Andrew Hawkeswood heads to the opening round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, Rally Whangarei, looking for a consistent run to give a good haul of points.
2014 saw Hawkeswood running his Mazda 2 for the first time, recording some impressive results despite being unhappy with the overall performance of the car. 2015 will see the Aucklander move to a new car built to the AP4 regulations, but not until later in the season.
However the 2014-spec car will receive some upgrades, most notably a new 1800cc engine for the early rounds while the team works on the new car, while 2015 spec suspension will be retro-fitted into the 2014 car for the second round at Otago.
After using a succession of co-drivers in 2014, Hawkeswood is also pleased to have Jeff Cress returning to the left hand side of the car for 2015.
Strangely for one of the most experienced drivers in the championship, Hawkeswood has contested the Whangarei event only once in the past five years, but has plenty of experience of the roads in the area from numerous times contesting Rally New Zealand.
“For us, Whangarei is really about trying to put some points on the board. We’ve got a new car coming and not one component on the new car is the same, it should be an awesome car. But until it arrives, we really need to just put down some solid stage times and make sure we get to the finish,” says Hawkeswood.
Rally Whangarei gets underway with two super special stages on Friday April 17. The serious action begins the following day with eight high-speed special stages north of the host town, while Sunday sees a further six special stages before the finish at the Whangarei town basin.
Photo: Geoff Ridder
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