The man who boosted two times P-WRC champion Toshi Arai up to gain the achievement was Toshi’s former co-driver and friendly kiwi guy, Tony Sircombe. He quitted his roll as co-driver end of last season and now he has been spending time of his “second-life"in Singapore.

“Life has been good, and I continue to enjoy myself away from rallying. Though my new occupation is not directly involved in motorsport, it is challenging and brings rewards nonetheless. I am presently based in Jakarta, Indonesia; though live in Singapore.” Tony started talking about his life in nowadays.

Tony’s connection with SUBARU started way back in 1993, when he took over co-driving duties for the legendary rally driver Peter ‘Possum’ Bourne, after the tragic death of the fellow Kiwi’s former co-pilot Dr. Rodger ‘Roj’ Freeth on the 1993 running of Rally Australia.

The first event they contested together was the “555 Hong Kong - Beijing Rally"in September of that year. It was a prestigious and important rally for the team as it was major motorsport event in China, and included teammates Ari Vatanen and Colin McRae in what marked a SUBARU Tour de Force.

“One of the lighter moments from after that event was a feature in one of Hong Kong media showing the three cars doing doughnuts in Tiananmen Square after our success on the rally. There we were all burning rubber together, right in the middle of this incredibly iconic place, with clouds of smoke billowing all around in middle of symbol place of China. That was so much exciting.”

Tony went on to co-drive for his compatriot Possum for the next number of seasons, claiming victories in Australia and right across the Asia-Pacific region as the pair literally made history for SUBARU in the APRC.

“In later 90’s, STI and FHI were looking to put a young Japanese driver into the world championship. I was involved in the moderation of that, along with SWRT. Having never had anything to do with Toshi, I could tell right away he had a lot of natural talent, with calm moves and he didn’t care when the car moved around. From 1998, he contested events in a Group A car, with a few Group N rallies also. I first became Toshi’s co-driver after Glenn (Macneall), on the RAC Rally in 2001. Our partnership became permanent from the outset of the 2002 season, and we contested six consecutive seasons together.

“We had so much drama during the six years, but amazingly, both of the most significant highs and lows could easily be described in one single event! It was the final running of the Safari Rally, in 2002. We had all sorts of suspension problems early on, followed by some strange clutch issues, though ended up leading on the morning of the final day. Unfortunately, the clutch problem eventually sidelined us, and that was the end of our rally. After all the effort we’d put in over the three days, and then to finally get into the lead on the last day…It was such a high, followed so suddenly by bitter disappointment, that was easily the most difficult experience. There were pure highs though, take Rally Japan in 2006 - finishing sixth among the WR cars was certainly a huge boost - that was an incredible event for us.”

“I was fortunate enough to live through the ascendancy of SUBARU as a brand in international-level rallying competition. As a competitor, there is really no greater achievement. I was a part of SUBARU’s motorsport activities for 16 of the 18 years I was involved in the sport. During that time, the car became a world-renowned marque right before my eyes. I still drive a SUBARU, and I would choose to drive one because they are a big part of me, and continue to be a big part of me. One of the greatest things about my career with SUBARU was that I knew I was in a car that was capable of winning. That is one of the greatest aspects of any rally driver or co-driver’s career, knowing you have a chance at victory. I had that in my career with SUBARU.”

He retired from top field of the competition after so much success, taking your second world championship title at the end of 2007. Why did he decided it when he was in time of top?

“At that time, when I was 47, I knew I wouldn’t be a co-driver for another 20 years. I had to be practical, consider my family, and decided to take up an offer that had been presented to me when I was still in motorsport. What do I do? I’m currently the Marketing Director for a company in the coal and shipping industry, located in Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia is the largest coal-exporting country in the world. My position isn’t one that’s completely detached from motorsport as I’m doing Rally Indonesia in 10 days’ time with my contact in the company - and we’ll be competing in a SUBARU! There’s always going to be motorsport in my life, there’s always going to be rallying.”