Brendan to contest Eureka Rally

Brendan Reeves will kick off his 2017 rally program at the season-opening Eureka Rally in Ballarat on March 18 and 19.

Entering in the Victorian Rally Championship (VRC) component of the event, Brendan will drive his Subaru WRX in the two day rally.

With regular co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino unavailable for this event, the experienced Ben Searcy will call the pace notes for Brendan.  Searcy was co-driver for multiple Australian Rally Champion, Simon Evans, in 2016 and brings a wealth of experience to the team.

The Eureka Rally, which is round one of both the 2017 VRC and the Australian Rally Championship (ARC), will get underway on Friday, 17 March with a morning shakedown test at Ballarat airport followed by a ceremonial start on Friday evening.

Competitive stages will then be held on both Saturday and Sunday, 18 and 19 March, all based around the regional city of Ballarat.

This is the first time in many years that Ballarat has hosted a round of either the ARC or VRC, and Brendan has not rallied on the roads in the region before, so he is looking forward to the challenge.

Brendan’s WRX has been re-tuned and had new header pipes added since his last event, Kennards Hire Rally Australia in November.  He’ll put the car through its paces in a couple of test days prior to the rally.

Whilst Brendan is yet to decide on his full rally program for the year, he is excited to be competing at Ballarat in what could be considered his ‘home’ event.  With a two hour travel time between his home town of Wedderburn and Ballarat, this rally will be easily the closest event to home he has contested.

“I went to Monte Carlo WRC to work with Hayden Paddon in January so I have been very excited to get my chance behind the wheel,”Brendan said.

“The Eureka Rally will be a warm up for me this year. I'm hoping to do some more rallies in Australia and New Zealand over the year.

“Because this rally is close to home, it will be cool to have some family and friends come along,” he added.

Brendan will once again be supported by Rallyschool.com.au, Reeves Earthmoving, Exedy, Stedi, Project MU Racing, Bendigo Tyre Centre, Pirelli, Motul and Revolution Racegear.

Photo: Peter Whitten