Rally Xtreme Revs Up Wairarapa

Rally Xtreme Revs Up Wairarapa

With less than a week to go, the first round of the Total Lubricants Rally Xtreme Challenge is looming large, and the excitement is building for the 30 Rally Xtreme entries confirmed for the Trusthouse Racetech Rally Wairarapa.

At the front of the field it will be a tussle between two former national champions, the exotic, and the young upstart.

The two former champions are Geof Argyle and Dean Sumner. With Argyle again using his trusty Lancer Evo 7 in Group A trim, he has been joined by Sumner who has converted his Evo 9 to Group A spec as well.

“It is a whole different car to drive”, says Sumner. “It gets up to speed a whole lot faster..... so it will take a bit of getting used to.....At least it sounds good and throws lots more rocks”.

The exotic is the crowd pleasing Group B Audi Quattro S1 that is driven hard and fast by Andrew Hawkeswood. Having won Rally Wairarapa in 2008, driving a Lancer Evo 8, he is no stranger to these roads and will be spectacular whatever the result.

As for the young upstart, it is Alex Kelsey who will be driving his home built Subaru Impreza WRC replica. Having beaten the NZ Rally Championship field at the recent Brother International Rally of Whangarei, both the driver and the car are finding form after a year of testing and refining in 2011.

The pointy end of the 2WD classes will also be a challenge between the old, the new and the unique.

While the modern Ford Fiestas of Josh Marston and Phil Campbell have a higher billing on the start list, it will be the uniquely powered Toyota Starlet of Tony McConachy that may well upset the Fiesta pilots. Finishing 6th overall at the Daybreaker Rally last year, the Hyabusa motorcycle engine provides all McConachy needs to power his fantastic sideways style.

Pushing this trio hard will be the much older Escort of Craig Stevens who is pitted against the newer Honda Civic of Charlie Evans in the start order. However, because this will be the first time all of these competitors are going head to head in the same event, few are willing to predict the likely out come.

In fact all through the Rally Xtreme field there will be new battles and opponents sizing each other up as those who have only competed in their respective regional series until now come together for the Rally Xtreme Challenge.

However for the Classic Class the battle lines will be wider as the South Island based drivers of Marcus van Klink (RX 7) and Jeff Judd (Escort) look set to dominate. With van Klink having lead the Malcolm Stewart Classic Rally at Rally Wairarapa last year, (until axle failure stopped his progress), combined with his recent Classic Class win at Rally Whangarei, van Klinks form suggests he is the one to back. However Judd has also had his share of successes, including second overall in the 2010 Silver Fern Marathon Rally, and is equally regarded as a fast peddler. He will likely be a real threat to van Klink on the fast flowing roads of the Wairarapa.

So the scene is set for a fantastic and highly competitive start to the Rally Xtreme Challenge. The variety cars will certainly be crowd pleasing and the calibre of the drivers is top quality, making for an exciting gravel throwing sideways spectacle.

Event information is available at www.rallywairarapa.co.nz and live results will be available at www.chrissport.co.nz
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