West Off To Great Start

West Off To Great Start

Chris West of Timaru and co-driver Erin Kyle of Hastings got their NZ Rally Championship campaign off to a great start with third place in Round 1, the DriveSouth Rally Of Otago this weekend.

West, the 2004 National Rally Champion and winner of the event four times previously, was pleased with the result particularly after losing a large amount of preparation time when the Andrew Simms Mitsubishi EVO 9 was trapped in the Christchurch CBD after the February earthquake.

Consequently Westy had limited testing time before the event began on Friday evening. Nevertheless West ended the first night of the rally in sixth place after three Special Stages. "We were a bit shy on pace," said West later. "I hadn't done a lot of driving and Erin and I were still establishing an understanding." Kyle has moved into the co-driver role this season replacing Chris Cobham.

The following day Westy set a string of impressive times as he set the second fastest time in the opening four stages of the day, each time behind World Production Rally Championship pacesetter Hayden Paddon. By Saturday night West and Kyle were fourth overall.

The final day of the rally on Sunday saw a further six Special Stages, the duo beginning their day with a stage win before going on to another succession of quick times which netted them third place for the day. The combined results of fourth on the opening segment and third on the second netting them third place overall.

"It's a great result and a great start to the championship. It gives us a sound base," said Westy after the ceremonial finish at the Dunedin Railway Station. "After the disruption of the earthquake the Andrew Simms Mitsubishi EVO 9 ran faultlessly. We had a few small issues but it is very promising. We made good progress over the weekend and I am extremely happy. We got reasonable points and set some reasonably competitive times. The pace of the championship has become very quick. It is all very well to be fast but you have to be consistently fast."

The next round of the Brian Green Property Group 2011 NZ Rally Championship is Rally New Zealand from 7-8 May.

Support for Chris West in the Brian Green Property Group 2011 NZ Rally Championship comes from Andrew Simms Mitsubishi, the New Zealand Herald, Castrol, Pirelli, The Mad Butcher and Donnithorne Simms Mitsubishi.

-ends-
CALENDAR - BRIAN GREEN PROPERTY GROUP 2011 NEW ZEALAND RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 1 - 8-10 April 2011 Rally Of Otago
Round 2 - 7-8 May 2011 Rally New Zealand
Round 3 - 28-29 May 2011 Rally Wairarapa
Round 4 - 15-17 July 2011 Rally Of Whangarei (Asia-Pacific Rally Championship)
Round 5 - 20-21 August 2011 Rally Hawkes Bay

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