TROY Dowel is set to shake off a second bout of cancer to return to the Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship in 2025.
Having already once before beaten leukaemia, the Victorian youngster was again struck down earlier this year.
However, a new trial drug Blinatumomab has done Dowel wonders, inspiring hope that he’ll soon be cured for life – and paving the way for an ARC comeback.
“I am extremely grateful to have been part of this revolutionary trial that looks to have helped me overcome (cancer) and can’t thank all the people who have supported and helped me enough,” said Dowel, who’ll undergo a full bone marrow transplant in May.
“I was awfully saddened to be diagnosed with leukaemia again, but I stayed positive and was lucky enough to have a good support network around me and to take part in the trial.
“This alternative treatment gave me another chance to fight the disease because the leukaemia cells would have been resistant to traditional chemo treatments from my first battle.
“Obviously, there is still a fair way to go but the recent results have given myself and the family a real boost and we can see that there is light at the end of this dark tunnel.
“I am really looking forward to getting through the transplant and returning to normal life throughout the year and am hopeful that I will be in a rally car back in the ARC for the 2025 season.
“I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone for their support during this tough time and I look forward to my ARC return next year.”
The 2024 ARC season kicks off with the Rally of Canberra on April 5-7.
