Quantock wins Hyundai NZ Rally Scholarship
Young Canterbury driver Job Quantock has won the inaugural Hyundai NZ Young Driver Shootout and Scholarship.
The scholarship is a programme developed by works WRC Hyundai driver Hayden Paddon in partnership with Hyundai New Zealand and the Hyundai-backed Pinnacle Programme for talented teenagers.
Originally from Ashburton and now based in Ohoka, north of Christchurch, 22-year-old Quantock will now benefit in a range of ways from the programme designed to boost his motorsport career aspirations. Included will be the opportunity to drive the Hyundai NZ AP4 i20 rally car run by Paddon Rallysport in two rounds of the 2017 New Zealand Rally Championship, as well as testing and training with Paddon.
There is also the potential for an expanded programme in 2018 for Quantock with the Hyundai NZ Young Driver Scholarship.
Quantock is relatively new to rally competition, having contested his first full season in 2016, yet he took second overall in the 2016 Mainland Rally Series and finished second in two other regional rallies.
He impressed Paddon and other judges to win the two-day shootout held in Auckland and the Maramarua Forest in December last year.
The scholarship attracted over 180 applicants with the other four finalists being: • Max Bayley, 20, Hawke’s Bay. • Sloan Cox, 24, Rotorua. • Matt Summerfield, 24, Rangiora. • Dylan Thomson, 21, Waiuku.
Speaking shortly after being told he’d won the scholarship, Quantock was still finding the right words.
“It’s amazing; a surreal feeling to win. There was always a chance of winning, but I wasn’t too sure how big a chance we had, being relatively new to the sport. It was whoever had the best package that Hyundai was looking for; luckily that was us.”