Quit Forest Rally organisers have published the official entry list for round one of the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship (GARC). Australia’s elite rally crews will be driving excitement into the host towns of Busselton and Nannup from Friday 13^th May to Sunday 15^th May 2005.

With 50 entered teams and a change to the traditional event date, the 2005 Quit Forest Rally will offer plenty of sideways motor sport action to keep fans enthralled. In May, the damper roads mean that driver’s starting at the front of the field will no longer have a dust-free advantage and this will also provide clear views for fans and media alike.

Some notable manufacturer entries this year include the change in Team Mitsubishi Ralliart’s driver line up. Past privateer entrant Scott Pedder is Mitsubishi’s only fully supported factory driver this year and will be in car number 4. Exciting privateer youngster Jack Monkhouse in car number 6 is Mitsubishi’s second driver nominated to score points for the team at the Quit Forest Rally.

Team Toyota Racing’s driver and co-driver line up is the same as in 2004 with rally veterans Neal Bates and Coral Taylor in car number 7 and husband and wife team Simon and Sue Evans in car number 10. Exciting and promising driver Ben Barker with co-driver Damian Long are Team Toyota Racing’s third entry in car number 8. All three will be out convert the results of positive testing in the off season and fast stage times set in Canberra to championship points on Sunday afternoon.

Like Mitsubishi, there have been changes in Subaru Rally Team Australia’s line up. Current GARC Champion Cody Crocker has a new co-driver, Dale Moscatt. Crocker’s former co-driver Greg Foletta has moved into the role as Subaru Motorsport Manager and will calling the shots from a different perspective.

Western Australian (WA) hero Dean Herridge also has a new co-driver in his Subaru this year. Ex-policeman Bill Hayes is no new comer to the sport having spent the last four years calling the pacenotes for Dean’s father, Rob Herridge. Dean’s former co-driver Glenn Macneall is now sitting alongside Chris Atkinson in the Subaru World Rally Team and is competing at the sport’s most elite level in the World Rally Championship (WRC). Their meteoric rise to the WRC was cemented after a fantastic result at Telstra Rally Australia last year where the pair competed for the first time together and finished fifth outright and first in the Group ‘N’ class.

The Les Walkden Rallying (LWR) Subaru Australia Satellite Rally Team has entered two left-hand drive rally cars. The team’s primary focus is to develop promising rallying talent with the aim of giving more Australian’s the necessary training to put them in good stead for the World Rally Championship. In the team’s inaugural year, the adopted Australians Juha Kangas and Julia Rabbett will team together in car number 3. Benni Tirant who was one of the standouts from the Subaru Rally Challenge in 2004 is the second entered LWR entry with local WA co-driver Ben Searcy calling the shots.

For the first time, a Toyota Corolla 4WD rally car has been privately entered by Lincorp Automotive with Martin Lintott in the driver’s seat and Tony Jackson in the co-drivers seat in car number 9. The team bought one of Team Toyota Racing’s rally cars formerly driven by the experienced Neal Bates.

The Privateers Cup has 14 competitors battling for points at this season’s opening round. New South Welshman Kevin Shaw is driving a Dunlop supported Mitsubishi Lancer in car number 20. Western Australian Craig Bignell will have the state’s most experienced female co-driver Joan Percival calling pace notes in car number 23.

Last year’s Subaru One Make Series winner, South Australian Steve Glenney, has bought himself a new rally car, the Subaru Impreza WRX Sti campaigned by Dean Herridge in 2004. Alongside Glenny will be Canberran co-driver Bernie Webb calling pace notes in car number 26.

Car number 13 is a Dunlop supported Subaru Impreza WRX Sti once owned by the late Possum Bourne. Brad Goldsbrough, who won the Privateers Cup in 2004, has new co-driver Paul Humm calling pace notes. Goldsbrough’s previous co-driver was Dale Moscatt who this year will be co-driving with current GARC Champion Cody Crocker. Humm was Scott Pedder’s co-driver in the 2004 Privateers Cup. Goldsbrough has a reputation as a hard driver pushing his car to the limit and will be fighting to retain his title as Privateers Cup Champion.

John Mitchell with partner and co-driver Jo Cadman will be driving car number 15, an ex-Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII. Mitchell has shown good pace in the past, particularly on NSW roads. Cadman sat alongside Dick Johnson as a judge on the TV show 'Australia's Worst Drivers'.

Adopted West Australian Darren Windus and co-driver for the past five years Mike Cain were leading the Subaru Rally Challenge last year before they crashed heavily in Rally of Melbourne. They have taken the next step and moved up a level to challenge the Privateers Cup this year. Their new Subaru Impreza WRX had no expense spared when it was built and will sport number 27.

In car number 21 is the winner of Targa Tasmania last year, Tony Sullens. Calling pace notes is Ben Atkinson, the brother of Australia’s only driver competing at the pinnacle of rallying, Chris Atkinson. Ben Atkinson is a well versed co-driver having called pace notes his brother’s in past years.

