Tristan has been pretty quiet over the last few years as a result of limited funds and getting his new business (Kent Building & Design) up and running. He purchased Richie Dalton’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 after Ritchie crashed it in the National Capital Rally in 2015 and has been busy getting it back into shape.

Most recently, in order to get some seat time, he has borrowed his father’s car for a couple of NSW DRS events, which resulted in a 1^st and 2^nd outright, despite not having been behind the wheel of a rally car in three years.

With a bit of luck we will see Tristan out in his Evo 9 in next year’s Australian Rally Championship.

Tristan will be competing in the Scouts Rally SA on the 1^st - 3^rd of August. Having competed in the event in 2011 where he finished a crediable 4^th outright, he has been itching to get back and do the event again, and hoping for similar success. With the Australian Championship now being for 2WD cars only, Tristan will be competing in the seperate 4WD National Rally Series and has a good chance of outright honours. Feel free to drop by the service park and offer Tristan your support. If you'd like to find out more about the rally, including where you can go to spectate, you can do so on the event's website.

A new job and a move to Melbourne has unfortunately put a dent in Tristan's plans for the 2012 ARC season and he has had to miss the International Rally of Queensland, but hopes to be back out at Scouts Rally SA at the end of July, finances pending. The good news however, is that Tristan has been accepted into the 2012 CAMS Driver Development Program to be conducted at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on the 9^th - 14^th of July. Tristan is grateful to be part of the program along with other promising young juniors such as South Australia's Michael Busby and Guy Tyler, and hopes to follow the success of previous RDDP participants such as Eli Evans and Brendan Reeves.

Tristan is planning on making a return to this year's Bosch Australian Rally Championship with bigger and better goals in mind. In addition to trying to win the rallyschool.com.au Junior Challenge, after narrowing missing out on qualifying for the final in 2011, the pace he showed last year has encouraged him to try for the Premier League win also.

2011 saw him contest the IROQ where at the end of heat 1 he finished 6^th outright, comfortably leading the junior challenge, and would've also been leading premier league had he been registered. Unfortunately a mishap at the start of heat 2 saw him out of the event.

At Scouts Rally SA he finished an outstanding 4^th outright, 1^st in class, and again would've won premier league had he been registered. But despite winning the junior challenge on overall times by just 4 seconds from SA junior Sandy Nott, the point scoring system saw Tristan miss out on qualifying for the final by only 2 points.

These encouraging results have Tristan keen to return to the ARC in 2012. With limited funds however, he only plans to contest the final 4 rounds, commencing with IROQ at the end of May.

Tristan is currently busy preparing his car for the new season and seeking a naming rights sponsor to assist with the costs associated with such an assault. Tristan would also like to take this opportunity to thank his current sponsors, Autotech Canberra and Driver Skills Australia, who will continue with their generous support throughout 2012.

The last weekend in July saw the running of round 3 of the ARC, the Scouts Rally SA. This was the final chance for Tristan to qualify for the Junior Challenge, and with his car still being repaired after the mishap at IROQ, Tristan borrowed his Dad's car in a desperate bid to make the cut.

Having never competed there before, Tristan was unfamiliar with the fast South Australian roads, putting him at an immediate disadvantage. To make matters worse, his borrowed car was a stock, tired Lancer Evo 3 and considerably down on power compared to his competition. But at least he was there and in with a chance.

Heat 1 saw the team start off steady, struggling to match the straight line speed of their competitors, something crucial on the fast SA roads. They traded times with leading SA junior Sandy Nott, relying on the tighter more technical stages to get his measure. Unfortuantely there were precious few of those and Tristan and Jim finished Heat 1, 2^nd in the junior challenge and nearly a minute and a half down on times behind Nott, and 8^th outright in the ARC.

Heat 2 saw the team on a mission. Picking up the pace from the word go, and helped by a mechanical issue slowing Nott, Tristan and Jim took the majority of stage wins amongst the juniors. They finished the day 5^th outright in the ARC, and on top of the points in the junior challenge. Unfortuanately it wasn't quite enough, and with the points combined for the 2 days of competition, they missed out by just 2 points on qualifying for the junior challenge final, despite winning overall on times.

The consolation however, was that their combined ARC points for the weekend, saw them finish an outstanding 4^th outright and 1^st in their class in the ARC. Down on power and struggling to match the top speeds of the other competitors, Tristan did a fantastic job to finish just off the podium in only his second ARC event. A testament to his driving abilities, the quality of his pace notes, his commitment to them, as well as Jim's ability in calling them accurately.

International Rally of Queensland saw mixed emotions for Team Kent Motorsport. Starting cautiously on the Friday night with 2 runs through the super special tarmac stage in Caloundra, Tristan and Jay finished the night equal on points in the lead of the junior challenge, and ahead on times by just 0.1 seconds.

Saturday morning and the real rally begins in the forest stages around Imbil. Tristan and Jay were fast from the onset, being fastest junior and 7^th outright on the first stage. This continued throughout the day, with times constantly in the top 10 and beating ARC regulars. They finished Heat 1 in a creditable 6^th outright, and comfortably leading the junior challenge by 17 points and over a minute on times.

Saturday night saw the commencement of Heat 2 with another 2 runs through the super special stage in Caloundra. Unfortunately, with the fatigue of the days rallying setting in, and overheating tyres, a small error in judgement saw an untimely end to Team Kent Motorsport's dream run at IROQ. Pushing a little too deep into a corner, the boys hit a concrete gutter, smashing the wheels and damaging the suspension and steering. The team made a desperate attempt to repair the car overnight, but unfortunately lacked the spares and resources to complete the job.

But despite the disappointing end to the event, it was a sensational Heat 1 result and proof of Tristan's talent as a driver, and a sure sign of things to come.