Matt Summerfield has taken victory at the Tauranga Clubmans Rally in his first rally behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Mirage.
Summerfield and co-driving sister Nicole were given the opportunity to contest the event by Team Ralliart in the Mitsubishi Mirage normally driven in the New Zealand Rally Championship by Brian Green.
With the rally being a non-pace noted event, Summerfield was well aware that several fast local competitors meant he would not be the favourite on roads he had never contested prior to the weekend.
However a pair of stage wins to start the event left Summerfield with a 19 second lead heading to the first service. By the second service after stage five, that lead had extended to more than 30 seconds.
To round out a perfect day, Summerfield took another two stage wins in the final two stages to take an eventual winning margin of 41.4 seconds in less than 80 kilometres of special stages.
“I’m absolutely stoked! It was awesome to be given the opportunity by Team Ralliart to drive their awesome little Mirage,” says Summerfield.
“We didn’t do anything silly all day, just drove to what we could see and the times were really good. It’s encouraging for us, but also shows what a good car the Mirage is. I’d love to put together a deal to have another run in the car.”
Matt Summerfield on his way to winning the Tauranga Rally. Photos: Geoff Ridder
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