Motorsport: Rally championship heads south

Richard Mason is the driver to catch in round two of the New Zealand Rally Championship this weekend. Pictures / Euan Cameron

Otago's fast roads and difficult corners will be challenging, says leader

Former New Zealand Rally champion Richard Mason got an annoying monkey off his back at Rally Whangarei by winning the New Zealand component of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) event, and is looking forward to building on his points haul.

Round two of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship driven by VINZ arrives in the South Island this weekend for the two-day DriveSouth Rally of Otago.

Drivers and co-drivers will do battle over 283km of stages famous for their smooth, fast roads punctuated by daunting crests and fierce bends to challenge all comers.

"Otago is a difficult challenge," says Mason. "It's a real balance between driving flat out and using your head due to the changes in rhythm from extremely fast sections to difficult corners over crests. It's easy to be caught out."

With four national rally titles to his name and a three-time winner of the Otago event, Mason is the benchmark for the chasing pack. He will, however, face stiff competition from second in the 2014 series, Matt Summerfield, while 19-year-old Lance Williams in his rookie championship season is third after an impressive opening performance.

Chris West, who has four previous wins on the Otago gravel roads, will be chasing a bundle of points, as will Ben Hunt, who will be kicking off his championship campaign after mechanical issues halted his opening round charge. Dunedin's Emma Gilmour will be riding to show the speed of her Suzuki Swift Maxi on her home roads.

Emma Gilmour will be right at home in her Suzuki Swift Maxi.

Last year's national champion, Hayden Paddon, is taking a break from his Hyundai World Rally Championship programme to contest the Classic Rally behind the wheel of an old school Ford BDA Escort. Fans will be able to see Paddon in action against 1994 WRC world champion, Frenchman Didier Auriol, who will also pilot a Ford Escort. Another to watch will be 2013 Otago Classic Rally winner Neal Bates, a former Australian rally champion, driving a classic Toyota Celica. The leading competitor in the Classic division of the National Championship, Marcus van Klink, will also line up at the front of the Classic rally field in his Group B Mazda RX7.

The rally starts in Dunedin's Octagon on Friday evening before heading to the Lawrence and Milton areas on Saturday for six gravel public road stages including a 49km test at Manuka Hill.

The tarmac Super Special stage with four laps of a city block concludes the day's action, before a further eight stages on Sunday including the event's signature stage, the 15km rollercoaster Kuri Bush section.