Rullo and Searcy to take on the world
The all Australian combination of Peter Rullo and Ben Searcy will make their FIA World Rally Championship debut in a Rally2 car at the famous Rally Sweden.
The pair will field a ToniGardemeister Services (TGS) Worldwide Team Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo at the 70th edition of the Swedish rally.
They will be one of two all-Australian crews in Sweden with rising star Taylor Gill and Dan Brkic also racing following the former’s success in the FIA’s Rally Star program.
Being the only round of the WRC season completely covered in snow, Sweden is one of the coldest and fastest rallies in the world where competitors take on ice-covered forest roads.
As a result Rullo and Searcy will find themselves in an environment worlds apart from the hotter and drier tarmac and gravel rallies they are used to down under.
Peter Rullo and Ben Searcy at the Rally Queensland event last year.
They will also have to adjust to a new car with Rullo swapping his usual Race Torque Engineering team run Hyundai i20 N Rally2 to the Rally2 Skoda.
Whilst all eyes are on the 11 stars chasing outright honours, at each WRC rally there is a much bigger field competing in WRC2.
This is where Rullo and Searcy will put Australia on the rallying map.
All up the pair have well over a decade of rallying experience in Australia and 52-year-old Rullo is excited to dive headfirst into the Swedish snow.
“With the limited tarmac events currently in Australia, jumping into a Rally2 car in the ARC was an amazing opportunity,” he said.
“Gravel rallies bring us right into the thick of it with less room for error. There is nothing like throwing the car into a corner sideways and it is so bloody satisfying when you nail it.
“From what I have seen, I cannot wait to pilot one of these Rally2 machines around in the snow. I don’t know why I didn’t give it a crack earlier!”
Peter Rullo is ready to enter the Swedish snow.
Whilst this will be Rullo’s first global drive, his Perth based co-driver Searcy has no shortage of international experience having recently been crowned the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship.
“I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to do a new and challenging WRC rally,” Searcy said.
“I’ve never seen snow before so it will be a huge experience. Partnering with Peter again will be great and we’re looking forward to a solid finish.”
The 2024 Rally Sweden will be the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship on February 15-18.
Main image by SS Media
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