Rally winner is well on track
The 21-year-old Sydney fitter and machinist beat seven other finalists from around the nation.
He will now undergo further training before heading to Canberra for the NSW Clubman Rally Championships on August 4-5. He will drive the 1.5-litre, 82kW-engined Mazda2 rally rocket specially built for competition by Mazda.
At the training day at Oran Park last week, Long drew on his past experience in rallying to come away from the competition victorious.
He says: "I have been into rally driving for about three years, at club-level. My rallying has been in an old Datsun. It was an experience to get into a new Mazda and take it for a run."
The eight finalists had expert training from drivers Rick Bates and Jon Waterhouse. Two had never driven a rally car before.
That included NSW's other finalist, Cheryl Chan. According to Mazda spokesman Allan Horsley, she improved enormously.
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