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Evans Aiming For Three In A Row This Weekend |
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Friday, 01 June 2007 |
Caltex-backed Toyota driver Simon Evans will be aiming to continue his winning streak in the NEC Australian Rally Championship when the series continues in Canberra this weekend.
So far in 2007 Evans and co-driver wife Sue have won the opening two rounds of the series in Queensland and Western Australian in dominating fashion to hold a comfortable lead in the championship standings.
Their early season form continues on from 2006 where the Evans duo
steered their Caltex-backed Toyota Corolla Sportivo to a pair of
victories (WA & QLD) and finished every round on the podium during
their successful championship campaign.
In the corresponding round last year Evans finished second behind
team-boss Neal Bates after Evans was plagued by electrical gremlins
which affected the performance of his Corolla in the opening heat. He
is looking forward to the tough challenge on the Canberra roads this
weekend.
"The roads in Canberra are very narrow, and they can be quite slippery.
There are a lot of crests and jumps and the roads can get very rough -
particularly on your second pass through them. You need quite a few
warning signs in your notes because it is such a challenge,” said Evans.
"To some extent, the arrival of the new car and it being Neal's home
event takes the pressure off me a little bit. I can concentrate on
myself - I'm feeling quite laid back.”
While Evans is out to chase his third straight round victory,
Canberra-based Bates is will be focusing on a solid rally in the world
debut of the new Caltex-backed Toyota Corolla S2000 car.
The shapely new car underwent a problem-free shakedown in Queensland in
mid-March, and the team boss is hoping for a similar outcome in his
home event.
"These are the roads that I grew up driving on - I cut my teeth on
them. It was fantastic to win my home event last year - obviously it
was the highlight of my season,” said Bates.
“We would love to do the same again this year, but the fact that we are
introducing a new car brings an element of the unknown into it.”
This year’s Rally of Canberra, which sees round three of the NEC
Australian Rally Championship and FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championships
run side by side, will incorporate a 10.33km nighttime stage in the
Bluetts plantation following the ceremonial start on Friday night.
I'm really looking forward to the night stage, and I think there should
be more of them. Night rallying has always been a big part of rally's
heritage - I just hope it's not too dusty!” said Evans
Heat One will continue on Saturday in the forests surrounding Canberra
with seven stages being contested throughout the day. The second heat
will be contested on Sunday across a total of eight stages for a
competitive distance of 118.12km.
FAST FACTS RALLY OF CANBERRA - June 1-3
Round 3 of the NEC Australian Rally Championship (incorporating Rd3 of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship)
Location: Canberra, ACT
No of stages: 15 (Heat One – 8, Heat Two – 7)
Heat One Start Time:
Friday June 1 7:03pm (Stage 1 only) Restart Saturday June 2 8:50am
Heat Two Start Time:
Saturday June 3 8:43am
Total Competitive Distance: 220.00km (Ht 1 – 110.74km, Ht 2 – 109.26km)
Total Distance (inc liason): 733.42km (Ht 1 – 445.68km, Ht 2 – 287.74km)
Defending Round Champion: Neal Bates/Coral Taylor Caltex-backed Toyota Corolla Sportivo
Number of ARC Competitors: 39
Surface: Gravel
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