Rallycross: Cox takes rough with smooth

Rotorua's Sloan Cox powered to victory in the Baypark Rallycross event at the weekend. Photo / Greg Henderson Photography

Rotorua's Sloan Cox and Australian champ Steve Glenney, driving Mitsubishi Lancer Evos, shared the spotlight as the big winners at the inaugural Teng Tools NZ International Rallycross at Baypark in Tauranga on Sunday night.

Cox drove his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo hillclimb special to a clear victory in the Open Class final while Glenney displayed pace and race craft to advance from a second row start and win the 4WD Rally Car final.

Cox started from pole position in the six-lap final and stayed in front from the first corner.

He said the rallycross course - which used the extremely rough speedway infield and the sealed pit area - was one of big contrasts.

"It was really like to two different races," Cox said. "We decided to specialise on the tarmac section and ran on wet weather tarmac tyres. The car worked really well on that section and I was able to be gentler on it through the roughest bits. I loved the weekend. The track was difficult and quite hard on the cars but it was a lot of fun."

A bit of strategy also helped Cox's win. Each race included a short-cut "joker lap" which drivers could use just once in each race.

"I decided to take the joker at the first chance. That way I knew where everyone was and whether I needed to push any harder."

Cox was driving the spaceframe Mitsubishi Evo originally built by Aucklander Andrew Hawkeswood for an attack on the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in the USA.

"The car probably has too much power for such a tight course. We tuned it for the Leadfoot Hillclimb and it had 550kW at the wheels. It would be better here with more low down torque."

In the final Cox built up a handy lead and came home ahead of Australian Marcus Walkem (Lancer Evo 9) with Tauranga's Phil Campbell (Lancer Evo 9) taking third.

A strong drive from Tasmanian Steve Glenney clinched the 4WD Rally Car final, backing up a win in Australia's major rallycross event in 2015.

Glenney started on the second row of the grid but quickly worked to second place and then hit the front with an early dive to the joker lap.

"It was good to come over and compete against the Kiwis - there are some really good drivers here," said Glenney.

"It's a great event and I enjoyed the racing. Hopefully the event can be built up for the future."