Motorsport: Atkinson wins Rally of Whangarei

Chris Atkinson. Photo / Geoff Ridder.

Chris Atkinson has taken back-to-back victories at the Rally of Whangarei with a 28.1-second winning margin over fellow Asia Pacific Rally Championship contender Per-Gunnar Andersson.

Atkinson, an Australian, piloted a Skoda Fabia S2000 with Team MRF from India. Last year Atkinson won the event in a Proton Satria Neo S2000 car - the car now driven by Andersson.

Third overall and third APRC finisher was Atkinson's teammate Indian Gaurav Gill in a similar MRF-backed Skoda.

The first competitor home in the New Zealand Rally Championship was Coromandel's Alex Kelsey in his open four-wheel-drive category Subaru. After yesterday's (Saturday's) strong run, Dunedin's Emma Gilmour's hopes unravelled this morning with a puncture and a series of issues getting the wheel changed. Gilmour fought back through the afternoon stages, but a strong, consistent run from fellow NZRC Group N 4WD competitor Matt Jansen, from Christchurch, saw Jansen take second in NZRC with Gilmour having to settle for third.

Atkinson said: "It's been a great weekend. The team have been amazing. The car, the tyres, everything worked really well. It was always going to be tough being up against the factory Proton team. The MRF team came along with a brand new car and straight out of the box we were on the pace and were able to control the rally, which is great. I was just driving to beat PG - that is all I was worried about, the APRC points, and while we could have gone a bit faster in places but we were trying to judge our speed and not try doing anything we didn't have to."

Swedish driver Andersson has driven on some of the roads used in this event when they were part of Rally New Zealand, but this was his first run in the Whangarei event. The Proton driver said: "Chris has done a great job today after being first on the road, to have the pace he has. We've been trying to catch up as much as we could but we couldn't do it just by driving - he had to make a mistake, have a puncture or something else. We were trying to keep the pressure on and enjoy those roads best I could - it was great fun. There are some issues we have to clarify but we've moved forward with the car and I think we will be stronger for the next rally. But we have really enjoyed it."

Kelsey, 19, is the youngest winner of a NZRC round in its 37-year history.

"I can't believe it," said Kelsey. "It's fantastic. To come here and to think that we'd be winning after two days, just to finish was all we wanted so, absolutely incredible. Perfect. We had a slow puncture this afternoon but we changed that and it's been sweet."

The Brother International Rally of Whangarei covered 283.28 kilometres over roads around Whangarei and through the Northland and Kaipara regions. The two-day rally counted as the opening round of the 2012 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) and Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC), powered by Brother. The event attracted nearly 50 drivers from India, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Sweden, United Kingdom, and New Caledonia as well as all over New Zealand. Fifteen competitors ran a one-day event as part of the Top Half Rally Series, with victory going to Auckland's Dylan Turner.

Results overall, 2012 Brother International Rally of Whangarei, top-ten - provisional

Classification, driver/co-driver, driver's country or hometown, car (championship), gap to first

1, Chris Atkinson/Stephene Prevot, Australia, Skoda Fabia S2000 (APRC)

2, Per-Gunnar Andersson/Emil Axelsson, Sweden, Proton Satria Fabia S2000 (APRC), +28.1

3, Gaurav Gill/Glenn Macneall, India, Skoda Fabia S2000 (APRC), +2:35.8

4, Alister McRae/Bill Hayes, Great Britain, Proton Satria Neo (APRC), +3:37.6

5, Matt Jansen/Jason Farmer, Christchurch, Subaru STI (NZRC), +4:47.7

6, Emma Gilmour/Anthony McLoughlin, Dunedin, Subaru STI (NZRC), +5:34.0

7, Kingsley Thompson/John Allen, Kerikeri, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO (NZRC) 10, +6:35.8

8, Brian Green/Fleur Pedersen, Palmerston North, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 10 (NZRC), +14:19.0

9, Josh Marston/Patrick Malley, Christchurch, Ford Fiesta (NZRC), +18:10.4

10, Jean-Louis Leyraud/Philippe Delrieu, New Caledonia, Citroen DS3, +19:07.7

NB. As an NZRC open 4WD competitor Alex Kelsey ran in the Clubman's field, not in the international event with results listed above. However the overall times place Kelsey first in the NZRC standings.

FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, top-five driver - provisional points

1, Chris Atkinson, Australia, 25

2, Per-Gunnar Andersson, Sweden, 18

3, Gaurav Gill, India, 15

4, Alister McRae, Scotland, 12

5, Brian Green, New Zealand, 10

Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, powered by Brother, top-five drivers - provisional points

1, Alex Kelsey, Coromandel, 31

2, Emma Gilmour, Dunedin, 23

3, Matt Jansen, Christchurch, 22

4, Kingsley Thompson, Kerikeri, 17

5, Matt Summerfield, Rangiora, 11

NZRC Group N 2WD Championship

1, Josh Marston, Christchurch, 42

2, Phil Campbell, Tauranga, 30

NZRC Open class 2WD Championship

1, David Holder, Tauranga, 7

NZRC Historic Championship

1, Marcus van Klink, Kaipoi, 42

2, Duncan McCrostie, Balclutha, 30

3, Ron Davey, Havelock North, 20

4, Miles McElwain, Hamilton, 18

5, Ross Clark, Auckland, 1

NZRC Manufacturers Champion

1, Subaru, 30

2, Mitsubishi, 11

3, Ford, 5

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