Rally driver gifted chance to race by man he's never met

Masterton rally driver Brett Martin will be mixing it with a bunch of World Rally Championship contenders and the best of the Kiwis when the Rally of New Zealand is flagged away on Friday and it's all down to the generosity of a man he's never met.
Rallying is enormously expensive, especially at this level. Two-times champion Richard Mason once said he budgets $10,000 for an event, plus the cost of an engine and car rebuild afterwards, and Martin, 28, simply couldn't justify the expense this year.
His navigator, Grant Marra, from Christchurch, signed up to crew with another New Zealander, Alan Geddes, in a Subaru Impreza and Martin resigned himself to spectating.
Then Geddes, seeded 80th, decided not to run, instead gifting the entry fee and a set of tyres to Martin and his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9. Suddenly, it was game on for the man currently lying fourth in the New Zealand championship, one place ahead of Mason.
Martin is still shaking his head over Geddes' generosity. "I've never even met the guy," he said this week at Longspring Sport Horse Stud, on the Castlepoint road, where he has worked and lived with partner Victoria Vallance since just before the start of this season. Martin was previously from Taihape.
The tyres in question are the Pirellis $600 a pop that have had a big impact on the WRC this season.
Previously the top international rally drivers have run tyres containing mousse, which prevents them from going completely flat and allows a car to complete a stage. The Pirellis have no mousse, and have to be replaced when they puncture.
That can take anything up to two minutes, meaning a stray rock can ruin a crew's chances.
The tyres are a very hard compound and slow to reach the ideal temperature. Also the rules ban cutting extra grooves into the tyres to increase purchase, leaving the cars sliding around on the surface of the gravel. The likelihood of wet weather adds to the uncertainty.
The Pirellis are a big unknown for the Kiwis, says Martin. What he does know is that he'll use between eight and 12 of them in the rally, which is why Geddes' gift is so significant.
Brett Martin believes he will also take over Geddes' seeding of 80, although he's likely to be around 60th car away following the international drivers. The means lots of overtaking and flying rocks which won't make life easy for the Kiwi.
The son of a rally driver, Brett Martin first began doing club events at the age of 15 and progressed rapidly through the ranks. In 2005 he won the Junior Rally Championship and was third overall, and in 2006 he was second in the championship.
He teamed with Marra last year and his aim was to consolidate this season "be consistent and just finish" and go for the title neat year.
However, a string of good results 8th in Masterton, 6th in Otago, 4th in Whangarei and 3rd in Hawke's Bay plus Geddes' generous offer and his sponsors support have encouraged the team to push on.
Martin has backing from Allco Volclay, which makes waterproofing products, Automotive Direct, MRF Tyres, Mag and Tyre Direct, Caltex , and Argyle Rallysport.
The budget is tight the team (including Brett) has working bees between events to prepare for the next rally, with former champion Geoff Argyle giving it the final tweaks but he hopes that next year the team will be in better financial shape.
Martin has had a number of co-drivers including his sister Loni, who, after a horrific crash in which his Evo 5 took off at 200km/h and flipped and rolled 12 or 13 times, swore she'd never set foot in a rally car again.
But the partnership with Marra has been particularly fruitful. Expect big things from this team, this weekend and in the future.
Longer term, Martin dreams of an Asia Pacific drive, perhaps with Indian MRF tyre company team.
n In the meantime, fans can follow the WRC rally on their computers by going to ChrisSport Motorsport and selecting Rally New Zealand. Times will be available soon after the completion of every stage.