Christchurch’s Dylan Thomson has announced he will chase overall honours in 2019 as he teams up with Specialised Auto Services (SAS) to campaign a Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
Now in his third season driving the Total Lubricants Ford Fiesta ST in the two-wheel drive class of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, the 23-year old has made no secrets of his desire to move into a four-wheel drive car for next season.
Former NZRC front runners Richard Baddock and Jason Anderson took time away from the sport to build their business, Specialised Auto Services. The pair had always intended to return to the series and had a car under build.
When Thomson approached the pair about purchasing the car for next season, they felt the up and coming star was a perfect proposition to help promote the motorsport side of their business.
“SAS focuses a large portion of our business towards performance, race and rally cars, engine building, tuning, fabrication etc, so we have seen this as a great opportunity to promote what we do by supplying Dylan and Amy a competitive and reliable car,” says Baddock.
“Dylan reminds me very much of myself when I started rallying. The two of them (Thomson and co-driver Amy Hudson) sit in a storage garage late at night preparing the car themselves and the Ford Fiesta they currently drive was paid for by Dylan himself.
"They have very clear goals, they’re well organised and they work well together. This is a pair that are doing the best they can with what they have. They’re not standing there with their hand out,” he adds.
For Thomson, who will continue in his quest to defend his two-wheel drive and junior national championships for the remainder of the 2018 season, the step up is something of a dream come true, while the fact he is able to make the step up in a Subaru is the icing on the cake. Thomson is also excited to announce he will continue with the support of Total Lubricants, Drew+ Accounting and Fowler Homes on the new car.
“It has really been a humbling couple of weeks, firstly having an opportunity like this on the table from Richard and Jason at SAS, but also the continued support from Total Lubricants, Drew+ Accounting and Fowler Homes, I swear they’re just about more excited than we are,” says Thomson.
With the exciting announcement, both Thomson and co-driver Amy Hudson now focus on round four of the NZRC, the Stadium Finance Rally South Canterbury, which runs this Saturday based from Timaru.
The event is a new one to the championship, but the pair are aiming to continue their unbeaten run.
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