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Although they will start the rally 25 points adrift of second, Matt, and his Huntly-based Co-Driver Jason Farmer, believe they have a real chance at taking out what would be a career-best second place in the overall championship, as they race to head off fellow Subaru driver Emma Gilmour in the battle for silver.
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“We are going to try," said Matt. "The pressure has come off us with regard to the junior championship title, which was our primary NZRC season goal this season, so we are going to give it our best shot to take that second overall position.
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"Emma finds herself in a 'Must Win' situation if she is going to score enough points to head off Richard [Mason] for the overall championship and GoldStar.
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"And with Westy [Chris West] in his new car and desperate to do well on debut in that, and finish his troubled season on a high, the leading teams all have their own reasons to go harder than ever in what promises to be an out-and-out battle on flat-out roads.   Â
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"So our aim is to run at a pace that keeps us in touch with the leaders and as Day 2 progresses be in the ideal position to fight right to the end.
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“Gisborne is well known for the unique nature of its roads. Apparently they are quite different to anything else in the country - some very fast and flowing, while others are highly technical (tight and twisty). All the sort of stuff that should suit our now very well sorted MITECH WELDERS Subaru.
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"The length of the [12] stages [the shortest being 19kms - the longest 39kms] could also play a major part in the final outcome, because if anyone gets a puncture they will almost certainly have to stop and change it or risk a serious loss of time to their rivals or even potentially terminal suspension damage.
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“Also, being they are roads very few in the championship have driven competitively on in the last decade, that should provide a pretty level playing field as far as pace notes go, which would also be to our advantage.
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"We are really looking forward to having a serious crack at 2nd, which would be our best series result since our debut season back in 2009, when we finished 4th on our way to winning both the Rookie and our first Junior awards."
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