Kiwis are known the world over for their ingenuity when it comes to making things work; whether that be fixing something with a length of fencing wire, or building a rally car that can take on the world.
The introduction of the region’s AP4 category (short for Asia Pacific 4) has seen a bunch of new rally cars hit the stages over the past three years, headed by Hayden Paddon in the factory-supported Hyundai i20.
But it’s the efforts of Andrew Hawkeswood and his Force Motorsport team that have really set the standard in terms of ‘punching above their weight’.
In Australia, the leading AP4 car is Harry Bates’ Toyota Yaris, but like Paddon’s i20, the Yaris also has significant manufacturer support.
Not so Hawkeswood’s Force Motorsport crew, who have built AP4 Mazdas, Skodas, Minis and Toyotas that are not only winning rallies, but championships as well.
The original aim with AP4 was to enable teams to build cars that were of a similar specification and speed to the FIA’s R5 category, and so far that is proving to be a real possibility, despite private companies like Force having nowhere near the budget of the European manufacturers.
Whereas Volkswagen’s yet-to-be-rallied Polo GTI R5 has already completed over 12,000km of rigorous testing, Hawkeswood’s initial Mazda 2 test session involved “backing it out of the workshop, sitting it on the rev limiter and sidestepping the clutch 10 times to see what broke”.
Fortunately nothing did, but it goes to show the differences in the operations, and the incredible job that the New Zealand company are doing.
“We built the first car in nine months with four people, then two more different brands in four months, so there was always going to be teething problems,” Hawkeswood adds.
“However, one of the small problems we have is that we don’t sell many parts, as most of the components don’t wear out unless you hit something hard!”
A small problem for Force Motorsport perhaps, but a real win-win for competitors purchasing an AP4 car.
Of course, that initial purchase price is not cheap – with some cars having already cost over $300,000 to build – but the saving in not having to import a car from Europe, and not having to have a $100,000 spares package, is significant.
We’re yet to see a driver of the calibre of Hayden Paddon drive his AP4 Hyundai against a driver of similar quality in a full-spec R5 machine, but when we do there’s every chance it will be the Kiwi who comes out on top.
The closest we’ve had was when Brendan Reeves drove the Force Motorsport Mazda 2 at Rally Australia last year, and while he was clearly slower than Kalle Rovanpera’s factory Ford Fiesta, the signs were incredibly promising.
The Asia Pacific region is on a real winner with the AP4 category, and its progress will be enthralling to watch over the coming seasons.
As an added bonus, it’s been pretty good for national championship rallying too.
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