Shattered Molly Taylor eyes US rally stint
  Story By Murray Wenzel     

Sunday, 19 November 2017: Engine issues cruelled Molly Taylor's tilt at back-to-back Australian Rally Championships, as Coffs Harbour's Nathan Quinn snatched the title on his home roads.

A shattered Molly Taylor is dreaming of relaunching her international racing career, rather than dwelling on the engine troubles that robbed her of back-to-back Australian Rally Championships.

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The 29-year-old was leading ahead of Coffs Harbour's final stage, but was forced out on day two and had to watch from the garage as local favourite Nathan Quinn stole the series.

An overjoyed Quinn broke down in tears after safely completing the final stage to win his maiden ARC title on Sunday, while Taylor fought them back for different reasons.

"You put literally your whole life into it; it's not just a disappointing weekend, it's a piece of you," Taylor said.

Taylor won two British Ladies Rally championships and the 2013 European Ladies title before returning to the Australian circuit.

But, nearing the end of her second season with Subaru, she is now eyeing a stint in the United States.

The Sydney product, who was the first female ARC champion last year, visited the manufacturer's US headquarters earlier this year.

"Ideally I'll find something that fits into that (Subaru) family, which makes the US a more realistic step," she said.

Taylor is among a batch of skilled Australian drivers looking to further their careers overseas.

Australia's most-recent WRC driver Chris Atkinson, who compiled 77 rallies for various teams between 2004 and 2014, is one of the few to make a mark on the world stage despite an historically strong domestic tour.

Brendan Reeves was part of the now-defunct WRC Academy along with Taylor and currently test-drives WRC stages for New Zealand's Hayden Paddon.

Harry Bates, whose father Neal won four Australian titles with Holly's mother Coral as co-driver, test drove for Toyota in Paraguay earlier this year.

The 22-year-old gave up any hopes of winning this year's ARC title to enter the WRC2 category in Coffs Harbour and showcase his talents to European teams.

Bates wants to race in Europe next year, but needs considerable financial backing to do so.

"It's a brutal sport like that; obviously you need some talent and need to be able to drive fast, but that's just one quite small percentage," Taylor said.

"There's a lot of talented drivers that don't have drives."






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