Motorsport: Allport bags 28th national championship rally title

By BOB PEARCE

Neil Allport's greatest fear when he returned to the national rally championship after a long break was failing to live up to the lessons he had been giving to young drivers in recent seasons.

"I was scared of making a fool of myself," he admitted - and a couple of crashes in the first two rounds of the championship didn't help his confidence.

But at Rotorua on Saturday, the doubts were dispelled when he came second in the Rally of Rotorua behind Asia Pacific contender Karamjit Singh and took the national championship honours.

It was the 47-year-old Aucklander's 28th national championship rally win and his first for 11 years. He won national titles in 1986, 1989 and 1992 for Mazda but these days he drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6.

And he has had to change his style to match the young guns. Brought up on rear-wheel-drive cars, he was a tail-out driver, sliding his way round the corners. Modern four-wheel-drive machines reward a straighter approach and precise lines.

But the thrill remains the same for a man who has built an international reputation on preparing cars for others to drive.

"It doesn't get any better than this," he said after his success. "The last 8km were the longest of my life, worse than trying to win my first rally."

Allport's celebrations were brief. He left yesterday for South America where he will run two cars for European drivers in the Argentine round of the world production car championship.

Allport had sympathy for fellow Aucklander Andrew Hawkeswood, who had a comfortable overall lead in the rally with two stages to go when the gearbox in his Mitsubishi failed, putting him out of the rally.

Failure to finish cost him the lead in the championship, which goes to Chris West, who overcame punctures on the first day to finish sixth overall and third Kiwi behind Allport and talented young Aucklander Mark Tapper.

At the halfway point in the championship, West, who drives a Subaru, leads Hawkeswood by 18 points, with fellow Subaru driver Richard Mason, who failed to score at Rotorua, third. Allport is fourth.

The 23-year-old Tapper, who has had more than his share of disappointment, showed a cool head to finish fourth overall, despite time penalties for delays in service to change a gearbox on the first day.

Karamjit Singh's victory in the Hella-Battery Town-sponsored rally marked the first time an international driver has bested the locals in the event since it became part of the Asia Pacific championship.

The Malaysian, a former world production car champion, was clearly the best of the visitors and his Mitsubishi-based Proton never missed a beat. Singh was 1m 33s clear of Allport, with his nearest Asia Pacific rival, German Armin Kremer, a further 17s back in third place overall.

Kremer remains one point ahead of Singh going into the next round in Japan in September.

Palmerston North driver Geof Argyle has dropped to fourth after never recovering from early tyre problems and finishing 11th overall in an event he won back in 1998.

South Aucklander Marty Roestenburg won the clubmen's rally, run over part of the main rally course.