Driving a Race Torque prepared Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, 24-year old Tom Wilde has extended his lead in the Bosch Australian Rally Championship after victory in the Quit Forest Rally.
After winning the opening round in Victoria last month, Wilde backed up the performance with another win, this time on home soil.
His Pedders Suspension Rally Team car performed faultlessly over the stages around Busselto and Nannup, south of Perth, giving him the perfect start to the season.
“It’s a great start to the year and it’s given us a pretty good lead over Michael Boaden,” Wilde said after the dusty three-day event.
“I’m pretty confident heading to Queensland, but at the same time I know we don’t have to win every round, we just need to be reliable and finish events.
“Apparently Queensland is quite a technical rally and Michael Boaden has a lot more experience there, so I’m just hoping to get more points and do some learning up there.”
Wilde and co-driver, Lee Tierney, became the first Western Australian team to win the Forest Rally since 1992, a performance that the young gun is justifiably proud of.
“To be the first local to win the event in such a long time is an amazing feeling.
“There have been a lot of guys that have come close over the years, but this year we were able to make it happen and I’m just so happy,” Wilde added.
“We had an awesome event. It was a shame to see Nick (Box) fall off the road as we were pushing hard to keep up with him all weekend, but we had a blast.”
The result sees Wilde and Tierney 17 points clear of NSW rivals Michael Boaden and Helen Cheers after two round, with fellow WA competitors Nick Box and Ash Ridden in third place, a further 40 points in arrears.
The third rally in the five round Bosch Australian Rally Championship is the Rally of Queensland from May 25-27. It is also a round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, giving Wilde the opportunity to compare his pace against several international rally stars.
Rally Queensland will be a busy event for Race Torque Engineering, with the team also running two Skoda Fabia S2000s for Australian Chris Atkinson, and his Team MRF team-mate, Indian Gaurav Gill.
Race Torque are also running a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X at the World Rally Championship round in Argentina on the same weekend for Indonesian driver, Subhan Aksa, in the PWRC section of the rally.
Bosch Australian Rally Championship (4WD) after two rounds
1 – Tom Wilde / Lee Tierney ,152
2 – Michael Boaden / Helen Cheers, 135
3 – Nicholas Box / Ash Ridden, 95
