Current and two-time Tasmanian Rally Series title holder, David Waldon, is returning to tarmac rallying after a seven year break, to start Rally Tasmania this month.
It will be quite a change from the past seven seasons of gravel rallying for the Waldon team and although they won’t be challenging the likes of Richards and Longhurst for an outright win, they’ll certainly be keeping the front runners honest in the e-Home Subaru WRX.
“We’re not making huge changes to the car to get it into bitumen trim. We’re only doing what we need to to make it safe and handle the different conditions because the car has to be ready for the first round of the gravel Tasmanian Series in a month’s time,” Waldon said.
Calling the notes for Waldon will be Zara White – the co-driver he last did a pace-noted tarmac rally with. And although it’s been a while since they’ve competed together as a crew, they have teamed up to perform on-road official duties at Rally Tasmania in the past, so they know that they work well together.
And what’s the team’s overall goal for the rally?
Certainly to finish in one piece – that’s a given. Test the car to see what its strengths and weaknesses are on tarmac, and while doing so, to stay competitive within the field.
“We’ve got other tarmac plans for later in the year, so we’re really using Rally Tasmania as a bit of a testing exercise,” Waldon added.
“The plan is to get in there, have some fun and see how well we can do with what is just a regular rally car up against some rocket-ships. We’re even leaving the restrictor in so we don’t have to make huge changes to the engine management”.
The crew will be heading to Burnie from their Hobart home base early next week to go over the course and write their pace notes, and generally settle into the event.
Then it’s heads down for the start of the rally on Friday, February 15 in central Burnie. The rally finishes back in Burnie on Sunday, February 17.
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