Phil Campbell will be looking to extend his lead in the FIA two-wheel drive class of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship when the second round of the series, Rally Whangarei, gets underway this weekend.
After an intense battle with the similar R2-spec Ford Fiesta of Josh Marston at the opening round in Otago, Campbell and co-driver VenitaFabbro took top points in what was a perfect start to the season.
Since that event, the pair also entered the Letts Construction Ford Fiesta into the non-championship Maramarua Rally where they again achieved a top result, all while learning the new car and gaining extra mileage.
For this event, Campbell is not only looking to record a good result in the NZRC field, but by having an homologated car, is eligible to compete in the international side of the event against competitors in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, where Campbell will be aiming for the top two-wheel drive spot. But with a championship to compete for, the Tauranga driver is also aware that points are invaluable.
“We’d really like to take out the top two-wheel drive spot for the weekend, both in the event and the NZRC,” says Campbell. “But we are very aware that the goal this year is the championship and we need to score as many points as possible.”
Rally Whangarei gets underway with a ceremonial start in the Cameron Street Mall from 3.30pm on Friday before the action gets underway the following day. After two days of competition, competitors will have covered 288km of competitive special stages on some of the best gravel roads in the world before a ceremonial finish in the Whangarei town basin starting at 3.15pm on Sunday.
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