Rallying- Brendan Reeves Interview Part 1

Off in the distance, a fast closing red speck is searing already parched earth, kicking up storm clouds of dust. The speck soon gains definition- boxy, upright, bewinged: A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 with www.rallyschool.com.au emblazoned on its flanks. Its tyres are clawing at the burnt orange beneath, its master making it dance on tip-toes, throwing its nose into corners on a wastegate flutter before standing on the throttle again to produce long, languid, sliding exits.

With a jab of handbrake, the Evo pulls alongside the viewing platform, its driver’s face already broken into a smile as he hears yet again the incoherent ramblings of another passenger who has just had their perceptions of fast driving altered forever. The driver, completely relaxed, climbs out, the Evo now sitting idle, its previously superheated internals now ticking cool. He pulls up a chair alongside mine, shakes my hand. “G’Day, I’m Brendo. Nice to meet you.”

‘Brendo’ is perhaps better known as Brendan Reeves, the 21 year old country Victorian who has already proved himself as one of the quickest rally drivers in the country. His resume is already highly impressive and many in the industry are tipping massive things in his rallying future.

Fuelling the passion
How did it all begin? “My Dad Michael was a successful rally driver, winning the Victorian Rally Championship in 1997 and 2003. I remember going to watch him long before I was old enough to drive, helping out in the service crew. I was fascinated by the sport, and when my older brother Nathan got into go-karting I wanted to as well,” he recalls.
Even at the age of 7, Reeves had established that he wanted to be a professional rally driver when he grew up. Obviously not yet old enough to drive a car, he entered the world of karting and participated until he was 11, but found the atmosphere a little tense with other parents pushing their children a little too firmly to be the next Schumacher.
Being so young at the time, he remembers that the new information was quickly absorbed. “I learned race-craft on the karts, and almost unconsciously developed an understanding of the tarmac ‘line’- of entry, apex and exit, which helps me even today on bitumen.”

Reeves played Aussie Rules football and hockey as he ticked away the couple of years required before he could legally compete in local Autocross events. By the time he was 15, brother Nathan was already into rallying and father Michael felt it was time to retire from the stages to devote all his time to developing his children’s rallying interests (I say children as daughter Rhianon Smyth is today a highly successful co-driver in her own right, and usually partners Reeves on major events.)

Dirty work
Out at the family farm at Wedderburn, Michael built a dirt practice track and Brendan’s first memorable dirt experiences came in an assortment of Datsun’s, along with a stripped out Falcon. “It had no weight in it so the suspension worked quite well, and it had a torquey engine so I quickly learned about oversteer!” he laughs.

Brendan fondly recalls Sunday afternoons where he would race a stopwatch over 6kms around the track, battling for top time against his father, brother and friends. “It was fantastic to have the benefit of that track. Combined with Dad’s advice, along with that of his rallying friends, was invaluable. I still occasionally venture out there for testing.”

The move into autocross was “To learn the ropes in a competitive environment at low cost,” he says.
Obviously a fast learner, Brendan at 16 years old became the youngest ever winner of the Victorian Autocross Championship, which pits drivers against the clock over a range of 2km dirt circuits. He competed in a Datsun 240Z that he keeps to this day. “It was a great, reliable car, with around 280bhp and the ‘Option 1’ dog-leg gearbox which the works teams used back in the Seventies. Being rear-wheel drive and quite powerful, I learned a lot about being smooth with my inputs and aiming for the cleanest, grippiest exit lines during that time.”

At the end of 2005 Brendan entered Nathan’s Datsun 1600 in his first stage rally with his father’s old co-driver, Robin Smalley. “Having an experienced hand guiding me at that point was vital,” Brendan remembers. “I drove right on the edge in the first stage, as fast as I could go. As the stage ended, Robin said ‘You don’t need to drive anywhere near that hard to win this event.’ The underlying message really sunk in- you had to manage your speed in a way to combine good pace with enough margin to bring the car home. I also discovered how fit you had to be to achieve consistency. There was a 57km night stage, still the longest I have ever driven, and I came out of it panting. Dad caught me, and said ‘What’s the matter, Brendo? A bit puffed are we!?’”

Brandan’s quickly developing professional mindset was enhanced by an invitation to a 3 day course at the Australian Institute of Sport Rally Development program. Here he was presented with further tools that would assist his development. “We basically learned the other side of rallying. Most people think we just turn up and drive the cars. The AIS educated us about nutrition and mental/physical fitness, but also introduced skills in dealing with the larger rallying community- sponsors and media in particular.”

Adaptation
2006 saw Reeves participate in a couple of rounds of the RS Cup, a championship designed for the all-wheel drive, naturally aspirated Impreza RS. “It was…enlightening!” he grins. “Going from the 240Z which had big power but not much grip to something completely the opposite dictated a change in driving style. The RS was all about keeping up momentum through the corners.”

He quickly adapted, winning the RS cup with a twelfth outright at the 2006 NGK Rally of Melbourne, a round of the Australian Rally Championship (ARC). Rallyschool.com.au owner Mick Ryan reminds me that “Brendo also won a Victorian event outright in the RS…against turbocharged STI Imprezas… including one driven by his brother!”
In light of this banter, it is obvious the siblings enjoy a good natured rivalry. Rhianon, who also works the Melbourne rally school weekends with her brothers, appears to enjoy stirring the pot- at one stage cheekily asking a returning school student which brother was the quicker ‘hot lap’ instructor. When “Nathan” was the response, she made sure Brendan heard about it! “But those laps are about going sideways not about speed!” was his smiling response.

The national stage
Brendan’s impressive performances in the RS led to a real breakthrough for 2007, as Les Walkden provided a privately owned left hand drive STI for Brendan and Rhianon to compete in the ARC. “Les was a big supporter of the RS challenge and after it finished in ’06 he wanted to give a young driver a chance to step up. I was lucky enough to be chosen,” he recalls.

It was another steep learning curve as Reeves was new to LHD and the Impreza’s ‘dog ‘box’. The established rallying fraternity, more close-knit than in other forms of motorsport, were quick to lend the new boy a hand. “Cody Crocker was great,” Reeves says. “A fortnight before the first Rally in Queensland he came out to the farm and, on that same dirt track Dad had made, he showed me how to get to grips with the car.”

This quick familiarisation led to a scarcely believable third outright in Queensland, but the lingering taste of champagne was not long to last, for at the next event in Western Australia Brendan and Rhianon failed to finish. “We’d come through to the last stage and were again looking good on pace. It was a wet stage…we crashed and basically destroyed the car. It was humbling, especially after experiencing the elation of Queensland.”

Reeves/Smyth ended the ARC season sixth overall and third privateer. Ever competitive, he recalls with disappointment the missed opportunity to take third overall with a strong finish in the Melbourne finale. “The Victorian drought made the surfaces very slippery. On the fourth stage I misheard the pace note for a 7 Right and lost my spot on the stage. We ended up rolling seven times…,” he says, voice trailing off at the memory.

The ‘new boy’ had thus made an STI-sized dent (sorry) on the sport, and as time went by he found that the advice that was once free-flowing from guys like Crocker, Simon Evans, Ed Ordynski and Neal Bates was now replaced with competitive banter as their respect for his ability grew. “Cody and Simon sometimes work for the rally school, and we always try to one-up each other, the aim being to slide the car as much as possible!” he laughs.

The brother/sister team then spent the summer of 2007/08 developing their pace note communication, adapting the familiar 1 to 10 corner grading system to their own specifications under the guidance of the aforementioned Crocker and Ordynski. A more diverse range of opportunities were to come in the new year….

Follow the link for part 2: Part 2

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