After winning the first two Rounds of the ARC, Rally Calder and the Quit Forest Rally, Tom Wilde – backed by Pedders Suspension - has signalled his intentions for a trifecta at the International Rally of Queensland (IROQ).

It will be Wilde’s first IROQ; “I always look forward to competing in events that are new to me, but understand that having not driven the roads previously could be a disadvantage to us.  I’ve heard it’s a very technical event and we have done a lot of work improving our pace noting since the last round.”  
Wilde has been studying in-car footage of last year’s IROQ to familiarise himself with the type of roads he will encounter over the weekend.  

Navigator Lee Tierney has competed in IROQ for the past two years and brings with him a lot of knowledge of the event “We were leading the event last year until Ryan Smart took the lead on the final stage.  It’s a great event, being part of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship - It’s a good chance to see how you fair against teams at that level.” said Tierney.

But getting to IROQ hasn’t all been smooth sailing says Wilde, “We were short of funding but thanks to Mick Ryan of Rallyschool.com we organised a couple of ride day fundraisers which were a huge success.  Without his generosity we would have found it very hard to get to this event.”
After testing the RaceTorque Engineering’s Mitsubishi Evo 10, Wilde was impressed with the performance of the car on the Queensland roads. “The engine has been rebuilt since the Forest Rally and it definitely felt faster and the R4 suspension kit seemed to handle the bumpy sections very well”.

Wilde will not be the only driver under Racetorque Engineering’s wing, with Chris Atkinson and Gaurav Gill competing in the MRF Skodas.  

“Racetorque Engineering consistently  provide a very fast and reliable car, they also have a huge desire to win which shows in their car preparation and maintenance, It’s great to be involved with such a professional company” said Wilde.

Wilde will not be getting ahead of himself as he realises this is one of the most unforgiving rallies.  “This weekend will be about driving our own rally and making sure we get the car to the finish.  Pedders Suspension have made this all possible – we want to repay them by winning the championship.”


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