Front-running NSW rally crew Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith are set to debut an exciting new weapon at the upcoming Shamrock Haulage Rally of Bathurst, with the Redhead Motorsport team rolling out a freshly converted Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5 converted specifically for forest rallying.
While the pair are best known for their rapid Hyundai i20 G4 rally car, the machine that delivered multiple podiums and victories in the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship, the car will sit out Bathurst as it undergoes preparation for an upcoming Australian Rally Championship campaign.
Instead, Redhead has spent the past several months transforming a former tarmac-spec Evo 5 into a full gravel rally car, completing the majority of the work himself at the team’s Blayney workshop while continuing to build and prepare customer rally cars.
The result is what many in the service park are already calling a “forest weapon.”
“We’ve been flat out converting the Evo from tarmac spec to full rally spec over the past few months,” Redhead said. “It’s been a lot of late nights in the workshop, but it’s exciting to finally get the car ready to hit the forest stages.”
Despite being a brand new build in forest rally trim, expectations are already high for the Evo’s debut performance. Redhead and Winwood-Smith are among the most experienced and successful pairings in the NSW Championship field, with the team claiming outright victory at the 2025 Coffs Coast Rally and regularly fighting at the front of the state championship.
The team believes the Evo could quickly match the pace of their proven Hyundai.
“On paper the Evo should be very competitive,” Redhead continued. “The Hyundai has been an incredible car for us, but the Evo platform has always been strong on gravel. If everything works the way we expect, there’s no reason this car can’t be just as quick.”
The final stages of the build are currently being completed in Sydney, where the Evo 5 is with Phil Armour at Armour Motorsport Services for final tuning and the installation of a Motec engine management system. The engine itself has been built by Darren Williams at Dashsport, adding another layer of experience and performance to the project. Redhead said the involvement of both businesses has been a huge boost for the new build.
Redhead will go to Bathurst as one of the favourites for outright honours, although he is quick to acknowledge the strength of the competition expected on the fast forest stages.
“Bathurst always attracts a strong field and there are plenty of quick drivers who can win it,” he said. “Our goal is to get comfortable with the car early and build pace through the event. I’ve driven this car, just not on gravel. So if we can adapt to the differences quickly, we should be right in the mix.”
The Rally of Bathurst also continues a long and successful partnership between Redhead and co-driver Ray Winwood-Smith, one of the most experienced navigators in Australian rallying. The duo have shared many successes together across state and national competition, and most recently travelled internationally when they visited Africa for the East African Safari Classic Rally, where Winwood-Smith was co-driving for Tim Wilkins in a classic Datsun and Redhead led the service crew supporting the team.
Away from the stages, Redhead remains deeply involved in the rally community, running Redhead Motorsport from his Blayney workshop where the team builds and prepares rally cars for competitors across Australia. With the Evo 5 now ready for its first forest rally appearance, all eyes will be on Redhead Motorsport when it lines up for the Shamrock Haulage Rally of Bathurst, where the team hopes their newly converted gravel machine will prove just as fast as their championship-winning Hyundai.
