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Rising Stars take on Rally Nelson

Whangarei’s Ben Jagger and Kerikeri’s Stephen Barker, two of Rally New Zealand’s Rising Stars, take on the roads of Nelson when round four of the Vantage New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) gets underway on 20 August.

Jagger, the current Development Award holder, and Barker, the current Scholarship recipient, contest Rally Nelson with its unique forestry-based route to the south-west of Nelson city.

Rally Nelson offers competitors roads different in nature to any other event in the championship. While the other four NZRC rounds run on closed public roads, most of the well-established Nelson event is run on forestry roads with large, sharp rocks waiting to catch the unwary. This year the event features a man-made super special stage for the first time in Richmond, on the outskirts of Nelson.

Jagger says he’s looking forward to the Nelson event where the 20-year-old is looking for better results than his most recent events. After a strong opening round in Otago, Jagger had troubled runs at both Rally New Zealand and Rally Whangarei, causing him to slip to second in the New Zealand Junior Rally Championship, where he’s now 29 points off the lead.

After two seasons in a Group N, or production class, two-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta, Jagger is looking forward to using the extra power and traction of his Group N four-wheel-drive Subaru Impreza for the first time in the Nelson forests. Jagger is also writing his own pace notes on during the one-pass reconnaissance for the first time, a challenge he feels he and co-driver Ben Hawkins are up to.

“We are really looking forward to doing Rally Nelson this year in the Subaru, being four-wheel-drive,” says Jagger. “Ideally we would really like another top five finish as we achieved in Otago and we will really get to put our note writing skills to the test and see how they work out with only a one-pass recce.”

Also seeking a solid result, 21-year-old Barker is out to settle a grudge with Rally Nelson. Last year, at the wheel of an open class four-wheel-drive Mitsubishi, Barker ran fourth overall until the penultimate stage when suspension failure forced him out of the event.

Formerly of Hamilton, Barker, who now lives in Kerikeri, pilots the Rising Stars-backed Ford Fiesta and seeks to extend his Group N two-wheel-drive class points’ lead. Currently Barker has a 23 point lead over last year’s Rising Stars Scholarship winner Ben Hunt and is aware that one slip could cost him dearly with just two rounds of this year’s championship – Nelson and Rally Wairarapa – remaining.

“It is an interesting situation,” says Barker. “Twenty-three points isn’t really enough to back off, but we can’t afford to have a problem either and, as we found out at this event last year, it is very easy to strike trouble in Nelson.”

“I am confident that both of the Rising Stars drivers will run well in Nelson,” says Rally New Zealand committee member Willard Martin. “It is an unpredictable event and nothing can be taken for granted, but both Ben and Stephen have shown their increasing maturity throughout the year which should stand them in good stead.”

Rally Nelson gets underway with an autograph session and ceremonial start on Friday 20 August at the World of Wearable (WOW) arts museum. Saturday 21 August sees competitors contest six special stages totalling 144 km, with six further special stages covering 111 km on Sunday. Crews will finish at the WOW centre at approximately 2.30 pm on Sunday.
ENDS

Background information about the Rally New Zealand Rising Stars programme
Launched in 2009, the three-part Rally New Zealand Rising Stars programme aims to foster and develop the talents of young kiwi rally drivers.

The Rising Stars Scholarship provides professional mentoring and the use of a professionally-prepared Group N front-wheel-drive rally car, a package worth $50,000, to contest this class of the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC).

The Rally New Zealand Rising Stars Development Award can be entered by competitors running Group N front-wheel-drive (N3) rally cars in the NZRC. The winner gets professional mentoring and a $50,000 support package to contest the N4, or four-wheel-drive production car, class of the following year’s NZRC.

The Rally New Zealand Rising Stars International Award can be entered by competitors running Group N four-wheel-drive (N4) cars in the NZRC. The winner gets professional mentoring and a $50,000 package to contest an overseas WRC, APRC or Pirelli Star Driver final event the following year.