Having scored a promising sixth overall at the season opening MTA Maramarua Rally, Robbie Leicester had his sights set higher at the recent Tomoana Warehousing Rally Hawkes Bay.
Following a number of improvements to the RadioLive Graphics HQ R4 Subaru between events, Leicester and co-driver Malcolm Peden certainly didn’t disappoint the team of loyal supporters at RL Rallysport and Possum Bourne Motorsport.
Bringing the R4 Subaru home in second overall, without a scratch on it, an ecstatic Leicester said “This was a fantastic team effort and we were stoked to be able to reward them with this result. The car got better all day and Mal was faultless on the notes”.
While eventual winner Stewart Taylor was always going to be hard to catch on his home event, it was Leicester who slotted into second from early on, and then had to withstand a number of challenges as others pushed hard and then dropped away.
A string of top 5 stage times saw Leicester steadily build his advantage, to finish an impressive 51 seconds in front of Geof Argyle in third place. “It was a matter of concentrating on my own performance and not worry about the others”, said Leicester.
Competing in the Total Lubricants Rally Xtreme Challenge this season, a 6th at the first round, and now 2nd here sees Leicester second equal (with Geof Argyle) on the overall points table, just 3 points behind Dylan Turner in first.
“These two events have set us up for the rest of the season”, continues Leicester. “We can’t wait to do battle again at the Daybreaker.”
The third round of the Rally Xtreme Challenge is only a few weeks away on 29th June, at the GoPro Daybreaker Rally. Based out of Feilding, this will in effect be a return to the old home stomping ground for Leicester, who is now Auckland based. “We are aiming to go one better this time”, says Leicester. “We know the car can do it, and with the fantastic support from Radio live, Graphics HQ, Penny Homes, Dunlop, Subaru, STI, and Possum Bourne Motorsport, this is an ideal opportunity for us.”
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