Tauranga’s Phil Campbell is looking for a strong start to his second season in the New Zealand Rally Championship when the opening round, Rally of Otago, gets underway this weekend (8-10 May).
Campbell, along with co-driver VenitaFabbro, return to the Ford Fiesta ST that they contested the final four rounds of last year’s NZRC with moderate success. Some testing over the off season has seen Campbell become more comfortable with the two-wheel drive Fiesta and the 24-year-old is confident he can top the two-wheel drive ranks in Otago.
“We have done a lot of testing and I have learnt to drive the car a lot faster too,” says Campbell. “It will be great to have Venita along for another season also, we worked well last year.”
Campbell will run with the support of his sponsors, Letts Buildings and Steel Sheds R Us, as well as the recently announced Rally New Zealand Junior Scholarship for two-wheel-drive class competitors.
“We really appreciate the support of our sponsors and the Rally New Zealand Junior Scholarship, it will be a big help for us this year,” Campbell adds.
Over the off season, the whole Campbell Rallysport team have been kept working, replacing the motor in the car plus refreshing the suspension to give Campbell the best chance of glory.
Unlike last year, Campbell will be using stages he has driven before and although there is the added challenge of night stages for this year’s event, it is a challenge he is looking forward to after testing in the dark recently and claiming it will be the same for anyone.
The opening leg of Rally Otago gets underway with three dark stages on Friday night, with a further six stages the following day completing the opening leg, with a total distance of 151.94 kilometres. Leg two starts on Sunday with six stages totalling 119.55 kilometres bringing the event to a close.
Press Release by BB Media
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