Couple eyes Europe challenge

By Gavin Staindl
FOUR-time national rally car champions Simon and Sue Evans have indicated Europe could be on next year’s agenda.
The Pakenham pair, who have “won it all” in Australia, are looking for more challenging avenues to test their driving capabilities.
On the eve of the final Australian Rally Championship race for 2010 at Warragul, the Evans expressed interest in venturing to Europe or taking on Australia again from the seat of a two-wheel drive, rather than the customary four-wheel drive.
“I don’t want to sound cocky, but we’ve done everything we can do in Australia,” Simon said.
The Pakenham pair took out the 2006 and 2007 championships in a Toyota, but when Toyota closed, the pair were told they would be lucky to win another championship without the quality of a Toyota car.
“When Toyota finished up, the big boss said in jest we wouldn’t be able to win another championship … but two years later we did,” Simon said.
Not only did they win in 2009, but they won in a Mitsubishi, a rally car that had not been a part of a national title in 19 years.
“All through my career, people have said we were winning because of the car we were in at the time … so we had a lot to prove (by switching to Mitsubishi),” Simon said.
And if that wasn’t enough, the Evans switched again at the end of last year to a Subaru, where they again took out the title, making it the fourth national title in five years.
With the 2010 championship already secured, the Evans are looking forward to racing this weekend at Warragul – simply for the love of racing.
“It’s a local event, so there will be quite a few locals here who would like to win it, but we’re going to make them earn it,” Simon said.
Simon will also be up against brother Eli, who will attempt to claim overall second position when he rounds out his year in his 2WD.
“My brother is awesome… he is the only driver in the championships driving one (a 2WD) and we will look into driving one next year. It would certainly be a challenge and a long-shot for an outright win, but I’m willing to do anything at the moment.”