RALLY AUSTRALIA: Pedder showing global promise

It was a big challenge, even for the reigning Australian Rally Champion: to dice with the young guns that populate the WRC2 category… and on their turf to boot.

For Scott Pedder and co-driver Dale Moscatt, however, it was a chance to show just what two talented Aussies could do on the world stage.

A five-event gravel program was designed to suit the team’s strengths as they made the transition from a front-wheel drive, naturally-aspirated Renault Clio ARC machine to the all-wheel drive, turbocharged Ford Fiesta R5 which sits one rung below the ultimate WRC machines.

In the lead up to debuting at the mixed-surface Rally Portugal in late-May, Pedder and Moscatt were able to test the RMC-prepared Fiesta R5 and Pedder was amazed by its performance.

“It was my first time in the car and it was just amazing! The way it handles is just incredible, I just can’t compare it to any other rally car I’ve ever driven in the past,” he said at the time.

He quickly found its limits, however, with a bit of panel damage to both ends of the car: “As a driver it’s important to know what you can and can’t get away with, especially coming out of a very different car to this competing in the Australian Rally Championship.

"Using this stage was as bad as it will be during the rally, so everything else I’ll face now will be better. That gives me confidence because I felt that today went really well.”

A DNF due to suspension damage in Portugal was an inauspicious start, however Scott was happy with his pace: “When everything was going well we were setting times a half a second a kilometre off the factory Skodas.”

Pedder’s next event was on the sun-drenched island of Sardinia, where running in the dust saw his pace drop off early before clouting a rock wall on day one forced the crew to restart the following day… only to suffer from engine failure.

The speed was clearly developing by Rally Poland, the faster gravel stages – as well as continued experience of the Fiesta R5 – allowing Pedder and Moscatt to record stage times within the top 10 of the highly competitive WRC2 group.

Sadly, an early power steering issue slowed the crew once more, before a suspension issue similar to that initially suffered in the Sardinian rock incident occurred on the Super Special stage.

Thankfully the car was repaired and Scott was able to fly, setting his first top-six WRC2 time, along with several more top 10s to allow the crew a direct comparison to the more-experienced (at least at this level) Jari Ketomaa’s similarly-specified Fiesta R5.

“He’s in the same car and on the same [DMACK] tyres as us, and we were matching his times on a lot of stages, so that’s incredibly positive,” Pedder said.

A spin slowed them on the final day, but not before another brace of top 10 times. The team was able to finish 12th in the WRC2 category, but the pace was there.

Heading into Rally Finland, Pedder’s understanding of the car continued to grow. “What I’m learning with the set-up of the car is that everything is the opposite of what I’d expect compared to every other rally car I’ve ever driven.

"[In Poland] The car had been oversteering quite a bit, so usually I’d have softened the rear springs to compensate. In fact we stiffened the rear, I thought that was the wrong call, but it worked!”

Finland is, next to the Monte, the most famous rally of all. And the occasion wasn’t lost on the crew, as they worked on pace note refinement while pushing on in trademark style.

They ended leg one in an incredible sixth position in WRC2, and 16th outright.

“We were probably 98 per cent flat-out,” said Pedder at the time; modestly, given his speed. “I was probably a little cautious with my driving, and with my pace notes over the jumps. Some we’d arrive at too slowly, others too fast and struggle to pull the car up before the next corner. All that comes with experience, but that’s where we lost time today.”

Further top six stage times culminated in the crew finishing an amazing fourth in WRC2 along with an incredible 14th outright, being the first Fiesta R5 pilot home.

The run apparently caught the eye of one Malcolm Wilson, the owner of M-Sport and a man that needs no introduction to the rallying world.

M-Sport, which runs the Fiesta RS WRC cars in the front-line category, will manage the Pedder/Moscatt Rally Australia entry as they return home to round out their WRC2 season.

Pairing with regular sponsor DMACK tyres the crew will be using the latest Fiesta R5: “The Fiesta R5 that I will be driving will be identical spec to the car I’ve rallied in Europe this year, but it’ll be the special car #100, which M-Sport celebrated being built at the start of this year.  

"Malcolm Wilson has told us this car will never be for sale because of its special meaning to the business but he will supply it to us for the event. Knowing I’ll have this car for my home round actually feels very special,” said Pedder of the opportunity.

Wilson added: "Scott is an extremely determined driver, he's taken to the WRC strongly, building his confidence step by step which culminated in a fantastic fourth place at Rally Finland.

"He'll face some fierce competition in Australia, from a number of WRC2 regulars, but given his progression so far this year I see no reason why he can't be challenging for the top positions."

Those regulars are less plentiful than in Europe, but nevertheless include Yazeed Al Rahji, Yuri Protasov and Nasser Al-Attiyah, the latter in the latest factory-supplied Skoda Fabia R5 which has proven a category pace-setter this season.

“I am probably more determined than I’ve ever been in my entire rally career,” said Pedder, who was able to test on local Coffs stages on the weekend to build on his local road knowledge further.

He will then participate in the Rally Australia shakedown on Thursday, before the rally commences in earnest on Friday (September 11).

And don’t be surprised to see Pedder and Moscatt on the WRC2 podium. Combining the crew’s improving pace and local knowledge with M-Sport preparation, there’s no reason why champagne won’t be spraying come Sunday night.