MOTORSPORT - Jagger hangs on to his lead

A strong and consistent drive in the NAC Hella International Rally of Whangarei over the weekend rewarded Ben Jagger with points enough to retain the lead in the Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy standings ahead of Patrick Malley.
A good fight with Australian driver Brendon Reeves on Saturday's leg one was followed the next day with an attack from behind by Patrick Malley in leg two.
On Sunday, Reeves went out of contention with an electrical fault. Jagger was overtaken by Malley and left with second place in the Fiestas and his second podium finish came in the Kiwi 2 two wheel drive championship battle, where he was third.
As well as keeping his lead in the Fiesta standings, after the Rally of Whangarei Jagger has moved up from fourth place to third in K2 with only Dave Strong and Aaron Cook between himself and the lead.
Cook is sitting pretty with 177 points, well ahead of Jagger's 113, which will offer quite a challenge for the Whangarei driver over the next three rounds. Jagger has continued to show good speed and consistency since he put the Fiesta off the road in the first stage of the first round in Wairarapa in April and he hopes to keep this up to stay ahead of Malley until the end of the season.
"We had a really good rally and enjoyed it a lot.
"We are looking pretty good for the Fiesta trophy and the chance to compete overseas, as long as we can stay in front of Patrick [Malley] over the next three rounds," he said.
Jagger was pleased with how the weekend went at his home rally in Whangarei and his first taste of media attention on a heightened scale by being part of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship and Pirelli Star Driver scheme.
His goal for this season is to get a chance at the Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy Shoot-out in the United Kingdom, held for winners of the trophy from other competing countries.
The Pirelli Star Driver qualification went to New Zealand drivers Hayden Paddon and Brad Ayling, who will continue on to the second qualification round at the Rally of Malaysia.
Jagger managed to finish the rally in front of Ayling, however, and out of the eight under 27-year-olds entered was third placed behind Paddon and Malley.
The points system for the Pirelli Star Driver favoured the four-wheel drive rally cars over the two wheel drive Fiestas and Jagger picked up no points at all towards the scheme.
Jagger was not too concerned with the outcome, which he had predicted while competing in the Ford Fiesta two wheel drive.
"We weren't really in with a good chance because of what we were driving but were just happy to be involved in it," he said.
The next round for Jagger and co-driver Ben Hawkins is at the Rally of Hawke's Bay, based in Napier, with action taking place around Wairoa.