After being seeded 16th on road for the upcoming Philcomm Rally, Page and the team have had to withdraw their entry. After a frantic few weeks trying to complete the transformation of the newly-acquired RDR Subaru from circuit to rally spec, time has simply run out.
Usually running in a P1 Proton Satria, the decision was taken to step up to the higher P5 class to contest outright places.
“Brisbane Proton have been a huge help with the Satria and I can’t thank them enough. I just think it’s time I looked at outright pace and I need the right tools to do this,” Page said after Rally Queensland.
After starting the build on an Evo 4 RS it quickly became apparent this would take a lot more time than hoped, so former Gemini rally series winner and Supercar crew chief, Rod Dawson, kindly leant the team an ex-GTP WRX for the remainder of the championship.
“It mostly came down to the final details. I just didn’t set aside enough time for the little things, and that really caught us out,” Page added.
“I have so many people to thank for the effort put in, I owe more than a few favours now. The biggest thanks have to go to Stewart Reid from SR Automotive. Stewart worked so hard and did so much for me. After all this I am also much more appreciative of the small rally community. More than lending me his diff, Ralph French and so many others offered their time to spin spanners and help out.”
The next job for the team is finding some new sponsors and getting to know the new car before the Rydges Capricorn Rally in July.
“All I hope for now is some time in the car to get up to speed with 4WD. Uni studies will take a break soon and allow me to focus on getting up the front,” he said.