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Last rally for Rally’s Rising Stars

With this weekend’s Rally Nelson, the competitors registered for Rally New Zealand’s two Rising Stars Awards will know who goes through to November’s shootout on points and who will have to apply for a wildcard entry.

In the International Award stakes, Geraldine’s Hayden Paddon has 40 points and is through to the shootout. But currently second with 34 points and having completed his four nominated events, Rotorua’s Sloan Cox will have wait and see if Nelson’s Kieran Hall can safely finish just one competitive stage of the rally to earn enough points and take the second guaranteed shootout slot from Cox. Christchurch drivers Josh Marston and Matthew Jansen will join either Cox or Hall as possible wildcard entrants for the shootout. Taking place on 21 and 22 November, the shootout weekend determines which young driver wins the $50,000 contribution and professional mentoring to use towards competing in an international rally in 2010.

Whangarei’s Ben Jagger is automatically through to the shootout, as he heads the Development Award leader-board for drivers competing in front-wheel-drive cars with 39 points. Like Jagger, Aucklander Patrick Malley has also completed all four events he nominated for Rising Stars points, but his 35 point total could be beaten by third-placed Nelson local Ben Hunt who needs to finish second among the Ford Fiesta class to beat Malley. As in the International Award, whichever two Development Award drivers earn the most points go straight to the shootout to determine who wins the expert mentoring, support and funding package worth $50,000 towards their 2010 New Zealand rally campaign in a four-wheel-drive car. The remaining three drivers, which includes two more Nelson drivers Daniel Harris and Dominick Unterberger, can apply for a wildcard entry.

The current points for the 2009 Rally New Zealand Rising Stars programme can be found at http://www.chrissport.co.nz/points/2009/risingstar.htm and will be updated after the two days of rallying in the Nelson region.

The third aspect of the Rally New Zealand Rising Stars driver development programme, the Scholarship, is currently open for entries. Contact Rally New Zealand via email, info@rallynz.org.nz, to receive an application form and entries close 2 November 2009. The 2010 Scholarship selection weekend is scheduled to run alongside the International and Development Award shootout over the weekend of 21 and 22 November in the Maramarua Forest.

How the Rally New Zealand Rising Stars Development and International awards work

• Drivers must be under 26 years of age on 1 January 2009, a member of a MotorSport New Zealand-affiliated car club, a New Zealand resident, and registered for the 2009 Vantage New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) to be eligible to register for the Rising Stars programme.
• Drivers nominate two NZRC events in addition to two compulsory events in which to collect points towards either the Development or the International Award. The two compulsory events are June’s NAC Insurance International Rally of Whangarei and August’s Possum Bourne Memorial Rally.
• To enter the Development Award, drivers must compete in the Group N N3 (front-wheel-drive production car) class.
• To enter the International Award, drivers must compete in the Group N N4 (four-wheel-drive production car) class