MASON & RANDALL TAKE QUEENS BIRTHDAY HONOURS AT RALLY WAIRARAPA
By Chris Grant
5th June, 2007
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Photographer: Euan Cameron |
The defending champions were in such dominant form that they won the last 11 - of the 14 - high speed special stages and have now turned a 23 point deficit into a 2 point lead with three rounds to go.
After a hard fought victory on day one, due a transmission issue that became evident over the opening set of three stages where they could do no better then 9th, 6th and 9th quickest, the Masterton Flyers were never threatened as they extended an overnight 29 second lead into a totally dominant 2 minute 5 second winning margin by the finish in front of their hometown fans on Sunday afternoon.
"We found that the problems at Whangarei [the previous NZRC round three weeks ago] had affected the front diff and therefore it wasn't performing as it should.
"We came into the first service and I told Dwight [Dwight Scott of ScottSpeed Performance Engines] that I thought there was something wrong with the centre diff as the car seemed very twitchy and unstable.
"As usual he was awesome as he was right on to it straight away and, with all his WRC experience, was immediately able to analyse that it was actually the front diff that was at fault.
The Boys then swung into action and made the necessary adjustments to the suspension to compensate for the fact we couldn't replace the diff and with some extra grooves cut into our new Dunlop tyres we were underway again - all within the 30 minutes allowed at that particular service!
"Therefore Saturday was a pretty challenging day, trying to get the best out of a less than perfect car and regaining my confidence. I was having to learn to trust the car to do what I wanted – like working out if I put my foot hard on the gas and hard on the brake it would go better through the corners.”
"So with the car sorted as much as possible and me feeling a lot happier between the ears, Sunday's [8] stages around Eketahuna will go down as the best skids we have had for a very long time and it was awesome to get back into the championship lead straight away."
Last weekend's result maintains Richard's unbeaten record as the only winner of this round of the NZRC since it joined the series in 2005, and having won here in 2004 as well, now extends his winning sequence to four-in-a-row - each time in a different car. 2004 in the Evo5 'ENZED5'; 2005 WRX 'BYACAR'; 2006 old 'EVOETA' & now in 2007 the new 'EVOETA'.
The NZRC now takes a two month break before reconvening in Hastings for the Tomoana Warehousing Rally of Hawkes Bay over the weekend of August 3rd and 4th.
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Rally Wairarapa Fast facts:
Total competition distance was 241.50km from a total of 565.36km travelled for the rally.
Television coverage of the event will be aired on Powerbuilt Motorsport TV One (8th July)
Championship points -
Group N 4WD - Drivers Goldstar (top-four)
1. Richard Mason - 146
2. Hayden Paddon - 144
3. Sam Murray - 126
4. Dean Sumner - 104
Group N 4WD - Co-Drivers Goldstar (top-four)
1. Sara Randall - 146
2. John Kennard - 146
3. Rob Ryan - 128
4. Paul Fallon - 104
Note: Sara leads after applying the NZRC Tie-Break Rule of having won more Rounds - 2 to 1.
For further information about the Trust House Racetech Rally Wairarapa (2nd-3rd June 2007) - www.rallywairarapa.co.nz
For Rally Results & Information - www.chrissport.co.nz
For further information about the 2007 Vantage Aluminium Joinery New Zealand Rally Championship - www.motorsport.org.nz/Rally/nzrc/index.htm
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