pedder ready to take on poland's high speed roads
- Scott Pedder and co-driver Dale Moscatt prepare for their third WRC2 Round
- The action takes them to the high-speed gravel roads of Poland’s Masurian lake district
- A full days test is planned to prepare their Ford Fiesta R5 for the challenge
Scott Pedder returns to Europe this week to prepare for his next outing on the World Rally Championship, the 72nd Rally Poland.
Pedder has had a tumultuous introduction to the highly competitive and fiercely fought WRC2 support category, having had significant highs and lows during his first two events in Portugal and Sardinia. But the reigning Australian Rally Champion says that he’s putting his experiences, both good and bad, to use in fast tracking his progress.
“I always knew it’d be a massive ask to go from a front-wheel drive in the Australian Rally Championship to battling against National and Regional Champions in the WRC2, especially in a car I’d never driven before in the Ford Fiesta R5,” said Scott.
“But sometimes you learn more from your mistakes, and after two very tough rallies I’m really excited to be heading to Poland and using that knowledge and experience I now have and putting it to good use.”
Rally Poland, since returning to the World Rally Championship in 2009, has become renowned for its incredibly high-speed roads. Pedder says the nature of the stages plays to his strengths and he takes a lot of confidence to the event.
“Drivers talk about Poland being as fast as Finland, just without the big jumps. That’s exciting for me, I’ve felt most comfortable on fast roads as I’ve learnt the Fiesta this year, and during my career as well. I go to Poland really keen to get back in the car and tackle some of those absolutely flat out stages!” Scott commented.
The build up to the weekend starts today with a full day test in the Ford Fiesta R5, with Pedder keen to continue the setup work he started in Sardinia. “Between Portugal and Sardinia I made some radical changes to the diffs in the car, so it’ll be a case of fine tuning those for the Polish roads,” Scott explained.
“Also the nature of the events, with much smoother, softer roads, means almost every component in the setup of the car will be different to Sardinia. The springs, shocks, roll bars, they will all have been changed in preparation for the nature of the roads in Poland.”
“Also the conditions will be much cooler than we experienced in Portugal and Sardinia, and we know that will play our hands with tyres. The DMACK tyres we’re running this year love the sorts of conditions we’ll face, and they have done extremely well in Poland previously,” added Scott.
The opening Leg of the rally could provide the biggest test for drivers, with over 150 kilometres of stages with no servicing until the very end of the day. “This rally will be won on pure speed, but also reliability. The action on Friday is probably the longest day in the Championship season without service, so it’s going to be a massive challenge for everybody.”
“I learnt an awful lot from the first two events we’ve contested,” continued Scott. “And I’m really looking forward to applying that in Poland – I can’t wait!”
About The Rally
The seventh Round of the 2015 World Rally Championship takes drivers to Poland for the 72nd running of one of the World’s oldest rallies. First staged in 1921, the event has a long history in the WRC and featured in the inaugural season in 1973, before disappearing off the calendar for many years’ to then make a triumphant return in 2009.
For 2015 over 90% of the course has been changed, ensuring that drivers will face a fresh challenge from the very start. The event is based out of the town of Mikolajki, several hours north of the Polish capital Warsaw.
After the tight and technical roads of Portugal and Sardinia, the focus in Poland will be on pure speed, with the events sandy roads proving to be some of the fastest in the Championship. While the road surfaces will be far easier on the cars than the rock strewn challenges in Sardinia, Poland will once again force drivers to focus on endurance with the first day alone providing over 150 kilometres of competitive stage with no service opportunities.
Pedder has had a tumultuous introduction to the highly competitive and fiercely fought WRC2 support category, having had significant highs and lows during his first two events in Portugal and Sardinia. But the reigning Australian Rally Champion says that he’s putting his experiences, both good and bad, to use in fast tracking his progress.
“I always knew it’d be a massive ask to go from a front-wheel drive in the Australian Rally Championship to battling against National and Regional Champions in the WRC2, especially in a car I’d never driven before in the Ford Fiesta R5,” said Scott.
“But sometimes you learn more from your mistakes, and after two very tough rallies I’m really excited to be heading to Poland and using that knowledge and experience I now have and putting it to good use.”
Rally Poland, since returning to the World Rally Championship in 2009, has become renowned for its incredibly high-speed roads. Pedder says the nature of the stages plays to his strengths and he takes a lot of confidence to the event.
“Drivers talk about Poland being as fast as Finland, just without the big jumps. That’s exciting for me, I’ve felt most comfortable on fast roads as I’ve learnt the Fiesta this year, and during my career as well. I go to Poland really keen to get back in the car and tackle some of those absolutely flat out stages!” Scott commented.
The build up to the weekend starts today with a full day test in the Ford Fiesta R5, with Pedder keen to continue the setup work he started in Sardinia. “Between Portugal and Sardinia I made some radical changes to the diffs in the car, so it’ll be a case of fine tuning those for the Polish roads,” Scott explained.
“Also the nature of the events, with much smoother, softer roads, means almost every component in the setup of the car will be different to Sardinia. The springs, shocks, roll bars, they will all have been changed in preparation for the nature of the roads in Poland.”
“Also the conditions will be much cooler than we experienced in Portugal and Sardinia, and we know that will play our hands with tyres. The DMACK tyres we’re running this year love the sorts of conditions we’ll face, and they have done extremely well in Poland previously,” added Scott.
The opening Leg of the rally could provide the biggest test for drivers, with over 150 kilometres of stages with no servicing until the very end of the day. “This rally will be won on pure speed, but also reliability. The action on Friday is probably the longest day in the Championship season without service, so it’s going to be a massive challenge for everybody.”
“I learnt an awful lot from the first two events we’ve contested,” continued Scott. “And I’m really looking forward to applying that in Poland – I can’t wait!”
About The Rally
The seventh Round of the 2015 World Rally Championship takes drivers to Poland for the 72nd running of one of the World’s oldest rallies. First staged in 1921, the event has a long history in the WRC and featured in the inaugural season in 1973, before disappearing off the calendar for many years’ to then make a triumphant return in 2009.
For 2015 over 90% of the course has been changed, ensuring that drivers will face a fresh challenge from the very start. The event is based out of the town of Mikolajki, several hours north of the Polish capital Warsaw.
After the tight and technical roads of Portugal and Sardinia, the focus in Poland will be on pure speed, with the events sandy roads proving to be some of the fastest in the Championship. While the road surfaces will be far easier on the cars than the rock strewn challenges in Sardinia, Poland will once again force drivers to focus on endurance with the first day alone providing over 150 kilometres of competitive stage with no service opportunities.
