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The flat-out roads of Nelson will decide this weekend's 2007 Vantage Aluminium Joinery New Zealand Rally Championship.
Concluding a six-month journey around New Zealand, it will come down to the nine forestry based stages in the 0800 Boxman Rally of Nelson that will settle the ranking on Sunday 30th September.
Included in to the 26 strong lineup will be Californian Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino in their Subaru Impreza.
Back for his fourth New Zealand event running, the entry of the co-owner of the DC Shoes sports brand means that the event will run to full ‘international' status.
With much of the route of the 185km long competition event having enjoyed a mild winter, the logging roads have been described as like ‘swept concrete and very dusty'. This will create one significant issue for the drivers - visibility, unless rain and or wind prevail. The only real benefactor will be championship leader Sam Murray - who will start as first car on the road.
Currently with a twenty point advantage, the Palmerston North driver needs only to place sixth or better in his Subaru to claim his first overall Goldstar title.
An event previously favoured by Mitsubishi cars, second placed Hayden Paddon (Lancer EVO 8) says he and co-driver John Kennard are all or nothing this weekend:
"We are just going to go hard - we've got nothing to lose and everything we can gain. We're going for the (rally) win and hope that helps our championship. Whatever Sam does is up to him - the big thing is all the others will be quick, so we'll have our work cut out for us. But we haven't given up hope yet anyway."
Having won the event in 2006, Rotorua's Dean Sumner (Lancer EVO 9) also has the flat-out game plan:
"Nelson has always been good to us; I've got nothing to lose - everything to gain. Just to try drive fast as we can and I'll take more risks on this rally than previous. I'm hoping to finish top-three in the championship overall, so we'll see how it goes - we've got no control over how the others do - we just have to rely on someone not being able to finish."
Sumner also pointed out tyre choice will be a crucial part of the competitive equation:
"It's a real abrasive rock - even in the wet you'll get tyre wear. Every part of the country is different, Otago is round stone, quite slippery and Nelson is a sharp rock and I think has the most tyre wear of anywhere around. Like last year, we'd do two stages and return with nothing but canvas for tyres - tyre choice will be pretty critical for this one."
Third and still an outright title contender, two-time defending champion Richard Mason (Subaru Impreza) will be part of a leading paced wedge to try forcing open the overall battle. Reinforcing the ranks, Mason's arch rival Chris West (Lancer EVO 9) will be another in direct contention for the event win.
As heated as the overall Goldstar battle, Nelson's roads will also decide the Group N 2WD category being contested by the Ford Fiesta cars, along with the Classic series - also entering a one-day shoot-out battle.
Making a full weekend of it, the event starts with a pre-event display at the World of Wearable (WOW) art complex, Quarantine Rd, Stoke from 2pm on the Saturday. Following a signing session from 2:30pm, the cars cross the ceremonial start at 3:30pm.
Action starts from 7:30am on the Sunday as the first car leaves Wakefield for the 33.99km Shirtcliffs stage.
Following three service breaks at the former Forest HQ at Tadmor, the cars have a final two-stage sprint to decide the winner - who will be rewarded back at the WOW complex from 5pm.
Event information can be obtained from the 0800 Boxman Rally of Nelson website: http://www.rallynelson.co.nz/ and results/timing http://www.chrissport.co.nz/
0800 Boxman Rally of Nelson - start order seeding list (provisional - 19 Sept)
3 Sam Murray Rob Ryan Subaru Impreza WRX Palmerston Nth 1
1 Richard Mason Sara Randall Subaru Impreza WRX Masterton 1
4 Hayden Paddon John Kennard Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 8 Geraldine 1
5 Dean Sumner Paul Fallon Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 Rotorua 1
6 Chris West Garry Cowan Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 Auckland 1
7 Emma Gilmour Glenn Macneall Subaru Impreza WRX Dunedin 1
8 Dylan Turner Sandy Bansal Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 Manurewa 1
9 Stewart Taylor Warwick Searle Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 Havelock Nth 1
10 Nathan Thomas Richard Kelly Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 7 Lower Hutt 1
11 Callum McInnes Linda Loughlin Subaru Impreza WRX Tauranga 1
12 Ken Block Alex Gelsomino Subaru Impreza WRX USA 1
14 Patrick Malley Raymond Bennett Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 Auckland 1
15 Mark Tapper Jeff Cress Ford Fiesta Auckland 2
16 Kayne Barrie Jane Blair Ford Fiesta Albany 2
17 Chris Lange Mal Peden Ford Fiesta Invercargill 2 & C
18 Dermott Malley Linzi Malley Ford Fiesta Havelock Nth 2
19 Aaron Cook Strattan Campbell Honda Jazz Porirua 3
20 Dave Strong Bruce McKenzie Honda Civic Mt Wellington 3
21 Andrew Keighley Jonathan Kane Honda CRX Pakuranga 3
22 Reg Cook Louise Cook Nissan Pulsar Auckland 3
23 Robert Murray Stu Jenkinson Mazda RX7 Palmerston Nth 4
24 Euan Fuge Mike Gibbs Mazda RX3 Feilding 4
25 Rob Wylie Paul Turner Nissan 240RS Birkenhead 4
26 Deb Kibble Nicola Burley Mitsubishi Ex Lancer Wellington 4
27 Keith Frankum Timothy Eddington Toyota Corolla Hastings 4
28 Mike Cameron Helen Cameron Mitsubishi Lancer Stratford 4
Class 1 = Group N 4WD
Class 2 = Group N 2WD
Class 3 = Kiwi2
Class 4 = Classic
2007 Vantage Aluminium Joinery New Zealand Rally Championship
Overall driver Goldstar Championship points (after round five of six)
1 Sam Murray 207
2 Hayden Paddon 187
3 Richard Mason 183
4 Dean Sumner 166
Group N 2WD
1 Kayne Barrie 241
2 Mark Tapper 236
3 Dermott Malley 196
4 Chris Lange 188
Kiwi-2
1 Dave Strong 239
2 Andrew Keighley 188
3 Reg Cook 171
4 Aaron Cook 164
5 Cheyne Booth 118
Classic
1. Euan Fuge - 140
2. Bert Murray - 131
3. Rob Wylie - 104
4. Keith Frankum - 96
5. Deborah Kibble - 87
6. Mike Cameron - 34
Vantage Aluminium Joinery 2007 New Zealand Rally Championship - calendar
#1 13-15 April 2007 Rally of Otago
#2 11-13 May 2007 Rally of Whangarei - FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship event
#3 2-3 June 2007 Rally Wairarapa
#4 3-4 August 2007 Rally of Hawke's Bay
#5 31 August-1 September 2007 Rally New Zealand - FIA World Rally Championship event
#6 29-30 September 2007 Rally of Nelson
For further information: www.motorsport.org.nz/Rally or www.vantage.co.nz
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