Victory vital for Subaru ace Arai

Navigator Dale Moscatt says it’s time he and his driver Toshi Arai’s chase of a second consecutive IRC Production Cup title stepped up a gear.

Heading to Barum Czech Rally Zlín this week, the Tommi Mäkinen Racing Subaru Impreza R4 pair have ground to make up in the championship battle following their failure to finish Rally San Marino last month.

“The championship is getting quite important now,” said Australian co-driver Moscatt. “The gap to the first place in the points is quite big now so we’ve got to go there aiming for the win. Nothing else will keep us happy.”

Arai and Moscatt are among a number of crews chasing IRC Production Cup honours in Czech Republic with Andreas Aigner and Ilka Minor among the favourites for success in their similar Impreza R4.

A Q&A with Dale Moscatt appears below:

Four stages of Barum Czech Rally Zlín will be shown live on Eurosport next week. That’s good news, right?

“It’s a good thing for everybody because it gives something everyone can buy into. It’s obviously not possible for many of us to travel to the stages and the live coverage on Eurosport is great for family, friends and sponsors.”

It’s your third appearance in the IRC Production Cup this season, how important will the event be in terms of your hopes of reclaiming the title?

“It’s getting quite important now. The gap to the first place in the points is getting quite big now so we’ve got to go there aiming for the win. Nothing else will keep us happy.”

Is victory really a realistic possibility because you’ll be coming up against a lot of good local drivers who will be hard to beat?

“I’ve not done the event myself but I’ve done a rally in the same area before and Toshi has good experience and is a much better driver on Tarmac now. It’s not an easy rally by any means. There is always a risk of punctures and rain can be a factor too. We used the rally in Corsica [our first appearance this season] to learn the car and work on a set-up so we can push a lot more in Czech Republic.”

What plans do you have to test before the rally?

“We won’t be doing a test but then we don’t really need to. We learned a lot in Corsica and Toshi will be doing some testing in Japan and will be brining some different diff programmes with him. He’ll also have done some testing with the different Yokohama tyres.”

Is the lack of time in the car before the rally a concern?

“It’s not a big worry at all, if it was we’d have done a test. We’re confident we can hit the ground running and be on the pace right from the off.”