Motorsport: Top drivers coming to put Kiwis to test

New Zealand's best rally drivers have a chance to test themselves against some of the world's best on equal footing in this weekend's Rally of Rotorua.

The leader of the FIA World Rally Championship's production class, Toshi Arai (Japan), and FIA Asia Pacific Championship leader Jussi Valimaki (Finland) will provide a world-class test for the Kiwis, led by national champion Chris West.

For the first time in the event's seven-year history, all competitors will be in the same group N class cars for the rally, which incorporates the third round of the Asia Pacific Championship as well as the fourth round of the New Zealand Championship.

Until this year, the New Zealand Championship included the more powerful Group A cars, meaning the Kiwis dominated the event until world production car champion Karamjit Singh's victory last year.

"It's going to be a really interesting test to see just where we line up against the best in the world in this class," West said.

"Toshi Arai has won two rounds of the world championship this year and Valimaki has won two rounds in the Asia Pacific. So we know we have the best right here.

"In the past it's been about running in our own rally while the internationals did their thing. But we are all in together this year with similar machinery, so it's going to be interesting."

West said he would love to win the three-day international rally outright although not at the expense of valuable points in the national championship.

"That's still our aim to defend our national championship. This is an absolutely key round for us so we need a mixture of aggression and care."

Arai comes to Rotorua fresh from victory in the latest round of the world championship in Turkey, when he went from third to top of the podium in the final special stage. The Subaru driver has a strong Kiwi connection with Otorohanga's Tony Sircombe as his co-driver.

Second seed is Arai's fellow Japanese driver Katsuhiko Taguchi, who forms part of a strong MRF Tyres team with the in-form Valimaki, who won the last round in New Caledonia last month.

Taguchi, supported by Possum Bourne's former co-driver Mark Stacey, will be keen to make amends after failing to finish in Canberra and New Caledonia.

Leading Kiwi is Asia Pacific second placed Geof Argyle from Palmerston North. Argyle, a two-time New Zealand champion, won the Rally of Rotorua in 1998 and has four other podium finishes there.

West is ranked fifth in his Subaru Impreza ahead of Auckland's Mark Tapper, in a Mitsubishi, who will be focused on picking up maximum points after dropping out of the last round of the national championship in the Wairarapa.

Tapper was the first Kiwi home in April's world rally championship round in New Zealand.

The heat is likely to come from West's fellow Subaru driver Richard Mason, of Masterton, who jumped to third place in the Wairarapa Rally.

Other New Zealanders expected to contend include 2004 top rookie Sam Murray (Palmerston North), talented Dunedin driver Emma Gilmour, who is second in the championship standings, and the experienced Glenn Smith (Hawera) who is chasing a podium finish.

There will be three special stages today, three tomorrow and four on Sunday.

- NZPA