Honda ups its commitment to the Bosch Arc with two-car jazz team for season 2012
17 November 2011
Honda Australia has announced it will campaign a two-car rally team in the 2012 Bosch Australian Rally Championship using the Honda Jazz built to comply the new Australian G2 rally rules.
The exciting development is expected to lead to at least one other manufacturer committing to the revitalized Bosch ARC in the coming months as it heads to an all two wheel drive outright formula in 2013.
CEO of the Bosch ARC, Scott Pedder, welcomed Honda's expanded commitment to the Championship and congratulated the company on its initiative.
"Honda has clearly seen the potential in the Bosch ARC over the past two years and the advantages the new two wheel drive format will offer it in terms of branding and marketing," said Scott Pedder.
"The Honda Civic Type R that Eli Evans and Glen Weston have campaigned over the past two years has become a crowd favourite at rallies around the country because of how exciting it looks on the stages and the great sound it makes and the new cars are going to look and sound even better," he said.
"The renderings of the new Honda Jazz G2 car are very exciting and give a strong indication of how the new generation of two wheel drive rally cars will look and I am sure they will fire the imagination of rally enthusiasts around the country.
"While there are strong indications that more manufacturers will be joining the Bosch ARC, Honda has to be commended for leading the way and being the first to commit to the new formula," Pedder added.
Honda Australia's two new Jazz rally cars have been designed to meet the new G2 specifications and will combine the very best in Australian and European engineering using specifications found in many World Rally Championship cars.
Both cars will be powered by a Mugen-tuned two-litre engine delivering 183kW of power at 9000RPM with 193Nm of torque.
Honda has yet to announce the identity of the driver combination in the second team Jazz that will be campaigned alongside the current team driver pairing of Eli Evans and Glen Weston, with the names expected to be revealed early next year.
Honda Australia spokesperson, Lindsay Smalley, said the new cars could take Honda from challengers to champions.
"We are excited about the next year of rallying. Racing is in Honda's DNA. These rally cars are modified with the best engineering from Australia and Europe. Fitted with Mugen engines, these may well be the fastest Jazz in the world!
"Honda is proud to continue its support of Australian rallying and we hope next season will be even better than the last. As our founder Mr. Honda said, if Honda does not race, there is no Honda," Mr. Smalley said.
The new Honda Jazz team cars are expected to make their debut at the opening round of the Bosch ARC, Rally Calder, near Melbourne on March 1-4 which will be the first of six rounds scheduled in the Bosch ARC next year.
For further media information contact:
Jon Thomson
Thomson PR
Ph 0418 641 959
jon@thomsonpr.com.au
Scouts Continue to Do it All ...
Scouts SA have again taken up naming rights for the 2012 Rally of South Australia, the 4th round of the BOSCH Australian Rally Championship, the oldest continuing national championship in the world.
"The aim of scouting is to encourage the physical, intellectual and social development of young people so that they may take a constructive place as members of their local communities," said Dan Ryan, Scouts SA CEO. "Getting our Scouts involved in many levels of a national motor sport event will serve that aim very well, and provide many relevant opportunities and experiences."
"This continuing sponsorship demonstrates a high level of confidence in the direction of the BOSCH ARC, in the sport of rallying in general, and in us as an organising group," said Event Director and Clerk of Course Ivar Stanelis. "I am delighted that Scouts SA has come on board again. It is exciting to strengthen ties to the largest youth development organisation in South Australia. I am confident it will be beneficial to both organisations."
The Scouts will showcase their own motorsport activities at the Mount Crawford Special Stages. The Scout Recycling Centre will also come into play at all venues, whilst there will be many opportunities to fill volunteer roles at all levels during the event.
Scouts SA prepares young people for business and community leadership and aims to help them achieve their full potential. Goals, principles and values, and further information are at www.sa.scouts.com.au
Scouts Rally SA, held in the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, Mt Barker and Murraylands regions between July 27 and 29 will double as Round 4 of the 2012 BOSCH Australian Rally Championship and Round 4 of the South Australian Rally Championship, with MOTO racing at Mt Crawford, and again featuring the popular CLASSICS category.
Event information can be found on the official website of the Australian Rally Championship, www.rally.com.au and at the event website www.rallysa.com.au
For more information, contact
Ivar Stanelis 0418 834 311 ivar@rallysa.com.au
Make a Wish Foundation
Proudly supported by Rally SA
Australian Rally Championship advertisment
Action photo from Mt. Crawford
Action photo from Mt. Crawford which shows the attraction of log jumping for spectators.
2009 & 2010 winner of the SA Off Road Series
Ivan Long
Australian Expert Outright Champion and outright winner of the SA Off Road Series for 2009 and 2010, currently leading the points in 2011.
2010 motorsport photo of the year
2010 Scouts Rally SA
Kanmantoo RX
By Phil Williams of Philwillmedia
Current SA champions Russell Marker & Karien Heimsohn
DAVID TO CHALLENGE REID FOR HONOURS IN SCOUTS RALLY SA
Jeff David |
Jeff David Porsche Stewart Bowes |
Stewart Reid Dallas Dogger |
JEFF David in his potent Porsche 911 will be keen to take out the top spot in the Scouts Rally SA in two weeks, business commitments preventing him from competing in the last round of ACRA’s Front of Field Classic Competition in Queensland last month.
David hasn’t competed locally since the Otago Rally in New Zealand. He did finish 2nd outright…
Classic cars from the golden era of rallying will line up at the head of a quality 70+ field of ARC cars, SA Championship regulars and bikes.
