It's all about the end game for Rotorua's Dean Sumner as he heads into tomorrow's Rally of New Zealand.
Sumner, like most competitors in this weekend's Rally New Zealand, will be torn between the chance of getting their name on the trophy alongside Colin McRae and Sébastien Loeb or aiming for points in the second round of the 2011 Brian Green Property Group NZ Rally Championship.
This year Rally New Zealand takes in 260km of competitive stages through the Franklin, North Waikato and Raglan districts with nearly half the 71-car field aiming to collect points toward the five-round championship series.
Geraldine's Hayden Paddon heads the overall Goldstar drivers' leader-board, so leads the field through the first day of eight stages in his Supercheap Autos-branded Subaru STI. Paddon and his Blenheim-based co-driver John Kennard finished as the first Kiwis in Rally New Zealand 2010 and the top rally pairing want to go one better in 2011.
"It hasn't been since the mid-1990s when Possum Bourne was in a top-level factory-supported Subaru that a Kiwi had a realistic chance of winning our home event. This year, without the World Rally Championship cars here, we've all got the ultimate opportunity of being first finisher - so that's my focus - winning the event," Paddon said.
"As I'm taking a rally-by-rally approach to the New Zealand championship, we will be putting pressure on ourselves to be fastest and to continue to improve my driving before our next round of the Production World Rally Championship. It will be great to go to Argentina at the end of the month after a win at home."
Defending New Zealand rally champion Sumner is taking a different approach to tomorrow's event, saying the championship is his primary focus.
Rotorua-based Sumner drives the ITM-supported Mitsubishi Lancer and following round one in Otago trails Paddon by 20 points.
Sumner said he preferred the role of hunter than being hunted.
"We approach each championship race looking at the championship as a whole and where we are placed at the end of the season. We don't chase a race unless we have done badly in the previous rally. It's all about the end game for us," Sumner told The Daily Post yesterday.
"A win would be nice and to have our name on that trophy but we're concentrating on the championship and want to defend our title best we can."
Sumner said he was feeling confident going into tomorrow's rally despite the fact he hadn't had a chance to test the car after he had to replace the gear box.
"We're all set to go it should be a good weekend. We've got a bit of work ahead but we will give it our best shot."
Rally New Zealand officially gets under way with a free-to-attend driver autograph session and ceremonial start at the Manukau City Centre from 6pm today. The first competitors cross the start ramp from 7.30pm.
Tomorrow morning, competitors then depart at timed intervals from 8am at the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park rally headquarters to contest eight special stages throughout the day, including two super special stages run around the Hampton race circuit.
On Sunday, rally crews face six further stages around Raglan, including the iconic Whaanga Coast stage, before returning to Hampton Downs for the final super special stage on the race track, followed by a prizegiving track-side from 5.30pm.additional reporting NZPA
Rally of NZ: Dean Sumner's end game
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