Ryan Smart has confirmed he will make his grand return to the Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) at this month’s Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland.
The highly decorated driver will be behind the wheel of his Datsun Stanza and will be running in the growing Trenching Systems Australia ARC 2WD Classic Cup.
It’s been quite a while since Smart last made an appearance in the championship, with an national victory at the 2016 International Rally of Queensland the last time he was in the ARC.
The victory wasn’t his first in the ARC either, with Smart having won outright ARC rounds on multiple occasions, many of which came in a Toyota Corolla Sportivo during 2010 and 2011.
As his most prolific seasons behind the wheel, Smart and co-driver John Allen managed to finish in second place in both campaigns after securing a collection of Heat wins.
Since then, he has enjoyed small stints in the Motorsport Australia Queensland Rally Championship, as well as regularly contesting the Alpine Rally of East Gippsland.
Now with the timing right in his personal life, Smart was gearing up for his return to the ARC via the Classics and was looking forward to the event.
“Rally Queensland is my home event and I’ve always wanted to be back in the ARC but raising a young family and running a small earthmoving business takes up our time these days,” Smart said.
“I feel more confident with this event, I guess because I’ve done it so many times now but rally Queensland still deserves respect as there’s always something to catch you out.
“This event will be a one off for now, but I can never say never to a full season return.”
Entries for the event are still being accepted and can be completed via the Motorsport Australia Member Portal, with interested crews having until 11:59pm AEST on Friday, 14 June to register.
The Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland takes place in Gympie, Queensland on 28-30 June.
