2014 Rally Australia preview

Chris Atkinson is crazy. Then again, it could be me.

Atkinson is crazy fast as he flings his Hyundai i20 WRC into the scenery and I’m even more crazy for strapping in alongside him as he completes his final preparation for Rally Australia this weekend.

We’re hitting 140km/h on a gnarly forest track just outside Coffs Harbour and the hotrod Hyundai is bucking and kicking as Aussie Atko bends it to his will. It feels as if we could crash at any moment as the tail slides wildly, we fly over humps, and his feet dance a crazy beat between the accelerator and brake.

This is normal for Atkinson, who sees the world in rally driving slo-mo with a skill level that puts him in the top 20 in the world. For me, it’s almost supernatural and the world is accelerating towards me at a frightening pace.

Right now, Atkinson is locked and loaded for the most important race of his life, shooting for a podium place in the local leg of the World Rally Championship and a fulltime Hyundai seat in 2015.

From where I’m sitting, in the co-driving space usually filled by Stephane Prevot, he is doing everything right. He’s going ridiculously fast on a road where a regular motorist would be jamming the brakes and holding the speed down to 40km/h to prevent a disaster.

“Top speed? We probably cracked about 200,” Atko tells me as we wait for my heart rate to drop below that number.

“It was five kilometres, so the average speed was around 110. And don’t forget that’s with a couple of hairpins and the start of the stage.”

I won’t forget. Not in any sort of hurry.

Paul Gover and Chris Atkinson aboard the Hyundai i20 WRC racer.

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Paul Gover and Chris Atkinson aboard the Hyundai i20 WRC racer.

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Paul Gover and Chris Atkinson aboard the Hyundai i20 WRC racer.

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Paul Gover and Chris Atkinson.

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Paul Gover and Chris Atkinson aboard the Hyundai i20 WRC racer.

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How can I forget a Hyundai tiddler that’s been transmorphified into a forest fighter that would easily jump a Ferrari 458 or Skyline GT-R in a drag race?

When Atkinson practices his rally start, with the engine popping and banging and then an explosion of speed, I’m slammed into the seat and can barely keep up with the shifts that come every time he tugs on the gear lever.

“What about that? I don’t think people realise what these cars can do on slippery gravel,” he says.

I can only nod my head in agreement.

Everything in the car, from the smallest nut to Atkinson at the wheel, is intended to make it faster.

That means the $14,990 you see in Hyundai showrooms now costs more than $1 million.

Running costs? You can bank on $1000 for every kilometre the car covers.

“We have seven cars at the base in Germany. The cost of each is around 500,000 Euros, just for the parts. Then you have to put it together,” the Hyundai WRC team boss, Michel Nandan, tells me.

He is overseeing a three-car entry for Rally Australia that’s spearheaded by last-start winner Thierry Neuville, with Kiwi youngster Hayden Paddon also driving a car.

Victory in Germany lifted a huge weight from Nandan’s shoulders, but he’s still looking for a solid result in Australia. And what about Atkinson?

“He is a good driver. He should be able to get to the finish in a good position,” Nandan says.

That means Atkinson is the ‘banker’ in the team, leaving Neuville free to shoot for the top.

But he does not feel like any banker I know and he’s still looking for speed after clocking the 11th-quickest time in the official pre-rally shakedown.

“It’s a bit too tail-happy still. I need to settle it down,” he says.

“I haven’t been in the car for six months and that makes it difficult too. But we’ll settle in, see how we’re going, and have a crack from there.”

At the end of the shakedown, Irishman Chris Meeke sets the pace in his Citroen DS3, ahead of his team mate Mads Ostberg and Thierry Neuville, the best of the Hyundai runners in third.

Rally Australia runs from Friday morning (tomorrow) until this Sunday afternoon.

Rally Australia 2014 - official shakedown times:

1. Chris Meek, Citroen DS3, 2 minutes 52.9 seconds
2. Mads Ostberg, Citroen DS3, 2:53.3
3. Thierry Neuville, Hyundai i20, 2:53.7
4. Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo, 2:54.3
5. Sebastian Ogier, Volkswagen Polo, 2:54.4
6. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford Fiesta, 2:54.4
7. Hayden Paddon, Hyundai i20, 2:54.7
8. Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Polo, 2:54.7
9. Robert Kubica, Ford Fiesta, 2:54.9
10. Elfynt Evans, Ford Fiesta, 2:57.3
11. Chris Atkinson, Hyundai i20 WRC, 2:58.3