For Immediate Release
1 APRIL 2012

West in Stunning Form at Whangarei

Timaru driver Chris West was in stunning form during the opening round of the 2012 NZ Rally Championship, the Brother International Rally Of Whangarei, this weekend. Unfortunately a gearbox problem on the first day of the two day event cost him the chance to make a perfect start to the championship but he certainly made a commanding statement in the Andrew Simms Mitsubishi EVO 9.

The rally was a round of both the 2012 New Zealand Rally Championship and the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and West was leading the entire field including the visiting internationals when his gearbox cried enough five kilometres into Special Stage 6 on Saturday afternoon. Westy and Palmerston North based co-driver, Chris Cobham, had a seven second lead over Australian Chris Atkinson
while they were 23.3 seconds ahead of their closest competition in the NZ Championship, Emma Gilmour, when their day was cut short. Up until that point Westy had won all but one of the stages against his NZRC rivals.

With the gearbox repaired Westy resumed the charge on Sunday. He was the fastest of the NZRC competitors throughout a day that featured a great battle with Richard Mason, winning six of the eight stages and finishing second in the other two. At the end of the day he was 11.8 seconds ahead of defending New Zealand Champion, Mason.

Westy also claimed a new initiative in this years New Zealand Championship - the power stage. The final Special Stage of the rally, the 21.9 kilometre Waipu Caves stage, offered bonus points and after his cruel luck of the previous day Westy gladly banked the extra points on offer.

Despite Saturdays disappointment it was an impressive performance. Of the thirteen stages he completed during the event Westy won ten amongst the NZRC competitors. He was also the outright fastest on six stages against the might of the international competitors in the Asia-Pacific Championship.

Looking back on the gearbox issue that sidelined him on Saturday Westy was philosophical. "It's a shame but it is part of the sport." However he was quick to add, "we got good points on Sunday and there is still a long way to go in the championship. The most encouraging thing is we have got the speed. We also got the power stage bonus points and had a close fight with Richard (Mason). Moving forward it is very encouraging."

West, the 2004 National Rally Champion, and Cobham now head to Round 2 of the championship, Rally Wairarapa from 27-29 April.

Support for Chris West in the Brian Green Property Group 2012 NZ Rally Championship comes from Andrew Simms Mitsubishi, Castrol and the New Zealand Herald.

-ends-

CALENDAR - BRIAN GREEN PROPERTY GROUP 2012 NEW ZEALAND RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 1 - 30 March-1 April 2012 Rally Of Whangarei (Asia-Pacific Rally Championship)
Round 2 - 27-29 April 2012 Rally Wairarapa
Round 3 - 25-27 May 2012 Rally Of Otago
Round 4 - 21-24 June 2012 Rally New Zealand
Round 5 - 25-26 August 2012 Rally Gisborne

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