A little bit sideways Rallying in New Zealand, where we like to get A Little Bit Sideways! Up to date Rally News from teams around the country together with event reports.
Tauranga’s Phil Campbell has had a frustrating finish to his campaign in the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship with a twelfth place finish at the Mahindra Goldrush Rally Coromandel.
Campbell headed to the event aiming to repeat his top-two finishes at the event in the past two years to finish a difficult season on a high note. His team had reverted The Roofing Store Mitsubishi to the same set-up as last season in search of a return to form. However he and co-driver Venita Fabbro were left mystified when what seemed like a good start saw the pair sitting in 14th place after the opening loop of three stages.
The pace improved slightly through stages four and five, just cracking a top ten stage time to move up another spot, but not the speed that saw the pairing claim second in last season’s championship standings.
A seventh fastest stage time in stage seven was a step in the right direction while the pair did crack a top five time on the final super special stage around the streets of Whitianga, but in the end 12th was as high as they would climb. The result means Campbell finishes the 2016 NZRC in ninth spot.
“It’s obviously not how we’d like to finish the season, nor how we wanted the season to go, but at least we bought the car home straight. We’ve obviously got a bit of work to do over summer now,” says Campbell. “I really have to think all of our sponsors and the whole team for sticking with us, it’s been a really challenging year but their loyalty has been awesome.”
Press Release by BB Media