A first time challenger in the Privateers Cup is Western Australian Bradley Markovic. Markovic will be keen to convert the promising form shown last year in his Subaru Impreza WRX Sti with co-driver Anthony Chudleigh beside him in car number 25.

After the cancellation of the round one of the Western Australian State Rally Championship due to unfavourable weather conditions in April, local competitors have yet to compete in their rally ready cars. They are itching to get behind the wheel and go sliding through the forests racing the toughest competitor of all, the clock. With a strong field of 32 teams from Western Australia entered in the Quit Forest Rally, local spectators will have plenty of home grown talent to cheer on.

Western Australian team Maximum Motorsport has six cars entered in this year’s Quit Forest Rally, tripling their entry numbers from last year. Rally veteran Rob Herridge will have Lisa Dunkerton calling pace notes in car number 18. Lisa, the wife of one of Australia’s most coveted rally drivers Ross Dunkerton, has been infected with her husband’s passion for rallying in recent years.

Eye surgeon by day, rally driver by weekend, Graham Furness has his brother-in-law Peter Lindsay in the co-driver’s seat in Maximum Motorsport’s car number 37. Toby Heyring and co-driver Peter Turner are Maximum Motorsport’s third entry in car number 42.

Rob Herridge’s cousin Shane Cary will be making his debut co-driving for Adam Smits in a Maximum Motorsport entry in car number 53. A finalist from Telstra Rally Australia’s Win a Drive competition last year Robert Ash loved rally driving so much that he completed both the introductory and level two Rally Max courses with Maximum Motorsport. Ash will have co-driver Alex Kirkhouse calling pace notes in car number 55.

Local Network Ten motor sport personality Tolley Challis and long-time co-driver Greg Flood have competed in almost every Forest Rally event for the past 22 years. In 2004 a serious accident retired them from the event and they both spent a short time in hospital. They will be looking to improve their results in car number 22 this year.

Spectators can expect to see amongst the usual rallying Subaru Imprezas, Mitsubishi Lancers, and Toyota Corollas other makes of rally cars. Entered cars in the Quit Forest Rally include a Suzuki Swift, Honda Civic, Ford Escort, Datsun 1200 and 1600, Mazda 323 and Astina, Nissan Pulsar, Hyundai Lantra and Coupe and a Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg.

Tickets to the Quit Forest Rally are reasonably priced at $10 per adult per day with children under the age of 15 free. On Friday 13^th May the Busselton Toyota Super Stage has an extended fireworks display and extra entertainment. On Saturday 14^th May the $10 ticket includes the country spectator points and the Busselton Toyota Super Stage on the foreshore in the evening. Or for $25 for a weekend pass, entry to all spectator points and the Busselton Toyota Super Stage on both nights is included, giving fans great value for money.

With the unfortunate postponement of The Lewana Stages Rally in early April due to weather conditions, Western Australian Rally competitors will be itching to get into effectively the first round of the WA State Rally Championship (WARC), the Quit Forest Rally.

The Quit Forest Rally also forms Round one of the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship which will no doubtly add extra impact to the WA Championship. The opportunity to compete against some of Australia’s top teams is a large draw card for WA competitors. Hosted by the West Australian Car Club, the Quit Forest Rally will be run from the 13th to the 15th of May and is the longest rally in the WA State Championship.

The rally will kick off on Friday night in the seaside town of Busselton with the Busselton Toyota Super Stage. Teams will have the chance to contest the short bitumen Super Stage twice on the Friday evening as a warm up for the country gravel competition the next day. The Super Stage will be located on the popular Busselton foreshore and with a multitude of entertainment including fireworks, it will present a carnival atmosphere to launch the rally.

Saturday morning will see the first assault on gravel as the teams head out from the Busselton Rally Headquarters and up to the town of Nannup for the day's competition. The gravel stages for this year's Quit Forest Rally are all based around Nannup, with a gravel Super Special Stage being conducted around the Nannup Oval, a short walk from the town centre. The main streets of Nannup will be transformed into a service park, where teams will adjust, repair and refuel rally cars between special stages. Spectators will be able to watch the action around Nannup as well as follow the progress of rally teams via a results centre located in the service park. During the day's gravel stages, several spectator points will be available to watch rally cars fly by, engines in full war cry, through the forest.

The Quit Forest Rally is actually two heats. Heat one starts Friday

evening and concludes on Saturday afternoon with the last of the gravel stages around Nannup. After the last stage, competing cars will return to the Nannup Service Park for a lengthy service before heading back down to Busselton.

Heat two starts Saturday evening with a repeat of the Busselton Super Stage, run in similar fashion to the previous night. Half points for each heat are awarded for the WARC, with the total of both heats counting toward championship points.

Sunday morning will see teams back in Nannup to contest the gravel roads once again. The Nannup Service Park and surrounding areas will again be bustling with activity and the main focus of the remainder of the event. Sunday afternoon will see competitors have a final quick service, before a podium finish in the centre of Nannup.

After the Nannup podium finish, teams will return to Busselton for the

official presentation ceremony due to be held at Rally Headquarters, Geographe Bay Resort Busselton.