A New Zealand Fiesta for Eli Evans?

The New Zealand Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy will once again incorporate all 6 rounds of the New Zealand Rally Championship starting in the Wairarapa region on April 12/13 and will pass through regions such as Otago (10/11 May), Whangarei (June 7/8), Hawkes Bay (26/27 July) and Hamilton for Rally New Zealand (29/30 August) before the series finale in Nelson on 4/5 October.
 
Last year the Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy offered some close and exciting competition, with Mark Tapper taking the title over Kayne Barrie by a singul point, after winning the final event of the season in Nelson by 3.4 seconds.
 
Even at this early stage four competitors have confirmed entries into the series including the possibility of at least one high-profile entry from Australia, which is sure to add some extra spice to an already exciting series.

Young Aussie, Eli Evans, is showing interest in competing in New Zealand, as are a couple of other Australian drivers.
 
Last year both Tapper and Barrie had the opportunity to contest the Fiesta Sporting Trophy world shootout in England, Tapper as series winner and Barrie as a ‘wild card’ entry. Series organisers are pleased to announce they will again be sending the winning driver and a ‘wild card’ to the international shootout.
 
The Fiesta Sporting Trophy is a one-make rally series for Ford Fiesta ST road cars converted to rally cars via a kit produced by M-Sport who also run the works Ford Rally team. The kit includes Reiger suspension, a 5-speed ‘dog’ box and any other performance and safety items to turn the road going car into a ‘group N’ homologated rally car. The cars produce 165 horsepower and throughout the 2007 national rally championship were consistently amongst the fastest two-wheel drive cars on the events.
 
Notable New Zealand rally drivers to campaign the cars include Mark Tapper, Emma Gilmour, Andrew Grant, Kayne Barrie, Chris Lange, Glenn Inkster, Dermott Malley and Patrick Malley.

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