MOTORSPORT: Rally ace Atkinson takes on the world – again

It's long overdue but finally the planets are aligning for Rally Australia.

At last Australia's top rally driver gets to compete in the country's round of the World Rally Championship for the first time since its move east after almost two decades in Western Australia.

Chris Atkinson will be at the wheel of a works Hyundai i20 at this week's Rally Oz at Coffs Harbour, NSW, midway between Sydney and Brisbane.

Hyundai is in its first season in the WRC with this model, but it scored an upset win last month at Rally Germany – the most recent event.

Indeed its cars finished first and second there – driven by Belgian Thierry Neuville and Spaniard Daniel Sordo – after the fancied Volkswagen Polo Rs of French world champion Sebastien Ogier and Finnish flyer Jari-Matti Latvala crashed out.

Hyundai's success ended a record run of 10 straight victories in the WRC for VW, dating back to last year's Rally Oz.

Under the somewhat curious rotation policy of the Korean manufacturer's German-based team, Atkinson will be in the i20 entry at Coffs Harbour that Sordo piloted in Germany.

Atkinson, 34, is a seriously world-class rally driver but gets far too few opportunities these days to showcase his talent at WRC level, despite having added an Asia-Pacific Rally Championship title to his CV in recent years.

His six podiums when he was a full-time WRC driver in Subaru's factory team before its demise in the global financial crisis are the greatest testament to that ability.

But his three Rally Ozs were in the middle of last decade – he finished fifth in 2004, fourth the next year and ninth in 2006.

Although Atkinson is from the Gold Coast he did not get to drive in the first Rally Oz in eastern Australia, in far northern NSW in 2009, nor in the past couple at Coffs Harbour.

Indeed, WRC outings for him since the Subaru days have been spasmodic and this will be his first since March at Rally Mexico, in which he was seventh for Hyundai.

He doesn't have any special knowledge of the stages at Coffs Harbour but is upbeat just to be competing on home soil with his now long-time Belgian co-driver, Stephane Prevot.

“I'll definitely give it a good crack … and you never know what can happen,” Atkinson said.

“I just need to pull my finger out and go as fast as I can.

“My aim is to drive well all weekend. I'll be happy with that ... [but] I want to be well up in the points.

“Your home event is always special and the fact I haven't done it for a few years makes it even more significant.

“Since Mexico I've not done much racing, which is unfortunate because nothing beats time in the car.

“I tested for two days in France before coming home to Australia to get the feeling again and work on set-up.

“My target is to be consistent and be in the fight for a good result, but I'm not underestimating how difficult it will be to be on the pace after six months away.

“The car is showing some good speed, so everything is heading in the right direction.”

While the 26-year-old Neuville is the Hyundai benchmark, and was second in Rally Oz last year in a Ford, Atkinson also will be measured at this event against 27-year-old New Zealander Hayden Paddon, who is driving several WRC rounds this season for the Korean brand.

Paddon was the 2011 production car WRC champion and has competed in Rally Oz three times.

“Hayden's driving well and has been given a good opportunity with the team, but I've got more experience of the WRC,” Atkinson said.

There are nine other Australian entries in the WRC field, but they are names less known to the national motorsport public than the top competitors in the Australian Rally Championship round that is being run in conjunction with the world event.

This is the 10th of the year's 13 WRC rounds and the seventh on gravel.

Volkswagen only needs to score five points at Coffs Harbour to retain the manufacturers' trophy it won in its first season last year.

Only the VW drivers can win the drivers' title, with Ogier, victor five times this season, the short-priced favourite with a 44-point lead (187 to 143) over Latvala, a three-time winner this year.

VW motorsport director Jost Capito has vowed there will be no team orders to that pair, but there hardly needs to be.

A third Polo R is driven for a second VW team by 25-year-old Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen and he is third in the championship on 110 points after seven finishes in the top five, including three podiums.

Citroen is the other works team, while Ford's effort long has been through the M-Sport operation of Malcolm Wilson.

Competitors are now on reconnaissance, with a “Rally Show” in Coffs Harbour on Thursday before three days of competition begins Friday morning.

There are 20 stages scheduled with almost 315km of competition against the clock.
The action will be south of the event hub the first two days, with six stages to north on Sunday.

Highlights will include two passes over the 49km Nambucca stage – one of the longest in the championship – and the 9.23km 'Wedding Bells', which on the second pass will be the power stage with bonus points, as well as the super special stages near the service park at Coffs International Stadium on Friday and Saturday nights.