Australian rally fans have onlyabout three weeks to wait before shakedown commences for the tenth round of the World Rally Championship, to be held on the idyllic Coffs Coast in northern New South Wales. The official FIA-approved entry list for Rally Australia only serves to heighten expectations, with 11 full-spec World Rally Cars on show, including three all-conquering Volkswagen Polo R WRC entries.
Since winning both manufacturers’ and driver’s championships on debut in 2013 and repeating that feat in 2014, the Volkswagen team has so far won seven of the eight 2015 rounds (no, we haven’t missed one; the all-tarmac Rally Germany will be held this weekend).
Heading that list, as well as the championship, is Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, the reigning drivers’ champion. He’s won five rallies and sits on an imposing 182 points heading into Germany, and will be looking to take a hat-trick of Rally Oz victories this year.
With a win on his home turf in Finland, Jari-Matti Latvala – team-mate to Ogier – moved to second in the point scores, albeit 89 points off the Frenchman’s tally. Finland was Latvala’s second 2015 victory.
Also representing VW is young Norwegian, Andreas Mikkelsen. Now into his second full season with the team, his usual consistency has faltered in recent times as he struggles to match outright pace with his more senior team-mates. He did finish second to Ogier in Poland this season, but on either side of that event scored a solitary point in Sardinia with a DNF in Finland. He lies fourth in the championship with 83 points.
Splitting the Volkswagens on the championship table is the Citroen DS3 WRC of Norway’s Mads Ostberg. Not recognised as upper echelon for speed, Ostberg has nevertheless brought the car home where quicker runners have crashed. Two seconds and a third place this season have been the reward, and he leads countryman Mikkelsen by a single point heading into Germany.
Ostberg’s team-mate Kris Meeke is regularly identified as the sole competitor to the Volkswagen aces in terms of pace. His breakthrough victory in Rally Argentina led to Citroen principal Yves Matton suggesting that Meeke no longer has to prove himself, however the boss retracted that statement with Meeke’s subsequent poor showings, including a shakedown roll in Poland.
If Meeke doesn’t crash, he will be on the pace in Australia, as shown by his stirring speed in Coffs over the last two events held there. He is sixth in the championship on 54 points.
The Hyundai Motorsport challenge has intensified this season, with Kiwi driver Hayden Paddon emerging as a true star, despite running for the ‘second’ Hyundai Mobis team. As a sign of respect for his gravel pace, particularly in Sardinia where he finished second to Ogier, Paddon has been promoted to the primary team for Rally Australia, demoting tarmac speedster Dani Sordo to the Mobis team. All will compete in i20 WRCs based on that introduced last year; the mooted new car for Rally Finland will now not be seen until next year.
The Kiwi will start alongside Belgian hotshot Thierry Neuville, the man who gave Hyundai its breakthrough WRC victory on German tarmac last year. He appears to have been startled by Paddon’s gravel pace this season, but is still rated as one of the hottest properties in rallying. Neuville is fifth in the pointscore on 70 points, Paddon ninth on 44 points after missing Monte Carlo, and Sordo tenth on 39.
Although not strictly a ‘works’ team, Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport has long been at the rallying forefront. Armed with a thoroughly updated Fiesta RS WRC and two hungry young drivers, M-Sport has emerged as the team to watch.
Estonian Ott Tanak, known as much for his ability to destroy cars as for his pace, has returned to the team after being let go in 2012.
Immediately comfortable with the latest Fiesta, Tanak has challenged Meeke as the man who can almost topple the VW’s pace, scoring 27 points over the last two events. He sits on 50 points, for eighth in the championship. Just ahead on 53 is his steady team-mate Elfyn Evans, though his last two events have resulted in zero points.
With privateers Robert Kubica and Martin Prokop’s Fiestas staying home, the final World Rally Car on show in Australia will be Lorenzo Bertelli’s. The Italian is making the jump from WRC2 this year. His distinctively-liveried Fiesta RS WRC will add colour and personality to the event.
As ever, the WRC division will be well-supported by a strong WRC2 field, including Australian Scott Pedder in a Ford Fiesta R5. After winning his first Australian Rally Championship in 2014 Pedder has embarked on a limited international campaign and showed his pace in Finland, where he finished fourth in class.
Pedder will be back on roads he knows as he competes with the likes of Nasser Al-Attiyah for WRC2 honours.
Also entered in WRC2’s production cup is local hero Nathan Quinn, who drove a WRC-level MINI at Coffs in 2013, and finished ninth outright. This time ‘Quinny’ will rally a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.
Several key ARC entries are also entered for WRC running, including championship leader Eli Evans in his Citroen DS3 R3T and second-placed Molly Taylor in her Renault Clio G2; the car Pedder won the ARC with in 2014.
Rally Australia stages kick off on Friday September 11. Three new stages have been added for the first day’s competition, swelling total competitive distance to 309km.
This year also sees the Valla stage run on the Saturday night, replacing the town stages that have been run in the past.
Sunday’s stages culminate with Wedding Bells 2, the Power Stage that will award additional points to the top three fastest times as well as deciding the rally.