Historic Championship title still main focus for Judd

Jeff Judd Rallysport
Media Release
2 September 2013

Historic Championship title still main focus for Judd

Jeff Judd, of Christchurch, is looking forward to returning to the Maramarua forest in Waikato this weekend for the fifth round of the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC), the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally, to ensure he stays in the historic class championship lead.

Judd currently leads the historic class championship over fellow Christchurch drivers, Deane Buist and Marcus van Klink after several podium finishes this season but says he is under no illusion this weekend will be tough.

“Maramarua forest can be a tricky place to be fast,” said Judd, “and Deane [Buist] and Marcus [van Klink] will both be pushing hard to score as many points as they can.”

While Judd has competed on the roads throughout Maramarua forest several times, including during the 2012 Silver Fern Rally, he is more focused on his NZRC championship campaign and honoring rally legend, Possum Bourne, so simply finishing the rally is his priority.

“I have been chipping away at my championship goal all year. To throw it all away now would be silly, so getting points is definitely at the forefront of our plan this weekend.”

“Possum [Bourne] was a legend to me but I also had the privilege of working with him several times. We teamed with Possum in 1989 and had an incredible time, so I have many found memories of him,” said Judd.

“This rally means we can do what we love doing [rallying] but honour a real Kiwi icon at the same time.”

Judd has also enlisted the help of local co-driver Malcolm Read, who has an intimate knowledge of the forest and its roads after competing and working on the forestry roads for many years.

In a special twist, rally organisers have included several tarmac stages in the predominantly gravel championship. This may prove to be one small disadvantage for Judd and his BNT team as Judd has never competed on the tarmac stages which include the Hampton Downs and Pukekohe race-tracks’.

“I have been around Hampton Downs but have never raced on it,” said Judd, “and while I have raced at Pukekohe a few times, I haven’t raced on it with the new configuration so I might be at a slight disadvantage. I’m not sure if the others have raced there either, so it might even turn into a level playing field.”

“In saying that, I have had quite a bit of tarmac racing experience after doing Targa [tarmac] events and the like, so that might help us a little.”

The 2013 Possum Bourne Memorial Rally honours New Zealand Rally Legend, Possum Bourne, on the 10th anniversary of his death, and is set to start from King Street, in the main centre of Pukekohe at 7.00am on Saturday before heading out to the Maramarua forest stages. The rally then returns back to the Pukekohe area to compete across the tarmac stages including Hampton Downs and Pukekohe race-tracks. Crews will compete across a 135.65 kilometers of closed special stages across one day of competition before finishing at Pukekohe Park Raceway at approximately 6.30pm.
Judd’s 2013 NZRC campaign is supported by BNT, Magnum Compliance, Fuchs and Waimate Pharmacy.

ENDS/

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