The pressure is on driver Ben Jagger as he heads into this weekend's Rally of Whangarei with a handy lead in the Group N 2WD class of the New Zealand Rally Championship. Jagger has built up a lead of 24 points in the Ford Fiesta-dominated class and knows a good performanceon his home roads could see him in the box seat to win the competition he was runner-up in last year, his rookie season. "That does put a bit of pressure on us but if we are clear about what we want to do, rather than worry about what everyone else is doing, then we can stay ahead in the points race," he said. Jagger and co-driver Ben Hawkins are more confident this year, particularly in regard to notes. "I can see the rest of the season going pretty well for us, with a year's experience now under our belt, we can put that all to use and finish off the season with a win," he said. There will be strong opposition from last year's champion, Patrick Malley, and newcomer Daniel Harris, currently in second place. Malley had a serious crash in the Rally of Otago, which knocked him back in the standings, and the team were still completing repairs on the Fiesta just prior to the shakedown yesterday. "The crash certainly hurt Patrick's chances but I'm sure he'll come back strong," Jagger said. Jagger will still have one eye on newcomers' Dominick Unterberger and Rising Stars Scholarship winner Ben Hunt, who have both had strong starts to their rookie season. After Rally of Whangarei, the third round, there are only two rallies remaining - Wairarapa in July and Nelson in September.
