There will be a collective sigh of relief from the main contenders in the latest edition of the New Zealand Rally Championship as it heads to round three in Canterbury this Sunday, with runaway winner from the first two events, Hayden Paddon missing from the starting line up.
Paddon, who was totally dominant in Otago and Whangarei (winning every special stage on route to victory), is back in Europe on world rally duty with the Hyundai factory team.
This leaves his closest rivals in the Brian Green Properties national championship, a chance to gather maximum points and close the gap to Paddon. Heading the charge is 2015 national champion Bent Hunt (pictured) in his Subaru Impreza, Dunedin’s Emma Gilmour, Suzuki and Cantabrian Matt Summerfield, driving his recently acquired Mitsubishi.
After the two rounds to date, Paddon has amassed 88 points, Hunt 70, with Gilmour and Summerfield 43 each. The championship over five rounds, allows drivers to drop their worst round.
Also at the pointy end of the field is Kaikoura’s Regan Ross in his wonderful MK2 Ford Escort BDA. He is sixth overall and leads the classic section of the championship. Not far behind Ross is Rangiora’s John Silcock. Silcock with his rebuilt Mazda RX7 is seventh overall and second in the classics. He is a previous outright winner of the Canterbury Rally.
The Lone Star Canterbury Rally will once again be an all forest affair, with all ten stages on Sunday. Rangiora is the base where the cars will service throughout the day before returning the Ashley and surrounding forests. Two of the stages are to be run in darkness, making it the only rally on the national scene to venture down this course.
“ Having all forestry stages and stages in darkness, gives us our point of difference with the others. Otago and Whangarei are over two days and all stages are on public roads for example”, explained Rally secretary Leanne Jolly.
The Rally will have a ceremonial start on Saturday afternoon in the central city, with the main event leaving Rangiora at 8 am on Sunday.
Spectator maps are available from Autotech Services in Rangiora. Detail is also on the Autosport Club website.
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