IT'S official, Coffs Harbour's young rally sensation Nathan Quinn is taking on the world.

Yesterday the 23-year-old lodged the first entry for Repco Rally Australia in the hope that his results in the FIA World Rally Championship round from September 3 to 6 will launch him into an international professional career.

The astute motor mechanic and university business student entered the rally yesterday as a Privateer in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 - but he also has his sights set on challenging some of the world's best drivers in other categories.

Quinn has asked WRC and event organisers for wildcard entries in the Production World Rally Championship (P-WRC) and Pirelli Star Driver competitions within the Repco Rally Australia.

Up to 60 crews and cars from overseas and Australia are expected to contest the rally which is being held in the NSW Northern Rivers region.

Quinn said contesting his country's WRC round had been his main goal since starting as a rally driver in September 2006 and he was thrilled to claim the honour of the first entry.

If he is to gain a wildcard entry into the P-WRC round and the Pirelli Star Driver program, then he's a big chance of getting a lucrative boost to driving at the world level.

The winner of the P-WRC round in Australia will earn a 50,000 Euro (approx. $A100,000) cash prize from the WRC's official tyre supplier Pirelli.

And in the Pirelli Star Driver competition, young drivers from the Asia Pacific region will vie for one of five places worldwide in a fully-funded campaign in the 2010 WRC.

The value of these places has been estimated at around $1 million each.

“Everything I have done has been with this in mind,” Quinn said.

“Everyone knows how hard it is to get from the Australian championship into an international team, but if you win either of these prizes it pretty much takes you straight there.”

Working two jobs to fund his passion, Quinn is hoping that his new Evo 9 can handle the pace when it's time to tackle the big boys with the really big toys.

“We've only had our car for one rally so far, so we're going to have to work hard to get up to pace, but I'm pretty confident we can,” he said.

“I think we'll have a lot of people from Coffs Harbour following us up to Rally Australia.

“We've got a lot of support here, so it will be pretty much like a home crowd.”

Quinn has entered only two international rallies before, with a best result of fifth outright last month in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Queensland round.