A step up to triumph

"A sensational result ... better than we had every anticipated," Mazda Motorsport boss Allan Horsley says of the seventh-place finish by Michael Long in the "extreme" Mazda2 rally car.

"Michael drove beautifully, did everything exactly as he was asked and the car performed without a hiccup."

Long and co-driver Andrew Crawford powered the Mazda2 through a 65-strong field to finish first in class and seventh overall in the Canberra clubman event.

"That was a good weekend," a somewhat-modest Long says. "It is the first time I have been even close to a factory car and the experience was awesome. It has certainly inspired me to keep at it."

Long was one of eight finalists chosen from thousands of entries and brought to Sydney for a day of rally training and final selection.

"When I first filled out the entry form on the net I really didn't expect to hear anything more about it," Long says. "Then when I got the call to say I had been chosen for the finals it was unbelievable."

Before winning the CARSguide Mazda2 Rally competition, the 21-year-old Sydney fitter and machinist had been in club events with his Datsun 1200 for three years.

"In my car, I do all the prep and tuning, Dad drives the service vehicle and between us we service the car," he says. "This has been a different experience."

Horsley started planning the Mazda2 rallycar late in 2005 and showed it at last year's international motor show in Sydney.

The project had followed on from the RX-8 Turbo as Mazda worked towards showing the "extreme" possibilities of cars in its range.

With its stripped-out interior, bonnet-mounted driving-light pod, chunky Dunlop Direzza rally tyres, 15-inch Compomotive wheels and roof-mounted fresh-air vent, the Mazda2 Rally Concept looked the goods right from the outset.

"We didn't do anything with the engine or gearbox but from what it showed over the weekend it was competitive," Horsley says.

Long says although the Mazda2 was not over-endowed with power, it was a great driving experience. "Through the smoother corners it was very fast and controlled," he says.

"It suffered a little over the rougher stuff but that was just to do with ground clearance. Overall, it was a pleasure to drive."

The Mazda2's Proflex suspension package was supervised by regular Mazda driver, Murray Coote, who campaigned the original Mazda 323 AWD rally rocket to the 1988 Australian Rally Championship.

Coote also showed the mettle of an earlier Horsley project with a strong showing in Targa Tasmania in the prototype of the turbo-powered Mazda MX-5 SP.

Mazda Australia's extreme car program was conceived as a way to extend the "zoom-zoom" appeal of the company's range.