DustTrails, by RallySport Magazine

Ross Dunkerton was the Australian Rally Champion as a privateer in 1975 before being picked up by the Datsun team – he explains his story with the brand on this episode of DustTrails. From being dropped to being re-hired multiple times, his story is a great one, and in typical ‘Dunko’ fashion, he provides some great stories and laughs for all to hear. From the 240Z through to the 710 and the Stanz...

After just five rallies, Arron Windus was thrown into the deep end with a drive for Vauxhall in the British Rally Championship, and he discusses his European experiences on the podcast. The then 19-year-old Windus had won a round of the Victorian Rally Championship but was ultimately very inexperienced and would learn an incredible amount on how to go rallying and how to live his life. Joining Mat...

Wayne Bell is rightly credited with bringing Hyundai into the world of rallying, and on this podcast, he explains the story behind it. Bell had finished a stint with Holden in the Australian Rally Championship and was driving a Mazda 323 when Hyundai approached him about starting rallying. They had never been rallying before and developed an admittedly ‘slow’ car, and progressed quickly through th...

After a short stint in the World Rally Championship, Michael Guest returned to Australia as a factory driver for Ford. In this episode of DustTrails, he tells the story of the brand in the Australian Rally Championship in the 2000s. From the initial Group N (Prototype) Ford Focus to the locally developed Ford Fiesta S2000, he tells the story of the brand’s two years in the ARC. The controversial m...

In our second podcast with Australia's World Rally Championship star, Chris Atkinson, we discuss with him his successful 2008 season and the struggles that followed Subaru’s withdrawal from the World Rally Championship. The significant personal funding that went to his 'one-off' Citroen drive is discussed, as well as his lengthy Hyundai program that only garnered two WRC events in Mexico and Austr...

Chris Atkinson is the only Australian to get a full-time drive in the World Rally Championship, and in this episode, we chat about his early times in the sport’s top flight. There were talks with several brands, but the Aussie ultimately chose Subaru, and he explained his contract at the time and how he became a paid driver in a very short space of time. RallySport Magazine's Peter Whitten talks t...

Talking with Wayne Bell is never a dull experience, and for this episode of DustTrails, we catch up with the New South Welshman about his Marlboro Holden Dealer Team days. Bell was a big part of the team, and he describes his describes his up-and-down relationship with Holden through the years of the Australian Rally Championship and the 1979 Repco Round Australia Trial. From the Gemini to the Com...

In 2004, Dean Herridge was at the peak of his powers – he stunningly took Group N victory at Rally New Zealand and won the Rally of Canberra. For this episode of DustTrails, we’re backtracking to Rally New Zealand that year with Herridge to relive arguably his greatest achievement. It was in the heyday of hard-fought Group N wins, and the West Australian was up against a high-class Production Worl...

After Subaru left the Australian Rally Championship at the end of 2019, you’d have forgiven Molly Taylor for having a quieter 2020. However, even with the global pandemic, she managed a Tasmanian state rally win, a second-place finish in the National Capital Rally in Canberra, starred on a reality TV show and signed with a Formula 1 World Champion’s brand new team. What a year! Peter Whitten talks...

It was the first time since Chris Atkinson in 2006 that a local driver had mixed it with the world’s best at our home round of the World Rally Championship, and Coffs Harbour local, Nathan Quinn, didn’t disappoint. While he wasn’t in a works team, or at the level that Atkinson was at seven years earlier, the fanfare and experience surrounding him that weekend is one that Quinn will remember foreve...

Australian rally driver, Michael Guest, is the opening guest on the DustTrails Podcast and sensationally reveals that he was facing the death penalty before competing in a World Rally Championship round in 1999. Guest was in the first year of a three-year program contesting the World Rally Championship when officials impounded his car and shut down the WRC service park. In an exclusive interview f...