Introducing competitors Kristian Wohlstadt and Alison Short – a husband and wife team from the Barossa Valley.

Competitor Bio

Team: The team consists of duo Alison and Kristian, their parents (one of whom is a former Airforce Mirage Jet engineer) and their son Jack and three of his and now their close friends. Last year the boys named the team Mark Nutt Racing as a tribute to the fictional English archer Mark Nutt in the Summer Olympics computer game. The team is built on lots of fun and plenty of banter, but rest assured they are not here to just mess around.

Kristian has wanted to go rallying since he was a kid, but in 2002 standing alongside the Mount Crawford stages that they’ll be driving on next weekend, he watched Simon Evans fly at head height over a crest just a few metres in front of him, in the same model car that they are now driving. It was at that point that Kristian decided this had to be more than just a dream. So, with no mechanical experience of any kind and no background in motorsport he set about building a rally car in the shed at home to go rallying and here they are.

Previous Events: Due to their limited funds the team made a decision to just do the SA round of the ARC as their one event per year. This will be their fifth ever rally and having finished 10th in Heat 2 of the ARC and 3rd in the SARC at last year’s Adelaide Hills Rally, they are pretty excited that things seem to be heading in the right direction.

The Car: Subaru Impreza WRX based on a Version 6 STI and whilst it looks the part and has a fancy set of pedals, it’s pretty under powered compared to many other cars in the field. They are saving up for an aftermarket ECU but she is basically pretty stock at the moment.

Most Excited For: The team are really looking forward to the great mix of interesting stages in this year’s event, with a nice take on some old classics like Retreat Valley and Mount Crawford but also some new challenges like Blumberg Creek and Pine Hut Road.

Favourite Stages: Definitely the ones through the Mount Crawford forest. It’s where Kristian grew up watching rallies as a kid and Alison and Kristian often take their dog Keith for walks through the forest outside rally season, because it’s literally just up the road. Alison puts up with Kristian walking the racing lines through each of the corners on their walks!!

Motorsport is like one big happy family, and we’re so excited to have your family and team compete on the weekend! All the best team Mark Nutt Racing!