Crocker goes into the Premier State Rally with a 38-point buffer in the Drivers Championship, but wants to step up a notch from his two second places in last year's NSW event.

"That was a big learning curve for us, with a new car at the start of last year. But this time around we've been testing in Canberra recently and feel we've got a great set-up on the car for this event."

Crocker says many of the stages have changed since last year. With some rain forecast over the weekend, that could make it a lottery.

"We've been testing up on the Central Coast and even with light rain it's been slippery, so the combination of new roads with wet conditions could make it extremely demanding."

Fellow SRTA driver Dean Herridge has also displayed a cool consistency in his drives this year, with two third-place podium finishes in the Queensland heats.

"We always said our aim for this year was podium finishes and that's what we're achieving. But that's against an incredible level of competition and we're having to fight all the way, which keeps us focused and motivated," said Herridge.

"We need to take that same approach into this weekend and prove that we have the ongoing ability to stay among the top finishers."

Herridge presently holds third place in the Drivers championship, with 42 points, just two points behind Simon Evans. Subaru leads the Manufacturers Championship with 206 points, ahead of Mitsubishi on 154 and Toyota on 58.

The Premier State Rally gets underway with two Super Special Stages under lights at Eastern Creek International Raceway, Sydney, on Friday night (July 4) at 6pm.The action then moves up to the Central Coast for the remainder of the weekend, around the Wyong state forest.

Heat One comprises 10 stages, including the two on Friday night.

Action resumes at 8.58am on Saturday, covering 132 competitive kilometres.
Heat Two on Sunday covers six stages and 96.96 competitive kilometres, with the first car due across the finish line at Wyong at 2.55pm.

The fastest results service can be found at http://rally.subaru.com.au along with the exclusive stage split times which allow you to follow cars through a stage and compare their times to others every five kilometres.

The Subaru rally website also boasts fantastic photographic action.