The New Zealand Rally Championship has reached the pointy end of the season with the penultimate round today at the Rally of Coromandel.
Auckland-based Subaru WRX STi driver Ben Hunt will lead out the 70-car field for the one-day event, which features eight stages totalling 135km on forestry and public roads — some of which were last used for the 1979 Rally of New Zealand.
Hunt holds a 46-point lead in the championship and can secure a second career title — after victory in 2015 — should he finish eighth or better today.
Josh Marston is sitting in second in his Holden Barina AP4, with fellow Christchurch driver Dylan Thomson (Subaru WRX STi) a further 32 points behind in third.
After a tough fourth NZRC round in South Canterbury in June, where the gear lever in his Ford Fiesta R2 broke, Mike Sheehan, of Queenstown, is ‘‘taking a gloves-off approach’’ to competing in the two-wheel-drive class where he is equal on 109 points with rival Robbie Stokes.
Dunedin’s Emma Gilmour, who has been competing in some regional club events over the past two months to iron out the kinks in her refurbished Suzuki Swift AP4 between NZRC rounds, is hoping for a return to competitive form.
To follow the Coromandel Rally live, visit www.chrissport.co.nz
- by Catherine Pattison
Photo: Geoff Ridder
