Held over fifteen stages south of Whangarei, West finished one point ahead of Paddon after a time count-back pipped the 2007 event winner who headed the Sunday set of time sheets.
Overnight third place sitter Brett Martin (Mitsubishi Lancer) was overhauled during the day by Rotorua’s Dean Sumner (Mitsubishi Lancer).
Following heavy overnight rain in the Kaipra region, predominantly clear skies during the day afforded better road grip as the gravel surface started to bind.
Mixed in with the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship field, West’s outright victory has again kept the international drivers at arm’s length of the title – Australia’s Cody Crocker coming closest in third overall*.
“It’s fantastic; it’s a good result for the whole Simms rally team, credit and payback for all the hard work. Personally for me it’s a good boost of confidence and that’s what we wanted – to set out to put some good stage times on the board and that’s what we’ve done,” said Chris West, in the Lancer EVO 9.
Edging out West for the championship points awarded on the Sunday, the total has put Hayden Paddon in to the Vantage New Zealand Rally Championship lead by 23 points. Elevated to second, West is 19 points ahead of Masterton’s Richard Mason who crashed out of contention early on the Saturday.
“It’s been a good day – quite exciting and good being so close,” said Paddon. “I said it was going to be down to tyres and it was a lot drier than what I was hoping it would be – we still pushed and the tyres held in there really well. It’s good for our championship so I think we’re heading in the right direction for the rest of the year.”
Paddon clean-swept the inaugural Pirelli Star Driver award points table, earning €5,000 toward contesting the Malaysian rally event later in the season.
On-track to battle for the second of two positions awarded in the international scholarship programme, Rotorua’s Sloan Cox (Mitsubishi) rolled from contention in the opening stage this morning. Re-entering after rolling on Saturday, Northland’s Kirsty Nelson (Subaru) scored a number of points during the day. However it was consistency from Brad Ayling (Subaru) who came on form during the Sunday to take the second placing of €5,000.
The two-wheel drive campaigners had a day of mixed results after Australian entry Brendan Reeves suffered a battery fault in his Ford Fiesta to lose his points advantage: “…we got back to service, the boys changed the battery and it fired straight up,” he said after enduring a frustrating road-side halt. “So it just seems like a tiny little problem and it has ruined our weekend. We were pretty quick this morning; the first stage we did out in the forest this morning Rhianon (co-driver) and I said that was probably the best stage we had ever done. It was a perfect stage and we are just loving the roads and it’s just awesome fun,” he said of his first even outside his homeland.
Taking the two-wheel points advantage for the weekend, Wellington’s Aaron Cook (Honda Jazz) completed a consistent run to head Northland local Ben Jagger (Ford Fiesta) by one point. The result puts Cook 49 points ahead of second placed Dave Strong (Honda Civic).
Patrick Malley (Ford Fiesta) was the only two-wheel entry to score a point in the Pirelli Star Driver award table.
With a six week break to the fourth round of the championship, the teams again head east for the Tomoana Warehousing Rally Hawke’s Bay (26-27 July).
NAC Insurance Hella International Rally of Whangarei
– NZRC Day Two classification (top-ten)
Pos. Driver/Navigator Vehicle Total Time
1 Hayden Paddon/John Kennard Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX 58:36.5
2 Chris West/Garry Cowan Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX +0:02.7
3 Dean Sumner/Paul Fallon Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX +0:43.6
4 Brett Martin/Grant Marra Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX +0:57.0
5 Callum McInnes/David Calder Subaru Impreza WRX STi +1:16.2
6 Grant Barber/Bede O'Connor Subaru Impreza WRX STi +3:28.3
7 Kirsty Nelson/Michele Brunt Subaru Impreza WRX +3:37.2
8 Stewart Taylor/Warwick Searle Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX +4:14.1
9 Dave Strong/Bruce McKenzie Honda Civic +4:53.7
10 Aaron Cook/Jayson Stringer Honda Jazz +5:32.3
Vantage Aluminium Joinery New Zealand Rally Championship
Goldstar driver points - after round three (top-ten)
1, H Paddon (Geraldine) 161
2, C West (Christchurch) 138
3, R Mason (Masterton) 129
4, S Taylor (Hastings) 121
5, B Martin (Masterton) 110
6, C McInnes (Tauranga) 93
7, D Sumner (Rotorua) 78
8, G Barber (Foxton) 68
9, A Meier (Cambridge) 67
10 E Gilmour (Rotorua) 66
Kiwi-2 – after round three
1, A Cook (Wellington) 174
2, D Strong (Auckland) 125
3, B Jagger (Northl and) 113
4, R Cook (Auckland) 103
5, P Malley (Auckland) 94
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