You could be excused by not having clue who Raana Horan was before last weekend’s Canterbury Rally, the third round of the 2018 New Zealand Rally Championship. It was only his fourth rally!
Even though I’d photographed his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX several times at the Otago Rally, I was taken aback when his named appeared at the top of the leaderboard after the second and third stages.
Who was this guy?
Raana is a 44-year old from North Auckland, and although he’s only done a handful of rallies, he has a long history in off-road racing.
It was a spectacular performance that eventually netted him third place, only 3.9 seconds behind Australian Champion Nathan Quinn, but also proved once again just how competitive the New Zealand Rally Championship is.
I confidently predicted that the event was Ben Hunt’s to lose, after second places at Otago and Whangarei, but the Subaru man didn’t even get out of the first stage – his WRX stranded with electrical gremlins.
Perhaps just as surprisingly, Josh Marston was the eventual winner in the factory-backed Holden Barina AP4, after a staggering seven stage wins from the rally’s 10 stages.
It was some drive from Marston, and provided both he and his Barina with their first national championship victory in a season that is getting closer with the passing of each event.
An added bonus for Holden was Greg Murphy’s fourth place, his best result at this level, and clearly an indication of the former Supercar driver’s ongoing development as a rally driver.
Another to impress was young Job Quantock in the ex-Inkster Skoda Fabia AP4.
Perhaps unfairly compared with David Holder in the factory Hyundai i20 AP4+ last season, Quantock is clearly still developing his craft. And, in a car that has proven anything but reliable over the past two years, sixth place in Canterbury is a result to shout about.
There are new cars appearing at each event too – such as Phil Campbell’s pretty looking AP4 Ford Fiesta – and there are more on the way.
It all bodes incredibly well for the future of the NZRC.
As one-hit-wonders Timbuk3 once sang, “the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades”!
Comments