Evans’ R5 to take on Tasmania

CAMS Australian Rally Championship leader Eli Evans has confirmed he will steer the Race Torque Engineering Skoda R5 at next month’s Subaru Rally Tasmania.

Evans and co-driver Ben Searcy have been hard to beat since the debut of their super-speedy Skoda at the Make Smoking History Forest Rally in round two of this year’s Championship, taking out first-place honours at both Western Australia and the recent Netier National Capital Rally.

While the Skoda R5 has been quick, Evans said he had high hopes for his usual drive, the Mini Cooper AP4, in the latter half of 2018

“We’ll be in the Skoda again (at Subaru Rally Tasmania) – the Mini is not ready,” Evans said.

“Realistically I’d like to be back in the Mini in round five for Rally SA on the fast roads there because I think it will suit the Mini and we’re hoping to have a bit more power and a different aero kit.

“When you see the car (the Mini) next, it will look a lot different.”

Since getting behind the wheel of the Skoda, Evans has taken away some key changes he and the Evans Motorsport Team were keen to implement on the Mini as it goes through an important rebuild process.

It’s certainly been a busy period for the Evans Motorsport Team, with Eli’s brother Simon and multiple CAMS Australian and Asia Pacific Rally Champion, Cody Crocker, both driving the team’s prepared Polaris RZR XP Turbos in the iconic Tatts Finke Desert Race.