Stage of life

It was a tweet from Australia’s last (and hopefully next) World Rally Championship (WRC) regular, Chris Atkinson, that set the tone for Rally Australia.

“Laying the rubber down on dirt! #GRIP” was the Hyundai WRC program test driver’s succinct summation as he watched the world’s best drivers literally tearing into the road on the Coffs Harbour (NSW) qualifying stage.

I’d been to local, even national, rallies before, but that one-liner bewildered me. It would be the first of many speechless moments throughout the weekend.

Deciding to eschew the noble but dull task of being hooked to the WiFi in the media centre for the weekend of Australia’s round of the WRC, I wanted to get out on the stages – to feel the experience for myself.

Thursday night, and my first glimpse of the WRC cars in anger is on the Super Special Stage, running through the heart of the northern NSW resort town itself. A mix of gravel and tarmac, it’s a tight, tricky test starting in Brelsford Park, featuring a jump and a tight hairpin, which many in the lower categories have trouble negotiating.

The true spectacle of the night, however, is watching the big guns. Simply, they’re all business. No pootling to the start line here; Finn Jari Matti Latvala’s Volkswagen Polo R WRC is aggressively zig-zagging and brake locking, feeling for grip, warming the car, preparing his mind for the charge.

On Latvala’s first pass by the grandstand, I see his eyes light up as the surface changes from dry tar to dampened gravel, wetted down constantly to limit dust. Undeterred, he keeps his foot in and the car, appearing to defy physics, comes back to him. Then, he’s off on a wave of traction and turbo thrust, left-foot braking around the long left-hander before stabbing harder on the picks to set the car’s attitude for the hairpin that follows.

It is intense viewing, and completely intoxicating.

Friday’s stages visit the forestry roads south of Coffs Harbour, near the town of Bellingen. I take up residence along the 24.91km Newry stage. It’s an imposing section of road, racing downhill over a pretty severe jump, the better guys breathing on top gear and breaking the old fashioned ton (160km/h) as they burst past.
To spice things further, there’s a compression in the braking zone for a narrowing, near 90-degree left that offers two choices: make it, or head over an unprotected edge to 50 metres of fresh air.

Out on these roads Thursday’s qualifying times assume vital importance. Of the 10 WRC teams entered, the fastest qualifier, Pommie Kris Meeke (driving the Citroen DS3 WRC normally reserved for WRC Germany winner, Dani Sordo) is first to choose his road position.

Despite the dust, which would suggest you’d want to run first, the loose, dry surface has made the stages incredibly slippery. It’s therefore preferrable to run last, letting the cars ahead ‘clean’ that slippery layer away. The cleaner road is apparently worth over a second per kilometre. Meeke makes the appropriate choice.

The fan next to me is from Belgium and now living in Queensland, but he’s made the trip down especially.

“For me, it is only WRC,” he grins.

To my left is a posse of Tasmanians who’ve also come up for the weekend, handy rally drivers in their own right. Darren Clark runs a classic RX-7 in the state series and is here to see the top guys, but also to support Stephen Turner who is running a two-wheel drive Fiesta R2.

“Usually, I want to beat him at home, but this weekend it’s all about Steve!” he laughs.

The marshal’s whistle ahead blows and the on-stage photographers scurry. Australian ‘WRC driver for a day’ Nathan Quinn is approaching in the WRC MINI he has leased for the one-off Rally Australia drive – at a cost that would buy you a very nice late model Porsche roadcar.

Over the jump he is cautious, still feeling his way in what is comfortably the most competitive car he’s ever driven. The downhill rush brings remarkable dust, and collectively we all spin 180 degrees as Quinn flashes past, the masses of dry gravel and the speed of the MINI JCW WRC blowing a shockwave of dirt into our faces.

Thankfully, the organisers relented and allowed three (rather than two) minutes between cars, otherwise visibility would become a very serious issue.

UAE Ford Fiesta driver Khalid Al Qassimi is next. The Middle Eastern champ is a driver known for finishing but not being of the absolute top flight, so it’s Latvala’s pass that I’m looking forward to next. The Finn, who’d qualified poorly, is pressing on to move up the order and into a better road position.

And Jari Matti doesn’t disappoint... His Polo is spectacular, thumping down front-first over the jump, braking later and harder than the others as WRC’s ‘bridesmaid’ sets up for the left-hander.

Cue dirt shower, on a larger scale than before. When the dust settles, the deep, rubber scarred tyre marks show just how hooked up VW’s dominant Polo is what to all of us still looks like loose gravel.

Young Russian Evgeny Novikov, shortly to celebrate his 23rd birthday, has been gaining a reputation for speed; and for using it to fly off into scenery. Said to be on a final chance with the QATAR M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC team, it’s apparent that Novikov is driving for points, lacking his usual exuberance.

Citroen’s Finn, Mikko Hirvonen, a three-time winner at Rally Australia, has a lot of fan support and is clearly relishing it.

Where the Volkswagen is spectacular, the Citroen appears more assured over the jump. Bursting past our viewpoint, Hirvonen’s trademark style is evident as he sets up for the left with a series of hard braking bursts, spiced with blips of throttle.

It’s all about fine-tuning the line, and it proves successful for Mikko on Australia’s unique surface. He will go on to finish the stage in second place, just 0.5sec off the quickest time after more than 15mins of combat.

Andreas Mikkelsen, a Norwegian heart-throb in another Polo, took the overnight lead with his performance on Thursday night. Running sixth on the road after qualifying, Mikkelsen’s pass is less spectacular than his teammate’s, and slower too. A two-time IRC champion, Mikkelsen’s first WRC season has been a learning experience, but there is no doubting his potential for speed.

You also can’t argue with fellow Norwegian Mads Ostberg’s talent. The Ford driver tends to fly under the radar, despite his victory in Portugal last year. He also flies over the Newry jump, swinging his Fiesta left and right before settling it down for a neat entry into the left-hander beyond.

With each pass a defined line of ‘swept’ surface is poking through more, giving the final three an extra lift. Just 25 (the same age as Ostberg) Belgian Thierry Neuville, in the final Fiesta, is a superstar in the making and currently second in the championship.

A known tarmac specialist, Neuville’s economy of movement behind the wheel translates – superbly – to gravel; where others slide and stab, Thierry is smooth and straight. The contrast is incredible, and yet he is immensely fast.

Is this the style of the future? Coughing in the inevitable gravel cloud, I became even more convinced.

VW’s Sebastien Ogier – the man I had wanted most to see. The championship leader is in immense form, his driving style unique once more. Where everyone had gone to the right to tackle the compression, Seb went left, pitching his Polo into a Scandinavian flick as the suspension worked out the dip. For a split second, he appeared headed for the cliff…

Then the Volkswagen’s tail danced the other way at the last moment, pulling into the left at a speed higher, and more controlled, than anyone to date. He was the obvious stage winner, even before Meeke came through.

The Brit, auditioning for a full-time seat in 2014, is superior to Sordo on gravel, and his instructions were simple – bring the car home.

Passing our vantage point the Citroen looked serene, in control, swift up-changes punching the engine right back into its torque curve. Unfortunately, he’d roll out of contention the following day on the near-50km Nambucca stage, the margin between at and over the limit in this company is very narrow indeed.

For the drivers, this section of road – about 500 metres – was over in seconds. For the spectators, the scene was burned permanently into the memory. There’s dust in the lungs, water in the eyes… And wide grins on faces.

Rally fans, just like their heroes, are a breed apart.

Professional Rally drivers all start somewhere, check out our visit to Rally school

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