KEY POINTS:
Young South Island driver Hayden Paddon is relishing the challenge of retaining his Rally of Whangarei title which doubles as a round of the national championship and the Asia Pacific (APRC) series.
Geraldine's Paddon, 20, stunned everybody last year when he beat an international field including Australian top gun Cody Crocker to become the youngest driver to win a round of the national championship and the APRC.
"Obviously, I'm going up there aiming to prove it was no fluke," said Paddon who rated the Whangarei stages as his favourite roads in the country.
" It was massive last year and a bit of a shock whereas this year, we going up with the aim of trying to win it."
The mindset was a lot different from last year as he had the experience and kilometres under his belt now to cope with the pressure.
He is also armed with a new left hand drive Mitsubishi Evo 9 with which he was finding more speed every time he drove it.
"Besides speed and reliability, given the level of competition this year, I will need to get every corner right and drive at 110 per cent to win it.
"It'll be tougher this year as competition in the national series has stepped up a lot, and the international flavour is a lot stronger - but no one ever says we can't do it."
In-form Masterton driver Richard Mason, champion in 2006, leads the national series on 129 points after winning the opening two rounds. Paddon is second on 100 points.
Top New Zealand woman driver Emma Gilmour is looking to cast aside the bad memories of last year's event.
The Dunedin-born driver, now Hamilton-based, had just won the first stage when she left the road at high speed.
The accident destroyed her Subaru WRX and left her concussed but Gilmour says that misfortune was not preying on her mind.
"I really love the Whangarei Rally roads - they are nicely cambered, medium to high speed and you get a real buzz when you drive fully committed on them," Gilmour said.
She was also looking forward to the added intensity the international dimension brought to the event.
" The overseas drivers add extra spice to Whangarei, and a further benchmark against which to measure your own performance."
Other Kiwi drivers to watch for are Stewart Taylor (Hastings), Chris West (Christchurch), Dean Sumner (Rotorua), Brett Martin (Turangi) and reigning national champion Sam Murray (Palmerston North).
Crocker, seeking his third straight APRC title, heads the international field which also includes fellow Australians Dean Herridge and Scott Peder, Japan's Katsuhiko Taguchi, India's Gaurav Gill and New Zealand's Brian Green who is currently fourth in the APRC.
The two-day rally which begins on Saturday contains 15 speed tests using 256km of gravel roads.
NZ rally championship standings after two rounds: Richard Mason (Masterton) 129 points 1, Hayden Paddon (Geraldine) 100 2, Stewart Taylor (Hastings) 95 3, Chris West (Christchurch) 76 4, Brett Martin (Masterton) 67 5.
APRC standings after two rounds: Dean Herridge (Australia) 21 points 1, Katsu Taguchi (Japan) 18 2, Cody Crocker (Australia) 16 3, Brian Green (New Zealand) 11 4, Hiroshi Yanagisawa (Japan) 6 5.
- NZPA
