The Pirtek Rally Team has realigned its technical operations with the appointment of Marcus Clarke as its new Chief Engineer for the NEC Australian Rally Championship.
Clarke replaces Glenn Rees who has decided to pursue other opportunities within racing in Australia.
Clarke joins the team fulltime after working as an events-only technician at the start of the year. His experience includes both rally and V8 Supercar and has even competed at Victorian state level as a driver.
Team Principal Jason Bright is confident that the new structure will continue to see improvement of the Pirtek Rally Team Ford Fiesta Super 2000 entries of Michael Guest and Darren Windus.
“Glenn’s contribution can’t be underestimated, he was a key member of the team that designed and built the Fiestas in just 18 weeks, ’ said Bright.
“Marcus does not come into the program cold. He’s been part of the operation since the start of the year. We believe his experience will be a great asset for us as we continue to improve the reliability and then chase speed out of the Fiesta.
“We have never underestimated the challenge of the NEC ARC. With the likes of the Toyota team setting the standard, we are up against some pretty stiff opposition. “
Clarke is confident that the Fiesta will be challenging for the podium by the end of the season.
“I wouldn’t be involved unless I knew this team could challenge for victory, ’ said Clarke.
“The car and team has come a long way even since the first event in Queensland in March. Now we really need to take it to the next level and I know we have the package to do this.
“We don’t need to make massive changes to the car, just continue to improve the package.
“The ARC is a very big challenge. All the events have different conditions and building a car that works well at all events is what we are keen to do.
“Right now we still have a month until the next round in South Australia. We are utilising all that time to make sure we are very well prepared and can head into that event with confidence. “
The Rally South Australia runs in the Barossa valley from August 10-12.
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