Having clinched a third successive Irish Rally Championship with his venerable Toyota, Eugene Donnelly unveiled a new Subaru S12 which he hopes will not only add to his title tally but also allow him to compete on Ireland's first WRC round.
The wraps came off the predominantly silver Kumho-backed machine on the opening day of the annual
Autosport International exhibition, with Donnelly insisting that the Subaru could be a winner despite its poor showing in this year's WRC for factory team Prodrive.
"We'd done as much as we can with the Toyota, which was very successful and an inexpensive car to run, but just got to the point where it was outdated," he told
Crash.net, "Maybe the '06 cars have taken a small step back [in terms of technology], but we have done a deal with Subaru for this car.
"Some critics may say its not the right move more for me because the car has not been that successful in the world championship, but I think I may have something to add. The only move for me was to get into the latest equipment or forget about it. Needless to say, the sponsors got behind me and here we are."
Donnelly openly admitted that Ireland's debut on the WRC had been another reason for the switch, although he insisted that his fans should not get too excited about the thought of him challenging the likes of Sebastien Loeb at the end of the year.
"I probably wouldn't have been competing this season had its not been for the challenge of the WRC [round] in Ireland," he revealed, "That's what really fired me and pushed me on to do this.
"I have a great team behind me, and I'm sure the car will be successful, but I have to stress that I am only an amateur in a very professional world - I don't do this for a living and I only have limited resources to test the car. I make no bones about it, I think Loeb and Gronholm will still be light years ahead of us. I really admire those guys, and it will be great to see them in Ireland - and on a national round if they want to get any practice in! The whole hype of having those guys in Ireland is fantastic."
