Dominant West Denied

For Immediate Release 12.04.10

Dominant West Denied

A dominant Chris West of Christchurch was cruelly denied maximum points in the Rally Of Otago, the opening round of the Vantage Aluminium Joinery 2010 New Zealand Rally Championship, this weekend. Westy had dominated the first day of the rally on Saturday and was also leading the second day in his Andrew Simms Mitsubishi EVO 9 when disaster struck just a few kilometres from the finish.

However West made a huge statement winning five of the eight Special Stages on the opening day to lead overnight by 58.3 seconds. Westy then drove a calculated rally on the second day, winning three of the first seven stages to build another lead only to be brought to a halt on the eighth and final stage while on track for another maximum points haul.

"I'm lost for words, it's a bitter blow," said Westy at the end of two impressive days. "We were on track for such a good result. However that is all part of it." West and co-driver Chris Cobham of Palmerston North were well on target for another win on the second day when a wheel rim shattered unexpectedly. The duo carried on but the tie rod end broke and then the wheel got caught on a corner and the car spun, bringing about the end of their rally. "I think we may have had a tyre going down and that caused the rim to shatter. I was trying to make it up a hill to change the tyre but with the damage to the steering arm we were destined not to finish anyway," said a disappointed West.

While he was understandably dejected it was nevertheless an impressive performance by the former Timaru driver who now lives in Christchurch. West won five of the first six stages of the event on Saturday as he powered away from his rivals. West continued his good form the following day, building another good lead until the rim problem stopped the Andrew Simms Mitsubishi EVO 9. "It was good. We were holding position and sitting in there. We knew what we had to do."

Looking at the round as a whole Chris said, "the car was really good and from that point of view there are a lot of positives. It is disappointing to lose an overall result that we were rightfully on track for and everyone involved is disappointed. However we will regroup and keep going. It happens and you deal with it. The Andrew Simms Motorsport Mitsubishi was good and the Yokohama tyres were working well."

The next round of the championship is the Rally Of New Zealand, also a round of the World Rally Championship, based in Auckland from 7-9 May.

Support for Chris West in the Vantage Aluminium Joinery 2010 NZ Rally Championship comes from Andrew Simms Mitsubishi, the New Zealand Herald, Castrol, The Mad Butcher, Donnithorne Simms Mitsubishi and Adamson & Holland Ltd.

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