Darren Windus will be looking to rock the boat in this weekend’s Netier National Capital Rally with the Victorian confident his new car can mix it with the best.
Windus has had a brilliant start to the 2019 CAMS Australian Rally Championship, finishing on the podium in last month’s Make Smoking History Forest Rally.
Incredibly, he and co-driver Daniel Brick produced the result in a much older car than a number of other crews, falling short to only the two AP4 Toyota Yaris cars of Harry and Lewis Bates.
With Windus now switching to his preferred Hyundai i30 G4 for the Championship’s second round, he believed the move was a necessity despite the season opener’s strong result.
“We realised we couldn’t catch any of those AP4 cars in the Subaru. It is just too heavy and has the wrong technology,” Windus said.
“It’s not the latest and greatest and we were pushing uphill to try but we couldn’t do anything more to get to the pointy end.
“Yes we finished third, but we were a bit fortunate due to some other cars facing issues and dropping down the field.
“The G4 car is a similar spec to the AP4 and that was the motivation behind the change because it means we can really go for a strong result.
“Making the switch was probably our best option going forward to keep maintaining points and continue mixing it with both Harry and Lewis.”
Part of the Activ Rallysport’s four-car crusade, Windus has removed any pressure from himself, with his new no-expectation mantra allowing him to enjoy the sport more.
While the Western Australian rally was Windus’ first podium in nine years, his last being in 2010, the Victorian was just happy to be competing with a group of mates at the top level.
“I’m a bit relaxed about the whole thing, even though it was good to be on the podium for the first time in a few years” Windus added.
“It was really nice but I’m still not fussed about anything more because I have no expectations and I am just happy competing on the national stage.
“I’ve known the Activ RallySport guys for quite some time now so it was just an easy decision to get together and form this team of four cars.
“It’s also much better driving with Activ RallySport because we split the costs together which enables us to have a real crack at the Championship.
“I’ll be driving Troy Dowell’s AP4 car and I think it’s a really good car. I am looking forward to the new-one day format and hopefully adding another strong result.”
The Netier Capital Capital Rally takes place on Saturday, 11 May around the forests of Canberra and will be free for spectators to attend.
Click here for more information on the CAMS Australian Rally Championship’s second round.
