The Holden Rally Team with drivers John Bruinsma and Lisa Read-White will continue their fact-finding mission at the Warragul event alongside Busselton Subaru Service Team drivers Leigh Hynes and Stuart Percival. WARC 2WD competitors Andrew Macdonald and Tamara Adams will make their ARC debut with their first rally outside of Western Australia.
While Bruinsma has his sights firmly set on the 2011 Australian Rally Championship he has promised to entertain Victorian rally fans, just like he did earlier in the year at the International Rally of Queensland.
“I’ve come over to do some preliminary stuff, same as Queensland, to have a look at the roads, spend some more time in the car with my co-driver and to continue to develop the car,” Bruinsma explained. “Mostly in preparation for next year.”
After finishing in 10th place overall in Queensland, Bruinsma said he was ready to recommence the battle of the family cars with the Hyundai i30 driven by Mick Gillett and Harvey Smith despite being advised against doing so.
“My mentor in rallying is ex-Australian champion in the Commodore David Thompson and he has strongly advised me to not take the i30 as a challenge and to just drive my own rally,” said Bruinsma. “Whether I am able to do that or not will depend on my mental skills at the time,” he laughed.
“I would love to beat the i30 on a stage and I don’t care what stage that is.”
Leigh Hynes and Stuart Percival will attempt to snap a run of non-finishes at this weekend’s final ARC round and has hinted to a change in driving style to help get the team over the line.
“It is a long way to come for another accident so I don’t plan on doing that,” Hynes joked. “We’ve had a way below average year but believe it or not I have had worse and the only way to get out of it is to keep on going.”
“Third and fourth places are not being picked up by the quickest guys but by the smartest guys – maybe I should drive like that for a change,” he said.
Hynes will also be acting as a mentor to young Busselton Subaru Service Team drivers Andrew McDonald and Tammy Adams who will make their ARC debut in a Toyota Sprinter Levin.
“Another thing we’ll try and achieve this weekend is help and guide Andrew and Tammy in their first rally outside their home state,” he said. “Hopefully they can learn from mistakes I have previously made,” Hynes laughed.
“If they do well this weekend then hopefully we can try to get them into a four-wheel drive car for next year’s WARC, but we don’t want to put too much pressure on.”
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