Motorsport: Off to a flying finish on downhill track

Make haste slowly could well be Richard Mason's plan at the first round of the National Rally Championship in Hawkes Bay this weekend.

Mason and co-driver wife Sara were the form horse last year, winning four of the six events in their Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

But retirements in the other two rounds of the series saw them finish runner-up in the title race.

"We've got to make sure we're there at the finish," said Mason. "With only five rounds this year, consistency is even more important."

Mason and his team have rebuilt the bright yellow Impreza over the summer in preparation for the Hawkes Bay event which promises plenty of new challenges with most of the stages being run in the reverse direction from recent years.

"There's a number of sections that used to be steep uphill," said Mason. "Now we'll fly down them. That should negate some of the power difference some of the other guys have got."

The former double champion reckons what are virtually new stages should suit him. "We usually go pretty well on new roads, but we're going to have to get used to a new pace note system like everybody else."

Mason enjoys the Hawkes Bay roads, not dissimilar to his home event in the Wairarapa. He can't remember how many times he has won there - probably three or four - before last year's DNF.

"There are some big drops. It's pretty hairy stuff and sorts the men from the boys."

The other front-running Subaru driver, Emma Gilmour, is looking to build on her strong, end-of-season performance from last year, when she was the second local driver home on the WRC event.

"The car's fantastic," said Gilmour. "We've now got bigger brakes, and testing we've done on our Asia Pacific car has also given us some good feedback on differential settings for our New Zealand championship car."

Gilmour likes the idea of the reversed stages in Hawkes Bay. "It'll be a level playing field for everybody," she said. "I'm really looking forward to what is going to be a busy year."

There are five events here, one in Australia and four in Asia, between now and November.

The Hawkes Bay Rally will be run over 13 stages - totalling just over 300km - over the two days.