It was a year that Molly Taylor had no right to win. A new car up against established competitors in the Australian Rally Championship. The theory was to take the Championship in a couple of years. There were faster cars. And massively talented drivers were in them. But that could not stop a very talented and massively dedicated driver.
Simon Evans and Harry Bates really had an edge in their Subaru ant Toyota entries respectively. Both were older models but had advantages in power and weight against the new Subaru. Taylor was running in the N4 class, against Bates’ S2000 and Evans’ P5 class car.
Granted Molly had Subaru Australia support with the Les Walkden Rallying team but 2016 was never meant to be their year. In theory she should have had to wait until a new rules package came in.
But she has a lot of experience and was the only driver in the 2016 ARC title to have rallied in Europe and to take on the longer rallies, the different road conditions – that would be so important.
“I certainly didn’t expect to finish where we finished but the year has been unpredictable. We have thought of our best outcome and worked to that and then in rallying things can be unpredictable and we took advantage of that.”
“It certainly wasn’t what we thought would happen coming into the final day of rallying but we were still doing everything we needed to do incase things went our way and things certainly did.”
“It is certainly the best motorsport moment I have had
“It is certainly the best motorsport moment I have had!”
Her experience was important in the end as she won the Title in controversial circumstances, winning the National part of Rally Australia after Mark Pedder received a penalty. This penalty promoted her to the win and the title.
Some have questioned the validity of this title but if we look back, she put herself in this position and capitalised.
She managed her car and her tyres in the very hard conditions at Rally Australia with the Coffs Coast temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. Her car had constant overheating problems, meaning she had to run the heater in the car – across 50km stages.
Upon that, she had to manage the tyres. Both Evans and Bates had disastrous punctures. But Taylor was able to nurse her tyres, not losing time for punctures.
“At the start of Namubcca and the long stages we had the heater on. It was probably the worst I have felt at the end of a stage in a long time. That is what we train for – it is nice to have a challenge like that.”
“At the start of Namubcca and the long stages we had the heater on. It was probably the worst I have felt at the end of a stage in a long time. That is what we train for – it is nice to have a challenge like that.”
“We were always keeping an eye on tyre management but we looked at it and saw what we had at the end of the day. It comes down to driving styles and the types of car you are driving.”
“We were prepared for that [the conditions] and we knew we had to keep our noses clean. You think that you might have to pull something out of the hat. But we had been driving the same all year and it had been working.”
“I thought about the bigger picture and took it stage by stage and that worked. That made me happy.”
It was this that was crucial over the entire year.
She rarely put a foot wrong – where others did and lost vital points.
It was something that codriver, Bill Hayes was heaping praise with. He said that she didn’t improve that much over the year as she was already a great driver with unrivaled attention to detail and with the effort she put in.
This dedication was evident she approached to individual rallies.
“The reliability of the WRX has been our strength over the year and that is something that have had to play to and it was part of our strategy.”
One only has to look to Evans and his crash in the International Rally of Queensland or Bates and taking a corner off his car at Rally South Australia. If both of these guys kept the car on the stage, they would have taken the title.
South Australia was also the seen of her first podium of the year, something that she saw as a highlight.
It adds to her success in Europe where she won the European Ladies Cup and taken stage wins in the JWRC and JERC. The result also added to a JWRC that she scored in Rally GB in 2012 and an almost JWRC win in Finland before mechanical issues cruel cut her short with just two stages to go.
“I think the biggest thing from the WRC was appreciating what the WRC cars do to the road before we get to them. We know the conditions are long and hot and we can prepare for that but knowing the stage conditions – the ruts, that the WRC cars can dig and carry through pace in that can help.”
This year will only serve her well in future years and as the Championship sorts its future, she will be a great advocate. After her Championship she made many media appearances, even getting on the popular “The Project”. The approach should be embraced.
It also means that she will be back in the future, in a team dedicated to rallying and there for the fans – with a soft spot for her young female fans.
“It has always been the dream and to have the opportunity at the beginning for the year that Subaru – that has always been the dream to do this professionally.”
“It has always been the dream and to have the opportunity at the beginning for the year that Subaru – that has always been the dream to do this professionally.”
“This is beyond what I thought was possible – I knew we would be able to do together but in a year or two but not now – I am very happy!”
In the end in Australia – there was going be history made. Evans could have taken his fifth title. Bates could have won in the car that his father, Neil won in 2008. Or Molly could have become the first female winner.
Her mother Coral was there competing alongside Neil Bates – the family affair was there and the emotions were strong.
A little luck put her in the position to win but over a season, over a rally she gave herself the best opportunity to write a new chapter in the annuls of Australian Rally.
History was made.
And that history belongs to Molly Taylor.
The RacerViews info
By Sam Tickell, December 2016
RacerViews was established in 2011 and with the aim of delivering a new web experience to motorsport fans. We bring you more than just the news. Our exclusive interview and galleries brings you the views from the track, from the racers. Our extensive race review collection allows you to keep up with the action from around the world. Our team of passionate pros have decades of experience in the motorsport field. Our social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and iTunes bring you more, a holistic experience. We have more than 3100 followers on Twitter and more than 2 million views on Google Plus. Our mission is to bring exclusive content is in safe hands. Over the time we have partnered with motorsport teams likeAndreas Wirth, Stig Richards Motorsport, One of a Kind Motorsport, Dark Horse Racing and MRT Performance in order to give you the best exclusive motorsport coverage.
We are always looking for new people to join our team and we are always looking to publish stories, photos and audio in world-class publications around the world. If this interests you contact us
