Kiwi driver Hayden Paddon is hoping for a trouble-free run at this weekend’s ENEOS International Rally of Whangarei to springboard him into his WRC return while a fierce battle shapes among the chasing pack in the second round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship.
Paddon dominated the opening round in Otago last month and starts as the overwhelming favourite for the two-day event up north.
The 31-year-old factory Hyundai driver heads back to Europe next week in preparation for Rally Portugal and wants to keep his momentum rolling.
“We obviously want to work on things a little bit more,” Paddon said. “We hop straight on a place on Monday after the rally to go to Portugal for a test and then the rally so it is about being in a good place and that my driving is in a good place.
“With the two pass recce it gives us an opportunity to refine it a bit more and really press on a bit more.”
Behind Paddon and stand-in co-driver Malcolm Peden’s Hyundai i20 AP4+ the battle between the other leading contenders looks to be a who’s who of Australasian drivers as well as manufacturers.
Reigning Australian champion Nathan Quinn (Ford Fiesta R5), 2015 NZRC champ Ben Hunt (Subaru), 2017 runner-up Matt Summerfield (Mitsubishi), Emma Gilmour (Suzuki), Josh Marston (Holden), Dylan Turner (Audi), Rhys Gardner (Mazda), Australian-based Irishman Richie Dalton (Ford), and Graham Featherstone (Mitsubishi) all feature as serious contenders.
With the event doubling as the opening round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship four international entries will also feature at the front of the field. Kiwi Mike Young and co-driver Malcolm Read will start as the favourite in the Toyota Vitz while Italian Fabio Frisiero (Peugeot), and Japanese drivers Yuya Sumiyama (Skoda) and Fuyuhiko Takahashi (Subaru) will challenge them for APRC points.
Dylan Thomson and Amy Hudson start the event as the favourite to win the 2WD in their Ford Fiesta after a comfortable victory in Otago. Robbie Stokes, David Taylor and Amy Keighley will serve as his competition.
Wayne Pittams and Chris Davison head to Whangarei as the leaders in category 3 in their Ford Escort although they will be tested by Tony Gosling and Blair Read, who join the class this weekend having run a Subaru Legacy in Otago.
Regan Ross and Samantha Gray are favourites in the Historic Rally Championship having won in Otago three weeks’ ago although John Silcock and Grant Marra will keep them honest in their Mazda RX7.
Two-time national champion Geof Argyle makes his season debut in the cat 5 4WD class. Otago winner Grant Blackberry will provide stiff competition but the field is expanded with the inclusion of Matthew Jensen, Warwick Redfern and Clint Cunningham for this event.
The 2WD one-day competition is headed by Marcus van Klink’s awesome sounding Mazda RX8. Four-time national champion Bruce Herbert (Mitsubishi), Brent Taylor (Toyota) and Anthony Jones (Ford) will provide the best competition in this category.
In the Group A 4WD class the Mitsubishi of Matt and Karl Adams will battle Kian Scherer and David Hoffman’s Subaru Legacy for the prize.
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