Double island rally action

There’s a double serving of New Zealand rally action this weekend.

On Saturday the Copthorne Bay of Islands Rally of the Far North has a field of about 50 crews entered for an eight stage event that starts from Kawakawa at 7am. The rally travels through the Far North, starting at Ruapekapeka and then looping clockwise via Kaikohe, Mangamuka, Kaitaia and Kaeo before a scheduled 4.30pm finish at Waitangi.

The field is headed by several NZ Rally Championship crews including 2015 national champion Ben Hunt (Subaru WRX STI) and two drivers looking for valuable mileage in new cars — Raana Horan (Auckland) in his Skoda Fabia R5 and Phil Campbell (Tauranga) in his Ford Fiesta AP4.

Other possible front runners include Ben Thomasen (Subaru), Patrick Malley (Peugeot 208 Proto), Clinton Cunningham (Ford Fiesta Proto) and Matt Adams (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9).

North Canterbury hosts the Winmax Brakes Ashley Forest Rallysprint with the 1.7km uphilldownhill sprint course offering a marked contrast for Hayden Paddon after the twisty, rocky roads of WRC Rally Turkey last weekend.

Paddon is campaigning his Hyundai i20 AP4 in an unrestricted specification which allows it to develop about 600hp. He faces serious opposition from defending champ and course record holder Sloan Cox (Rotorua) in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo hillclimb special and former WRC driver Alister McRae (Scotland) in the ex-Possum Bourne Subaru Impreza.