Current New Zealand Rally Champion Dean Sumner is heading to Hawkes Bay today in preparation for the final round of the 2011 New Zealand Rally Championship, to close off a season that is best described as one to forget.
Defending his 2010 title, Sumner’s campaign got off to a good start with a second place at the opening round in Otago, however the series slipped from his grasp with an unfortunate off-road incident at Rally New Zealand and then brake failure at Whangarei last month, dropping him out of reach of points to successfully defend his title.
“We’ve had one of those years where there has been little things go wrong, although in terms of preparation, we have done nothing different to last season.” Said Sumner of his year.
“We’re looking forward to going back to Hawkes Bay though. We have won there before and haven’t been back since 2009, and this year the organisers have arranged some new roads so we’re excited about the weekend.”
Rally Hawkes Bay this year is run over two days like the other rounds in the championship, with Day 1 on Saturday being held on new roads and some from many years ago in the Central Hawkes Bay area. Day 2 on Sunday goes back into more recent rally stages in the Esk Valley and Mohaka areas and includes the very popular Darky Spur stage, famous for its daunting drops into the valley below.
The ceremonial start and drivers signing session is held at the Napier’s Sound Shell at 6.00pm Friday evening.
You can follow the rally live on www.deansumner.com