Stewart Reid in his Historic Rallysport Escort RS 1800 is hoping the local council has moved all the trees back from the edge of the road! He has not competed in Rally SA for 7 years and has strong memories of the fast flowing cresty roads, not unlike those of the Otago Rally in New Zealand.
“Look I have to watch out for Jeff in that German porker and Snooks in his Twin Cam Stanza. Barry Lowe has been fast all year, he lives in South Australia and knows every tree personally, his commodore has hundreds of horsepower’s, so I will have my work cut out for me!” Reid said.
Richard Galley in his 260Z Datsun will have the legs on the fast roads to put in a top result as well.
Ross Dunkerton, 5 times Australian champion cannot be dismissed and his
Escort RS 1800 is fresh from a recent rebuild, carburettors robbing him of a podium result in Queensland.
The AussieDuct team of John and David Hills are competing in their Escort RS 1600’s - potentially the last outing for John in the ageing Escort Mk1 as his new Escort RS 1800 nears completion in England.
Dave Thompson returns in the thundering Falcon GT. Henry Knott will drive his Datsun 1600, Neville Whittenbury his Datsun 180B and Brian Smith a Mazda RX-7.
The rally gets underway on Saturday 30th July at 8am at the Mt Pleasant Service Park.
More details www.classicrallycars.com
Dallas Dogger – ACRA Media dallas@ausrally.com.au 0414343223
Photos: Jeff David Porsche – Stewart Reid Escort. Stuart Bowes photo Credit
Smoothline Stage Notes
As per the event Supp Regs, Stage Notes (or pacenotes as they are otherwise known) for this year's Rally of South Australia are available through Smoothline.
Produced by 2006 Rally SA winners Steve Glenney and Bernie Webb, Smoothline notes are available for all tarmac rallies in Australia, in both 1-6 and 1-10 formats. In a first for gravel rallying in Australia this service has been extended to include Rally of South Australia. Smoothline offer notes in 3 variants allowing each team to choose the level of complexity they desire.
Further details of each variant are included in this overview document.
Compiled footage of Jack Monkhouse, Darren Snooks & Mark Pedder taking
to Tweeden on Day 3 of Scouts Rally SA.
I still Suck Lemons!
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IT's a dream come true for Stewart Reid, who has completed his first event in his brand spanking new Escort RS1800, finishing 4th outright.
Reid, who runs SR Automotive in Kippa Ring a suburb of Brisbane, is "living the dream" of driving one of rallying's most iconic rally cars.
"I go to the fridge every day and suck a lemon to see if I am really awake!" Reid quipped. "I stood in a Scottish forest 20 years ago and saw a RS1800 Escort in full flight and I said to myself "Someday I will have one of those!"
Reid, an accomplished driver has competed for 20 years in various cars, including one of the ex works Toyota S2000's of Neal Bates. "I drove Neal's car in Rally SA last year and it was certainly very exciting". He said. "I was keen on a purchase but there was that lingering thought of an Escort."
"I saw that Classic rallying was on the rise and after some research contacted Mark Solloway at Historic Rallysport in the UK. At that stage Mark had just completed a RS 1800 for Mikko Hirvonen the WRC World Champion. That was good enough for me so I ordered the same car!"
The new car arrived in early February by sea freight and it was an anxious Reid who picked up the car at customs. He had 2 weeks to be ready for its first event Rally Tasmania.
Mark Solloway arrived to take charge of servicing and the car ran faultlessly during the Tarmac event, with Reid and Stacy setting consistent top 5 times - the only maintenance, a full check over and the front discs replaced, after a lot of late braking on the twisty Tasmania roads.
The RS 1800 has been returned to gravel specification in Reid's SR Automotive workshop and he is eager to race Barry Lowe in the upcoming QUIT Forest Rally in Perth, the ARC opener. "I was hoping for more classics to race but Barry is a form competitor and we look forward to seeing how we go against him" Reid said. "Then there is the GT Falcon, she will be a handful on the ball bearings!"
"We will be at the International Rally of Queensland in May and we will do other events as they come up." Reid said.
I am ready to have a crack against Jeff David, who is bringing his new Porsche to Queensland bring it on .!
Reid will be joined by up to fifteen other Classic rally competitors who compete in a diverse range of cars from a Capri V8 to Datsun Stanza's. Escort BDG's are popular too, with no less than five of the high revving models in capable hands.
All are part of the ever-growing Classic rally movement in Australia. ACRA ran a successful Classic competition in 2010 and members thrilled thousands of spectators at ARC events.
"Classic Rallying in Europe is huge. It's not uncommon for over 300 competitors to compete in a Classic event there". Reid said.
"I want to support Australian classic rallying and I hope plenty get out there and compete and I can't wait for Neal Bates to get his new Celica finished. We will see just how good it is! I will be trying my hardest to knock him off!"
Reid and top co driver Mark Stacy will drive the SR Automotive RS 1800 at the QUIT forest rally the first round of the new "Unrestricted ARC" in Perth next month.
If you live in Western Australia here is your chance to see one of the best Classic rally cars in action.
2011 Rally News
- Age No Factor In Classic Result at Scouts Rally SA
- Classics Build On Successful 2010
- ACTION, ADVENTURE, EXCITEMENT..Scouts really do "Do it All!
- The Mt Pleasant Christmas Pageant
- BullGuard and Rally SA join forces to support fast and powerful performance
- Workzone Traffic Control has SCOUTS RALLY SA covered
- Scouts Rally SA and Make-a-Wish combine to make a difference
- Scouts really do "Do it All!"
- Rallyschool.com.au ZEROs in on the 2011 SCOUTS RALLY SA
