RACING AHEAD: Sue and Simon Evans from Nar Nar Goon will be hoping to repeat their success in 2003 at this weekend’s Rally of By SHAUN INGUANZO
THE YARRA RANGES will host a leg of the Australian Rally Championship (ARC) this weekend with Nar Nar Goon couple Sue and Simon Evans in the hot seat for Toyota.
The Rally of Melbourne will blast through areas of the Yarra Ranges with the De Bortoli Winery stage in Dixons Creek the spectator focus.
The Evans this year sit in fifth place on the ARC ladder, but the fact that the Evans’ first ARC victory came from the Rally of Melbourne in 2003 could drive them to yet another one.
The Evans’ story is one of the underdog rising to the cream of the crop, with the married pair going from selffunded rally enthusiasts to the professionallykitted Toyota Team Australia over the past few years.
The husband and wife team said they were imbued with a racing spirit at a young age.
Mrs Evans said she was introduced to motorsport at a young age because her father was a speedway driver. Mr Evans said his interest in racing began when his father first took him to Sandown Park, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Mrs Evans said being married had its advantages in the car, where she navigated and Mr Evans drove.
“We have faith in each other, and can read what the other is thinking.”
But with young children, Mrs Evans said Toyota was initially uncertain about placing both the parents in the one car.
The danger was apparent when the Evans last year had a serious accident in a Tasmanian rally.
Mrs Evans said the car’s build saved their lives, but left Mr Evans with a broken femur, costing him five weeks of intense recovery.
