Big Mal eyes the stars in 2010

Mal Rose

Australian endurance racing stalwart Mal Rose will be back at the Ring for his seventh straight 24 hour race. This time, though, he won’t be behind the familiar Lion badge of his Holden Commodore, but behind the Pleiades stars of a Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

Mal will be driving for the Rimmer Motorsport from the UK. He will share driving duties for the race with team-owner Mike Rimmer and Peter Venn. The STI will race in Class 3PT (turbocharged cars up to 2.5 litres) which will have over 30 entries in the 200-plus field.

Rose says the WRX will provide a new experience for him following his previous experience at the wheel of a Mirage Cup Car and his V8 Supercar, “The Subaru will be a very different car to race compared to the Mitsubishi Mirage I raced in the 2004 and 2005 event and the Commodore V8 Supercar I’ve driven for the last four years, but I look forward to the challenge.”

The seat with the Rimmer Motorsport team became available after the tragic death of fellow Australian Llynden Reithmuller following a snow-skiing avalanche in New Zealand.

As we pay our respects on this ANZAC day I’m sure all AUSringers readers wish Mal, and all Australian and New Zealand competitors, who will be making the trek to the Nürburgring for this year’s race, which is just a few weeks away (13–16 May).

Mal Rose

Mal Rose

Rose Switches to Subaru for 2010 Nurburgring 24 Hour

Australian racer Mal Rose is all set for his seventh crack at the prestigious Nurburgring 24 Hour endurance race in Germany, but this time he will be behind the wheel of a Subaru instead of a Holden or a Mitsubishi.

Rose has been invited by UK team, Rimmer Motorsport, to drive their Subaru Impreza WRX STI alongside team-owner Mike Rimmer and Peter Venn. The car has been prepared by international motorsport powerhouse SR Motorsport with ex Prodrive mechanics and will compete in Class SP3T, for turbocharged vehicles up to 2.5 Litres.

The Nurburgring 24 Hour has become renowned for attracting huge fields of cars from all over the world and the 2010 event is no exception, with 35 cars expected to compete in the SP3T class alone.

Rose’s call-up to Rimmer Motorsport follows a six-year run of success in the event. In 2004 and 2005, Rose finished second in Class SP2 driving a Mitsubishi Mirage, before upgrading to a slightly-modified Holden Commodore V8 Supercar in 2006. The ’06 event didn’t go so well for Rose, with co-driver Adam Wallis crashing out of the race, but he bounced back to finish 5th in Class SP8 in 2007, 4th in 2008 and 7th last year after struggling with a slipping clutch.

For Rose, the opportunity to race with an overseas outfit is a great honour.

“I’m going to be taking the seat from the late Llyden Reithmuller, who was tragically killed in a snow-skiing avalanche in New Zealand,” he said. “It’s a sad way to get a drive, but Llyden was a great supporter of mine and Mike Rimmer said he spoke very highly of my driving.

“The Subaru will be a very different car to race compared to the Mitsubishi Mirage I raced in the 2004 and 2005 event and the Commodore V8 Supercar I’ve driven for the last four years, but I look forward to the challenge.”

In addition to the racing, Rose will also feature in a documentary about Australian drivers in the Nurburgring 24-Hour. The documentary will be produced by Stuart Greaves from Adrenalin Video, the man behind the in-car footage on Channel 10’s HD1 sports program,

For this year’s event, Greaves will focus on the unique aspects of Australian drivers racing on the other side of the world.

The 2010 Nurburgring 24 Hour will be held from May 13-16 and broadcast live on the website: www.24hrennen.de.

For more information about the documentary, please visit www.adrenalinevideo.com.au.

Mal Rose

About Mal Rose

Mal Rose is one of Australia’s most versatile drivers. Since 1983, he has raced in various one-make series, sports sedans, V8 Supercars, production cars, trucks and Formula Ford. He has competed in the Bathurst 1000, Bathurst 24 Hour and Bathurst 12 Hour, and has raced at international circuits including Sepang, Dubai, Spa-Francorchamps and the Nurburgring.

Mal Rose currently runs the successful V8 Supercar Experience business, through which enthusiasts can experience, from the passenger’s seat, what it feels like to be involved in a V8 Supercar race. For more information, please visit www.v8experience.com.au.

  • 1983 / 84 Sports Sedans
  • 1985 Goodyear Ford Laser Series (against David Brabham and Mark Skaife )
  • 1986 Debut in Group A Touring Cars at Sandown & Bathurst
  • 1987 Commodore Classic series & Production Car Championship
  • 1988 / 89 AUSCAR at the Calder NASCAR track (against Jim Richards and Brad Jones)
  • 1990 Full Australian Production Car Championship
  • 1991 / 1992 NSW Production Car Champion
  • 1993 Australian Production Car Champion
  • 1994 Australian Truck Racing Champion
  • 1995 Australian Formula Ford Rookie of the year and 6th overall (against Mark Webber and Jason Bright)
  • 1996 Shell Australian Touring Car Championship
  • 1997 AMSCAR Champion (at Amaroo Park & Eastern Creek)
  • 1998 Bathurst 1000 1st Privateer (10th outright)
  • 1999 Started V8 Supercar Experience business
  • 2000 Bathurst 1000
  • 2001 KONICA V8 Supercar development series
  • 2002 Bathurst 24hr race (both cars in top 15)
  • 2003 Bathurst 24hr
  • 2004 Debut at Nurburgring 24hr (2nd in class SP2)
  • 2005 Nurburgring 24hr (2nd in class SP2) / Sepang 12hr (2nd in class)
  • 2006 Nurburgring 24hr in V8 Holden Supercar / Sepang 12hr (4th in class) / Dubai 24hr (1st, 2nd and 4th in class)
  • 2007 Nurburgring 24hr (4th in class SP8) / Sepang 12hr in V8 Holden / Dubai 24hr (1st, 2nd & 3rd in class)
  • 2008 Nurburgring 24hr (4th in class SP8 / Sepang 12hr in V8 Holden (7th outright)
  • 2009 Nurburgring 24hr / Spa 12hr in V8 Holden also 1st & 2nd in Class Mitsubishis/ Dubai 24hr (5th in class)
  • 2010 Dubai 24hr (5th in class in V8 Holden)