Back in March 2009 after a day and a half of intense interviews, judging and driving assessment, the top four in the Rally New Zealand Rising Stars Scholarship shootout were named from an initial 12 contestants. Stephen Barker, age 20 from Hamilton ; Brad Harris, age 24 from Rangiora; Daniel Harris, age 18 from Nelson; and Ben Hunt, age 20 from Nelson. Competing in the Maramarua Forest south of Auckland , the four candidates completed a final interview with the judging panel and timed runs of a rally stage in a two-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta rally car to determine who would be the inaugural Rising Star Scholarship winner. Here’s Kate Gordon-Smith’s report from the final day of the shootout…..
Nelson driver wins rally’s inaugural Rising Star Scholarship (2009)
Twenty-year-old Ben Hunt, from Nelson, has won the inaugural Rally New Zealand Rising Stars Scholarship after an intense two-day shootout selection process.
Up against eleven other candidates ranging from 18 to 25 years of age, Hunt demonstrated his prowess behind the wheel of a front-wheel-drive rally car and impressed judges with his professional demeanour and competitive nature to win the brand-new motorsport prize.
“It’s a dream come true and it’s going to be one heck of a ride,” enthused Hunt as he was named as the winner after two days of testing in the Maramarua Forest south of Auckland . “The most difficult part of the weekend was that last interview with the Rally New Zealand panel; they really grilled me! It’s quite overwhelming really, and I’ll just do what I’m told because these guys know what they’re doing when it comes to rallying.”
One of the most significant prizes in New Zealand motorsport, the Rally New Zealand Rising Star Scholarship sees Hunt win a $50,000 prize package comprising expert mentoring and support for the 2009 season as well as the use of a professionally-prepared rally car to contest the N3 category (two-wheel-drive production car class) of the 2009 New Zealand Rally Championship, as well as Rally New Zealand.
Hunt turned to rallying just one year ago after a ten year tennis career where he was selected as an age group representative tennis player several times. He continues to coach tennis around the Nelson district while studying tourism management at Nelson Polytechnic.
Hunt’s passion for rallying stems from father Richard who rallied in regional and national events, and was fostered by being able to drive a variety of cars off-road on the family farm. To date the Nelson youngster has achieved class wins and places in regional events such as Rally Nelson and the Westland Rally. A career-focused plan for the 2009 rally season stood Hunt in good stead when questioned by Rally New Zealand judges regarding his future plans.
Rally New Zealand chairman Chris Carr was enthusiastic about the entire Rising Stars Scholarship weekend and the first-ever group of candidates. “It’s wonderful to see such talent amongst our young drivers and, in many ways it hasn’t been an easy decision. We’ve taken a two-pronged approach looking at out-of-car activities like securing sponsorship, media interviews, fitness and career plans, as well as a thorough assessment of in-car abilities.
“We know we’ve pushed the candidates around all weekend, but they can rest assured we all know who they are now and we’ll be supporting and watching their careers from now on.
“It was interesting to see how people’s abilities shone through in the different activities and Ben Hunt is a deserving winner. We look forward to working with Ben and extend our warm congratulations to him – and all the candidates for participating, learning, sharing and competing to the best of their abilities all weekend.”
Carr also announced a surprise for the runner-up, 18-year-old Daniel Harris who is also from Nelson and the youngest candidate. Rally New Zealand will fund a car for Harris to compete in Rally New Zealand in August this year.
Carr quipped: “Is there something in the water in Nelson? We’ve had candidates from all over the country and here two from Nelson are the standouts!”
Many-time national rally champion Neil Allport provided the expert in-car assessments. “I’m extremely impressed with you all,” Allport told the candidates at the weekend’s prize-giving. “The final four – Ben Hunt, Daniel Harris, Stephen Barker (age 20 from Hamilton ) and Brad Harris (age 24 from Rangiora) – were all exceptionally fast learners. You all went quickly and have obvious potential to go faster. We will watch all of you with interest and hope you go forward in your rally careers.”
Thinking back to his selection as one of the twelve candidates for the Rising Stars Scholarship shootout weekend, Hunt said he was simply excited and keen to see how much he could learn from the experience.
“It’s been so exciting to meet so many people involved in the top levels of rallying – the sponsorship judges provided amazing feedback and to have someone like Neil Allport sit alongside you offering feedback has been brilliant. I’ve learnt so much. I wasn’t expecting to make the top four; there are a lot of talented guys here, but I’ve tried to go with the flow and learn as I went,” said Hunt. “This is a huge leap forward in my career, given I have only a year’s competition experience. It really is a dream come true.”
Like Hunt, Harris was delighted with the overall experience. “I knew a couple of other guys entered and thought it would be a challenge to make the top four, so I was stoked to do that. The experience is just huge,” said Harris. “The calibre of the people; I’ve been taught so much and every one of us will come away with so much knowledge and information to think about. Competing at this level is a huge transition from the club level events we’ve done until now.”
The other candidates for Rising Stars Scholarship were: Adam Bligh, age 25 from Wellington; Lyndon Galbraith, age 24 from Timaru; Piran Pigneguy, age 23 from Lower Hutt; Michael Pittams, age 24 from Tauranga; David Scoles, age 22 from Foxton; Dominick Unterberger, age 24 from Nelson; Peter Weir, age 20 from Pahiatua; and Henry Wong, age 24 from Mt Eden in Auckland.
Hunt starts his first event in the Rally New Zealand Rising Stars Ford Fiesta at Rally Hawke’s Bay in early April. Until then he will be busy with Rally New Zealand personnel getting to know the car, going through contracts and preparing himself for his first rally representing Rally New Zealand
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