Eli Evans has clinched the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship with victory at Coffs Harbour.

The Honda driver and his co-driver Glen Weston will not have too much time to dwell on his achievement as he will begin working on trying to court a new manufacturer for his 2014 ARC campaign following the recent withdrawal of Honda Australia’s factory effort.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. I think when we get on the podium and celebrate it will all come together,” Evans told Speedcafe.com

“It’s been a tough year. I’ve had great competition from Scott Pedder (Renault Clio R3) and Brendan Reeves (Mazda 2) and Tom Wilde in the Renault.

“For us to win it is a big relief and something we will celebrate tonight.”

However the champagne result will make way for some serious planning with Evans intent on courting another works drive.

“It was only two weeks ago that we found out that Honda was pulling out. It was too close to this event for us to start working on anything else yet.

“I want to be in the championship next year and I want to be involved with a manufacturer. That’s going to be our aim at Evans Motorsport to try and get someone involved.

“We don’t have any plans yet. That’s the first thing we are going to do when we get back to the workshop on Tuesday morning.”

Renault driver Wilde put in one of his most polished performances at the Coates Hire Rally Australian round, finishing third behind Reeves.

“It’s a great weekend for the Renault Sport Rally Team and a fantastic result to come home in third place,” Wilde said.

“This weekend has been my best driving performance all season and we’re right up there with the times of the top guys now which is a great feeling.

“The cars ran faultlessly all weekend and I’m really looking forward to stepping things up again at Rally Victoria in November.

“I do like the roads down in Victoria and I have had some good results down there in the past and for sure I want to be pushing for the win in the final round.”