Entries confirmed for Rally of Whangarei

NAC Insurance / Hella International Rally of Whangarei 06 – 08 June 2008

21 May 2008

Attention: Sports Editors

Entries confirmed for NAC Insurance Hella International Rally of Whangarei

Sixty-three entries have been confirmed for the NAC Insurance Hella International Rally of Whangarei which takes place in Whangarei and on various Northland and Kaipara District roads from Friday 6 June to Sunday 8 June.

The event is part of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), attracting top-class rally drivers from Australia, Japan, New Caledonia, Indonesia and India. It sets up a classic best of the Aussies vs. best of the Kiwis battle, as competitors in the Vantage Aluminium Joinery New Zealand Rally Championship, such as Richard Mason, Hayden Paddon and Chris West, also contend in the popular Whangarei event.

Top seed is Australian driver Cody Crocker in the Motor Image Team Subaru. Mentored by Kiwi rally great Possum Bourne for many years, Crocker is aiming to take out the APRC title for the third consecutive season this year, but arrives in Whangarei only third on the 2008 points’ table. Crocker’s co-driver is Ben Atkinson, brother of Chris who competes in the World Rally Championship for Subaru.

At the top of the APRC leader-board currently is another Australian, Dean Herridge, who has had consistent results in the first two rounds – New Caledonia and Canberra – to overtake Japan’s Katsuhiko Taguchi and his well-known Australian co-driver Mark Stacey who won the opening round and now hold second place overall.

Taguchi’s MRF Tyres team-mates include Australian Scott Pedder and India’s Gaurav Gill, who has another well-known Australian co-driver, Glenn Macneall, alongside him. Herridge’s CUSCO Racing team-mates include two other top-class Japanese drivers Hiroshi Yanagisawa and Yuya Sumiyama. The fourth Japanese driver in the field is Takuma Kamada racing for Subaru Team Arai.

Three French drivers add to the international flavour; the vastly-experienced Jean-Louis Leyraud and Patrick Christian are in the Team New Caledonia Mitsubishis with Patrick Yanai competing in his privately-entered Mitsubishi. Indonesia’s Rifat Sungkar is Crocker’s team-mate in the Motor Image Subaru Team, while Brian Green is the sole New Zealander in the APRC field. A long-time APRC competitor, the Palmerston North local is fourth overall heading to Whangarei.

With Richard Mason, Hayden Paddon and Stewart Taylor heading the Vantage Aluminium Joinery New Zealand Rally Championship points’ table coming into Whangarei, the battle for victory is sure to be super-heated, especially as the talented young Paddon won the Whangarei event outright last year.

The 63-strong field is completed by the combined Kiwi 2 and Clubmans class with 31 entrants contesting day one of Rally Whangarei to earn points towards the Fram North Island Rally Series and the newly-released La Série de Rallye.

The NAC Insurance Hella International Rally of Whangarei takes place from Friday 6 June to Sunday 8 June on various Northland and Kaipara District roads, with rally headquarters in Whangarei’s Quayside Town Basin. Please visit the website www.rallywhangarei.co.nz for spectator information, stage times and maps.

ENDS

APRC drivers’ points after round two
1: Dean Herridge (Australia) 21
2: Katsu Taguchi (Japan) 18
3: Cody Crocker (Australia) 16
4: Brian Green (New Zealand) 11
5: Hiroshi Yanagisawa (Japan) 6

Vantage Aluminium Joinery New Zealand Rally Championship driver points after round two
1: R Mason (Masterton) 129
2: H Paddon (Geraldine) 100
3: S Taylor (Hastings) 95
4: C West (Christchurd) 76
5: B Martin (Masterton) 67
6: C McInnes (Tauranga) 57
7: S Cox (Rotorua) 51
8: A Meier (Cambridge) 47
9: G Barber (Foxton) 45
10= K Nelson (Whangarei) 41
10= M Tapper (Auckland) 41

Background information for media
The FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is one of the premier regional championships in world rallying and is contested by teams from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, India, and New Caledonia running primarily Group N, or production, rally cars.

In 2008 for the first time the FIA Pacific Cup is running alongside the APRC at Rounds 1, 2, & 3. The Pacific Cup is intended as a stepping stone to full APRC competition. An Asian Cup runs at other APRC Rounds.

In 2008 the APRC comprises seven rounds:
1 – Rally de Nouvelle Caledonia, 12-13 April
2 – Rally of Canberra (Australia), 10-11 May
3 – NAC Insurance Hella International Rally of Whangarei (New Zealand), 6-8 June
4 – Rally Hokkaido (Japan), 11-13 July
5 – Gudang Garam International Rally Indonesia (Makasar), 22-24 August
6 – Malaysian Rally, 11-12 October
7 – China Rally, 8-9 November

The NAC Insurance Hella International Rally of Whangarei incorporates the third round of the MotorSport New Zealand-sanctioned Vantage Aluminium Joinery New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) where local teams who use Group N cars compete internally for NZRC points and against international competitors for the overall event title. A subsidiary event for NZRC Kiwi 2 competitors and Clubmans competitors runs in conjunction with the main international event. Kiwi 2 is a New Zealand-only class allowing development competitors to compete in the full NZRC without the cost of the top class. The Clubmans event gives competitors with lower specification or older cars a way to compete in their own overall and class battles and be part of an international event without the cost of full international competition.

The event commences with an opening ceremony commencing at 5pm on Friday 6 June at the Cameron Street Mall in the centre of Whangarei with the following two days comprising over 250 km of competitive gravel stages in the Whangarei and Kaipara districts to the south of Whangarei.

The NAC Insurance Hella International Rally of Whangarei is run by Rally New Zealand which also runs the FIA World Rally Championship Rally of New Zealand, which takes place from 28 - 31 August 2008.

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