Ari Pettigrew, along with co-driver Jason Farmer, head to Rally Whangarei this weekend confident of finding plenty more speed in their Holden Barina AP4 rally car. The 23-year-old made a great start to his first full 4WD season in the 2022 Brian Green Properties NZ Rally Championship at Rally Otago, finishing seventh overall in a highly competitive field.
Pettigrew quickly showed he deserves the move to the top category with sevarl top five results in the first few stages at the opening round in April.
Pettigrew had previously won the Open 2WD class in his older 1990’s BMW in the 2021 NZ Rally Championship. This season he is up against the best of New Zealand’s rally teams and took a careful approach in Otago while learning the Holden Barina AP4 that had previously rallied by ex Supercars driver, Greg Murphy.
A safe ride to the finish was the plan and achieved. To his surprise Ari found he could mostly keep up with his Rally Otago rivals showing he can run with the best of these teams.
“We were surprised how good our early times were,” commented Pettigrew. “We were keeping it easy to ensure we got home while I learnt the cars capabilities. I have always been able to get on the pace straight away from the opening stage while some others need a few stages before they get up to full speed.”
Pettigrew currently works for Paddon Rally Group in Cromwell spending his work hours building and maintaining both rally and race cars for Hayden Paddon’s company, while in his evenings he prepares the Manukau Auto Centre owned Barina AP4.
Rally fans had already noticed his ability in the BMW. Now with Farmer joining the team plus the help of Hayden Paddon and his crew, many expect the team to continue to increase their speed at the remaining NZRC events.
Next up is the International Rally of Whangarei, this coming weekend.
“I can’t wait to head north to the awesome cambered roads of Whangarei,” said Pettigrew. “We had some great success there last year winning the 2WD category and coming home in seventh overall.”
The rally starts Friday evening, 13 May, and runs through Saturday and Sunday 14 & 15th.
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