Current White Wolf Constructions ARC Production Cup leader Arron Windus believes this weekend’s Western Victorian Crane Trucks Valley Stages will be crucial in his national class title charge.
While he will not actually compete in the 10-stage Till Hino Motorsport Australia Victorian Rally Championship round, Windus and his co-driver Daniel Brkic will instead run in a course car at the front of the field.
The Victorian native hasn’t had the chance to compete since his heat two podium at the Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland in May and although he briefly considered contesting this weekend, he eventually opted not to when event organisers converted it to a blind rally.
However, as he is scheduled to compete in next month’s RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) season finale as part of the Kosciuszko Automotive Monaro Stages Rally, Windus needed as much seat time as he could get, which led to him running the course car.
Following on from this weekend, the duo will then look at entering the Gippsland Stages, which was originally part of the 2021 ARC calendar, at the start of December as one last outing before the Monaro Stages
With their car in pristine condition ahead of the finale, Windus and Brkic will use their next two events to get them back to the level that saw them produce two top five results in Gympie.
“We’re extremely excited to get back out there this weekend. It’s something I have been thinking about since Queensland,” Windus said.
“We have been analysing what we needed to improve on ever since then, so this weekend will purely serve the purpose of blowing off the cobwebs and getting vital seat time.
“We have a list of things we want to achieve from the weekend, but the main objective will be working on our pace notes, which is one of the reasons we’re not competing in the event.
“The car is fully developed so we don’t need to get extra speed or balance out of it – it’s exactly where we want it. That’s why the most vital part is just getting pace notes right, especially since the ARC is so competitive in this area.
“Our minds are fully focused on winning the ARC Production Cup, and starting from this weekend until the Monaro Stages, we will focus on getting ourselves exactly to where we were after Rally Queensland.
“We were on such a high after Queensland and we’ve been really looking forward to competing again, which has made the last six months so difficult, but we’re back and it starts this weekend with blowing off the cobwebs.”
The Western Victorian Crane Trucks Valley Stages takes place in and around Yarra Glen and Healesville on Saturday 6 November.
Photos: CH Images
