Brendan tests Evo IX ahead of Rally Whangarei

Brendan and Rhianon arrived in New Zealand on Saturday to start their preparations for this weekend's Rally Whangarei. Brendan will drive Hayden Paddon's Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX in the rally and he took the car for a shakedown yesterday.

 

"We did a 50 km shakedown today to get a feel for the car for the first time. It took a few runs to get the right feeling of the Evo as it had a lot more initial understeer than my Subaru. After giving it a bit more of a sideways set up into the corner, it is now more suited to my driving style," Brendan said.

 

"The test road had some similar characteristics to Rally Whangarei but none of the fast sections like we see a lot up there. It was a great opportunity to get some valuable time in the car," he added.

Today Brendan and Rhianon head to Auckland and then onto Whangarei where they will spend the week preparing for the event.

Rally Whangarei is round 4 of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship and it gets underway this Friday, July 15 at 5pm (NZ time).