Defending New Zealand Rally Champion Dean Sumner says he has nothing to lose as he eyes up another podium finish at Whangarei this weekend in Round 4 of the Brian Green Properties New Zealand Rally Championship.
Sumner’s title defence got off to a flying start as he quickly moved into second place in the championship at Round 1, however the run for the championship became that much harder when his ITM sponsored Mitsubishi slipped off the road in Day 2 at Rally New Zealand in May, costing him valuable points and dropping him to fourth.
Following a fight back at Rally Wairarapa and another second overall placing, Sumner managed to nudge a little closer to third placed Emma Gilmour, and with just 11 points separating the pairing, and only two rounds left in the series, Sumner has a single-minded focus, another podium finish.
“Whangarei has always been a good event for us. We did struggle last year with some car issues, but we still managed to finish third out of the New Zealand Championship field.” Said Sumner.
“We’ve done a lot of testing since the last round at Wairarapa and have managed to get some more out of the car in preparation for Whangarei.”
Rally Whangarei is also a round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship and will see no less than 18 international drivers lining up Friday evening for a battle that will no doubt come down to the wire between the top overseas teams and the kiwi contingent of drivers.
Rally Whangarei officially starts in the city’s Cameron Street Mall at 4:30pm this Friday the 15th before the action gets underway on Saturday in the Paparoa area and with a publicity stage in Whangarei City. Sunday sees the teams competing in the Waipu Caves, Mangaturoto area. The event concludes with a ceremonial finish quayside from 3:30pm Sunday.
You can follow Dean live by visiting www.deansumner.com or www.chrissport.co.nz
