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Heat photos by Mitchell Winton – www.wintonphotographics.com.au

SEARCH FOR A RALLY STAR

Forty-two entrants contested the inaugural Search For A Rally Star competition at Sydney’s Oran Park at the end of November.

Created and organised by long-time rally nut Frank Barker the main objective of the event was to discover a potential rally driving star and provide an opportunity to that person to participate in rallying at a competitive level. An additional aim was to introduce and promote the sport of rallying to all those involved and inspire them to either compete, official or spectate in the future.

The 42 entrants represented each state and territory in Australia. From the initial entries, 12 finalists were selected with the winner to be decided at the Grand Final on January 25.

All competitors were put through a rigorous elimination process and took part in one of two heats that were held over two days. In the mornings, entrants were split into three groups and rotated each hour between driver training in the two SFARS 4WD Turbo rally cars as well as face to face assessment interviews. After a lunch break three further sessions took place where the driving in the two rally cars continued, however, was switched from training to assessments. In place of the morning interview a “walk around rally car presentation” was included to educate those new to the sport on the finer points of a rally car.

In the evening of the first day all entrants attended a four-hour rally lecture which was undertaken by a number of experts in various fields. Graham Humphreys spoke about events and competitor eligibility; Bruce Garland about team and car preparation; Ben Ruggles discussed tyre technology; Brett Middleton explained the ins and outs of sponsorship; Lyndall Drake spoke about co-driving; and former Ralliart works driver Spencer Lowndes gave some tips on driving techniques.

Over 100 people attended the seminar, including the entrants and their guests, and other invitees from the rallying community.

Driver evaluation during the two days was under taken by Mark Taylor, Ian Barratt and Darren Williams from the Sideways Action rally school, and the two Search For A Rally Star (SFARS) Galant VR4s completed over 700 trouble-free laps of the Oran Park dirt circuit over the two days. Nevertheless, temperatures soared to the mid-40s over the two days, and the engine water temperature peaked at 120 degrees on one of the cars!

The event was professionally filmed and will go to air in February or March. Two TV networks are currently showing interest in the program.

“The SFARS program was based on an ‘introduction to rallying’ theme, designed to train competitors in all aspects of the sport, train and assess their driving, and assess their suitability for the sport via their passion, plans, presentation and marketability,” Frank Barker said. “We also looked at what we called the ‘S’ factor – a star quality.”

After two hot days, the 42 entrants were whittled down to the following 12 finalists:

Cameron Wearing (SA), heat 1 winner, Adam Kennedy (NSW), heat 2 winner, Brenden Thomas (NSW), Joe Chapman (NSW), Chris Western (QLD), Trent Dutton (QLD), Dave Donegan (VIC), Dwayne Affleck (NSW), Peter Grehan (NSW), Brad Fitzgerald (NSW).

Two wild car entries were also selected for the final, these being Josh Reeve from the ACT, and South Australia’s Mettina Barrington, the only female to enter, but a regular on Jack Monkhouse’s ARC service crew.

The one-day final will take place at Oran Park in January, and RallySport Magazine will be there to cover the action, and to find, perhaps, a future Australian Rally Champion.

The winner will receive: A Subaru WRX or Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4WD Turbo Rally Car to the value of $30,000 plus a further $15,000 cash to get started. However, the winner has the choice to modify the total $45,000 package, within reason, to suit their individual plans and 2005 rally requirements. (For example, they may wish to take a lesser value car with a larger amount of start money to enable them to step up gradually with funds that will last longer. Alternatively, providing that they have access to additional sponsorship funds, the winner may wish to switch to, say, a Subaru RS to run the RS challenge in the ARC.)

Riding on the success of the inaugural event and the momentum gained from it’s growing awareness, SFARS are planning to launch three separate events this year.

Approximate details are:

1. SFARS II – Clubman Level – Entry fee $1095

Prize – Toyota Sprinter (or equivalent) 2WD to $10,000, plus $10,000 start money – Total $20,000.

2. SFARS III – State Level – Entry fee $1895

Prize – Subaru WRX or Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4wd turbo to $30,000 plus $20,000 start money – Total $50,000.

3. SFARS IV – ARC/National (Open) Level – Entry fee $2995

Prize – Subaru WRX or Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4wd turbo to $50,000 plus $50,000 start money – Total $100,000.

Contact SFARS on 0411 277 433 or email at frank@sfars.com to register your interest, or visit the website www.sfars.com

Yours in Rallying !!

SEARCH FOR A RALLY STAR Pty Ltd

PO Box 6232 Kangaroo Valley 2577

Ph: 0411 277 433

Email: frank@sfars.com

Web: www.sfars.com


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