Nobody should be surprised if Nasser Al-Attiyah keeps his nerve and wins the Production World Rally Car championship this weekend.
After all, the 35-year-old from Qatar has already proved his steadiness under pressure in the intense competition of Olympic skeet-shooting.
Al-Attiyah was fourth in this high-pressure event atthe Athens games, missing out on a medal on a countback.
He starts Rally New Zealand, the final round of the PWRC, today with a six-point lead in the standings and only Japanese driver Fumio Nutahara can overtake him. Al-Attiyah, a former Middle East champion, drives a Subaru Impreza WRC car.
New Zealand will have a keen interest in the production car results because national rally champion Richard Mason and former champion Chris West have been granted wild card entries in their Subarus and can score points.
They would like to make their mark and attract sponsorship for a full campaign in the championship - something Possum Bourne was starting in the year of his tragic death at Queenstown.
"Realistically I want to have a shot at getting on the podium," said West. "We've been quick against these guys in previous years. But because the event has been part of the national championship we've had to take the points on offer for the NZRC into contention. That's something we don't have to worry about this year."
Mason has won the past two national championships despite missing a round each year. He has just signed a two-year contract to drive in the China Championship, which has attracted a number of European drivers.
The man to beat may well be the hugely experienced Japanese, Toshi Arai, a former world production champion, who has also competed with credit in the main championship. He will have as his co-driver Tony Sircombe, who learned his trade on Waikato roads.
