MOTORSPORT - Take note: Phillips is ready to reclaim his title

While the majority of drivers for this weekend's Rally of Whangarei spent yesterday on road reconnaissance, Whangarei's Andrew Phillips spent the day at work.
Phillips was the first winner of the Clubmans class when it was added to the programme two years ago and is expected to be in contention for the prize again when the rally starts tomorrow.
However, unlike most of the other drivers competing - he doesn't believe in pace notes.
"I'm one of the guys who doesn't use notes, I drive it all blind," Phillips said.
The idea seems a little bold - if not downright scary - to most rally fans but it comes naturally to the Whangarei travel agent.
"Well, that's the way it used to be, you didn't used to have notes in a rally ... and I still manage to finish the stages around the same times as the other drivers," he said.
There are two other Northland drivers who will be pushing Phillips hard for the title this year - Whangarei's Brendon Oakden and Dargaville's Carl Adnitt.
Phillips admits the pair will be a challenge but puts it down to being a little rusty - his last rally was almost two years ago.
"I went off the road during the Rally of the Far North (after winning the 2007 title) and smashed the car up and I've only just it back on the road," he said of his Mitsubishi Evo 3.
While he rates last year's champion Oakden as his main threat, Adnitt is a dark horse.
"He will be the other one to watch out for, in fact he might be more of a threat than Brendon, we'll just have to wait and see," he said.
Oakden said yesterday's reconnaissance trip was a worthwhile experience and he was confident of defending his title. "The roads are completely different this year, only two or three roads that are the same which keeps things interesting," he said.
Like Phillips, Oakden hasn't had much recent rally experience.
"We blew the engine three months ago and it's only just been rebuilt in time for this rally and I'm not 100 per cent sure how it's going to go," he said.
Kingsley Thompson is the driver most likely to finish as the highest-placed entrant from Northland this weekend, after a disappointing start to the New Zealand Rally Championship.
Whangarei's Kirsty Nelson will be hoping to break her bad run of luck at her home rally after her Subaru burst into flames last year, while Ben Jagger will resume his battle for the lead of the two-wheel drive class with Patrick O'Malley.
Adnitt's father, Doug, will also be competing in a Triumph TR8, while Whangarei's Graham Mitchell will drive a more modest Toyota Starlet.
There is another family affair, with Brian Ogle and his co-driver wife, Elizabeth, attempting to finish ahead of their sons, Scott and Todd, in their Toyota Levin.