EVEN as a child growing up in Jamestown, sport had always been a big part of Tristan Catford's life. But it wasn't until later on that he found his real passion - tarmac rallying.
The keen footballer and cricketer recalls traversing towns across the Mid North on Saturdays for every match.
He played football for Jamestown-Appila before they merged with Peterborough to become Jamestown-Peterborough and continued playing there right up into the seniors class.
It was during this time that he tasted premiership success with the club. In the back of Tristan's mind, there had always been a lingering passion for motorsport because of his father's own fascination with it.
"In the late 1980s and early 1990s, when I was young, my father did sprint circuits," Tristan said.
"I had always been interested in cars and remember going to the Mallala race tracks and to hillclimb races to watch him.
"I loved it and that's why I'm interested in cars because of my old man."
After finishing high school at Jamestown Community School, Tristan moved to Adelaide to study a Bachelor of Business Property course which led him to a career in property valuation.
His work now sees him travel regularly to the Mid North as well as the Yorke Peninsula, Iron Triangle, Flinders Ranges, Riverland and the South East.
In 2007, Tristan got the opportunity to buy a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 and pooled in money together with his father.
After getting a taste of the machine, Tristan wanted more.
"We initially did little club events as a bit of a fun thing but soon the bug bit me," he said.
"I took it more seriously as results came through and undertook more challenging events."
This led Tristan to tarmac rallying, which is when he made the decision to buy the vehicle outright from his family.
"That's what I wanted to do, so I could be in charge of my own destiny with the vehicle," he said.
Although Tristan is the sole owner of the car, it is still housed on his parents' property in Jamestown where many a weekend is spent preparing it for upcoming events on the tarmac rally calendar.
One of the things that drives Tristan and his love of the sport is the anticipation for each race.
"Preparation for each event takes somewhere between three and four months," he said.
"Where some people might just go and do some Sunday stuff once a month, we concentrate on three or four events a year and prepare for them properly."
But by far the biggest factor behind Tristan's love of the sport is the adrenaline rush that comes with it.
"The reason why I'm into rallying as opposed to circuit racing or other forms of motorsport is because it's such a challenge and a team effort," he said.
"You've got the co-driver who you have to work with and who is actually the one guiding me as the driver, so there's a lot of preparation and a lot of time involved to make sure their notes are correct.
"There are also crews that go over the car every time you come in from the rally stages and change tyres or check things that are broken and fix them so you can continue on."
Not even a major accident early in his rallying career has deterred Tristan from getting in his Evo and launching himself and his co-driver - who happens to be his girlfriend Kate Lehmann, originally from Caltowie - into the sharpest of corners and down narrow roads between trees and crowds to achieve the best timings and claim victory.
"In my first tarmac rally, I drove with a friend in a rare Mitsubishi Lancer Evo - one of only 98 sold in Australia," he recalled.
"Unfortunately, during the last stage of the event, the car rolled over three times."
Tristan and his mate managed to walk away unscathed thanks to the roll cage and other safety gear. But the car itself did not fare so well - it was destroyed in the accident.
Tristan also came undone in the inaugural Mount Alma hillclimb event near Victor Harbor in an incident that blew out half the side of his car.
Despite this he fronted up the very next year, determined to put the previous year behind, and did this in emphatic style by winning the event.
Tristan said it was these incidents and mistakes that made him a better driver and led him and Kate to multiple stage wins, a third outright placing at the Mount Gambier hillclimb in 2010, and the State and national four-wheel drive hillclimb championship last year.
*Full report in Stock Journal, October 3 issue, 2011.
