Three-time Motorsport Australia Rally Champion Cody Crocker has been confirmed to take part in Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania, the 2024 Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) finale.
Crocker, who is also a four-time FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Champion (APRC), will continue his rally streak aboard a MainFix Production Cup-specification Subaru WRX owned and campaigned by Tasmanian Tim O’Connor.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to have a bit of a go, and reminisce more than anything on the good old days,” Crocker said.
“The opportunity came up and Tim’s offered me a ride in it. As everyone knows it’s pretty expensive to do that sort of thing, so to get an opportunity to drive it, and not have to buy a car, that’s pretty handy.”

Calling the notes alongside Crocker will be his long-time co-driver Greg Foletta, who guided Crocker to two ARC titles in 2003 and 2004.
“Greg’s getting back in the seat. We did some off roading together with the Off Road Championship in the Polaris up until just recently. So it’ll be good to jump back in together,” Crocker said.
“It’s going to be great fun to enjoy what I did and loved so much for most of my life.”
It has been almost a decade since Crocker’s last appearance at an ARC event, with Crocker and Foletta participating in the Australia SXS Rally Challenge class – which has since evolved into the SXS Motorsport Australia Championship in off road racing.

Crocker’s previous dalliance in the outright ARC class dates even longer, with Crocker last appearing in a full-time capacity with the factory Subaru squad in his final championship winning season in 2005.
All three of Crocker’s titles were in the Group N-era of the ARC, where production cars were the preeminent formula – with World Rally Cars banned from the beginning of the 2002 Championship. Fast forward some two decades later, the front-end of the ARC is today led with a mix of Rally2 and AP4 machinery, and Group N has evolved into a highly competitive MainFix Production Cup

“The level of cars is just amazing. The number of Rally2 cars is astounding in the ARC,” Crocker said.
“We’re not going to be competitive up at that level, this is almost like the World Rally Cars versus the Group N cars of the day equivalent. So it’s going to be pretty cool to be a part of the whole thing.”
With Rally Tasmania relocating to Burnie this year for the first time in the ARC, it’s the perfect equaliser for crews regarding stage knowledge and pacenotes.
“I’m tossing up as to how much effort I’ll put into doing this,” Crocker said.
“Back in the day, it was a professional job and I’d put everything into it. Every spare minute was watching in-car and checking notes, and we were dedicated to doing it.
“I’m pretty sure I can’t do it at that level! If we’re competitive, then we’re competitive. And if we’re not, we’ll just enjoy it and have a great time.
“So I’ll just take a step back and just enjoy it more than anything, so that’s my plan.”

Crocker’s addition to the Tasmanian entry list makes it one of the most successful lineups in recent ARC history, with a combined total of seven ARC championships between Scott Pedder (2014), Lewis Bates (2022), Harry Bates (2019 & 2023), and Crocker (2003, 2004, 2005).
ARC Championship and Event Manager Adrian Coppin was pleased to welcome Crocker to the 2024 ARC finale and to the wider ARC community.
“It is a real thrill to see Cody Crocker back in top-level rallying again, and we’re honoured he’s decided Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania was the place to do it,” Coppin said.
“Cody will be another high-calibre benchmark driver for some of our younger competitors, particularly within the MainFix Production Cup.
“With entries still open until early November, it’s a rare chance to take on multiple Australian Rally Champions such as Cody, Scott Pedder, and the Bates brothers.”

O’Connor was instrumental in convincing Crocker to enter the rally, with current ARC frontrunner Eddie Maguire inspiring O’Connor to ask the question.
“Eddie Maguire asked a few rally people in Tassie to throw some support in for Rally Tasmania to help attract some notable entries to make the trip, so I thought I’d go one better and ask Cody if he wanted to actually enter in my car,” O’Connor said.
“I’ve known Cody and his Dad, Barrie, for a long time, and Baz has been a huge support of my own motorsport endeavours. So it made sense in lots of ways to get Cody back in the forest in a Subaru.”

Crocker’s car will be equally familiar to him, with the Subaru previously being used in the APRC as a spare car that Crocker ran in demonstration events.
“The car started life as a Possum Bourne Motorsport build for Motor Image Rally Team in Singapore, who Cody drove for in the APRC,” O’Connor said.
“I bought the car in gravel trim in 2011, and then converted it to a tarmac car.
“It’s cool that now it’s going full circle back to Cody in gravel spec.”
More information about competitor entries, regulations, and spectator information can be found here.
The 2024 Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania will take place in Burnie from 22–24 November.
Watch every round of the 2024 ARC, with event highlights streaming for free on 7plus.