Herbert wants five in a row at Rotorua

Herbert wants five in a row at Rotorua

Bruce Herbert is looking for his fifth consecutive win in the Rotorua Rally this weekend, an event that is not even his favourite.

"There are other rallies I enjoy more," said Herbert. "But we just seem to go well at Rotorua. I can't put my finger on it why."

Herbert and co-driver Rob Ryan go into the event with a three points lead in the National Rally Championship in their Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

"There's no real tactics even though it's a three day event," said Herbert. "We'll just go as hard as we can from the outset."

The event which starts with two stages through the notorious Motu is also a round of the Asia Pacific championship, for which Herbert has been seeded fourth. "I'd like to think we can win again," said Herbert. "The pace in the championship has been a lot harder this year."

Herbert is looking at an improvement in speed after rebuilding the engine of his Subaru. "We've tested the new engine," said Herbert. "We're back to the performance we had last year."

Two consistent performances in the South Island rounds of the series have kept Herbert in the series lead. "It was a bit frustrating," said Herbert. "I knew we didn't have all the power we should have had down south. Now I'm much happier with the way the Impreza's going."

With the closeness of the championship Herbert is looking for the best possible result at Rotorua. "We've got to finish well," said Herbert. "A mediocre result will not do."

Conversely Chris West only has to finish the event to win his third National Group N Rally Championship in his Subaru Impreza WRX STI. West has won the class on the first three rounds of the series and has established a 32 points lead over his nearest rival.

"I want to secure the championship for everyone that's been involved," said West. "Then we can go to the final round at Hawkes Bay and go harder and try and get a top three place in the overall championship."

West also has his eye on winning Group N outright at Rotorua in his Subaru. "It'd be nice to beat the international guys again like last year," said West.

In preparation for the three day event West has rebuilt and tested the standard production Impreza WRX STI. "It's going really well," said West. "We want a good run on Friday so we can get a good road position for Saturday's stages in the forest." "We don't want to be running on cut up roads. If we can get into the top ten after the Motu stages that'd be great."

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