished second in the event, which also served as a round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship.
“Queensland is always a challenging event and we found that out the hard way on Stage Eight on Saturday,” says Taylor.
“We heard a strange sound and when we got out of the car, there was water pouring from the radiator, because of a small split in the hose. Bill, the co-driver extraordinaire, and I did our bush mechanic thing and we managed to finish for the day, but we lost time doing the repair and then we were hit with a time penalty as well, so that dropped us further back.
“We’re actually lucky we even made it and it’s all thanks to Bill. His hands are a mess after doing the fix, but I’m pretty sure he thinks it was worth it!” adds Taylor, with Hayes muttering his agreement in the background.
Day Two was not without its challenges either. A non-demisting windscreen made it hard to see the road ahead, resulting in more time lost. Once the pair realised they couldn’t catch Evans and Weston in the battle for outright honours, they switched focus to claiming the best result possible and more points.
“It was a rough old weekend and the car has definitely taken a bit of a pounding, so it’s just as well we have a break before the next round,” Taylor said.
“That’s the World Rally Championship event [Rally Australia] in Coffs Harbour in September and we have some work to do to get the car ready for that. For starters, I need to earn some money to pay for it!”
While Taylor was happy with her pace at the weekend, she admits she is still not quite where she wants to be – especially now Evans has grabbed the points lead. Taylor had been leading the tally after the previous event in Canberra where she made history, becoming the first woman ever to win a round of the Australian Rally Championship, and she has her mind set on claiming the title.
Taylor started rallying at 17 and won two class titles in Australia before moving to the UK in 2009 to chase her dream of a career in world rallying.
She competed in the British, European and World Rally Championships and during that time she was named British Ladies Champion two years in a row, won the inaugural European Rally Championship Ladies Trophy and was officially recognised as the fastest female rally driver in the world (2013).
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