As a number of Australia’s best rally crews head to the Adelaide Hills Rally with hopes of showing off their skills at the highest level, one driver is using the platform as an opportunity to get back into the sport.
It’s been almost two years since Guy Tyler last raced in the CAMS Australian Rally Championship with the South Australian’s last event being the 2017 Kennards Rally Australia alongside Zayne Admiraal.
Unfortunately It was a rally to forget for the Datsun 1600 pilot who failed to finish the 11th stage and ended his weekend early.
Now, after a year of competing at state level in the Mitsubishi Evo 7, the 2016 British Junior Rally Championship regular is back in the action and is thrilled to be having another crack at rallying on a national scale.
“The Evo is fairly stock, but they are good cars and I have high hopes of getting some good results in it,” Tyler said.
“After contesting the 2016 British Junior Rally Championship it’s safe to say I have had to take a few years to recover financially. It was an experience of a lifetime competing overseas, but I am looking forward to getting back into the rallies I love.
“Although I haven’t driven in any rallies lately, I have kept in good practice through my work at Rallyschool Australia and my main role at The Bend Motorsport Park.
“Along with this I’ve been contesting several local rallysprints and have been navigating for Damian Reed & Steve Fisher in the SA Rally Championship over the past year which has kept me fresh; but nothing compares to driving.”
Fortunately for Tyler, he has also gained a new major sponsor for his return to the sport through Independent Air Solutions (IAS) – a Murray Bridge based company focused on selling and servicing all makes and models of air compressors.
The partnership recently proved quite handy for Tyler, with his Evo’s engine blowing up on a pre event test two weeks ago and the IAS team fixing it working quickly on it to get Tyler ready in time for Adelaide Hills.
“I can’t thank the guys at IAS enough for all their work getting me to the start of AHR, I now need to try my best to get them a good result,” Tyler added.
“I would also like to thank Mike Dale Automotive for their assistance in sourcing parts at such short notice.”
The Adelaide Hills Rally takes place in South Australia on 20-22 September.
Tickets to the Super Special Stage at The Bend Motorsport Park on Saturday night can be purchased here.