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.
Christchurch based driver, Jeff Judd, managed to keep his pre-event promise of staying in the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) historic class lead at the fourth round of the championship, Rally Canterbury, held over the weekend by finishing in second after a tough day.
Despite going head to head against a mix of talented, fast drivers, Judd finished Rally Canterbury in the runner up position after a day full of challenging conditions in addition to taking the power stage win over Deane Buist and Marcus van Klink scoring bonus championship points in the process.
“We did what we came here to do,” said Judd, “but both Deane [Buist] and Klinky [Marcus van Klink] put up a good fight and made sure we never got totally comfortable. We had to push hard to get the power stage win but we were really happy with the [power stage] win which minimised the number of points lost to Deane [Buist], which is quite important for our championship campaign.”
“We also took a gamble by putting mud tyres on in the morning stages thinking it would give us an advantage. Unfortunately it didn’t pay off and may have even cost us a little bit of time.”
Aside from the tyre gamble, Judd, joined by co-driver Malcolm Read of Hamilton, did not suffer from any other major problems at the event which sees them keep their historic class championship lead by nine points over fierce rival, Deane Buist, who also competes in a Ford Escort.
“It’s great to have Deane [Buist] also competing in an Escort. It means we always have a good battle and we hear people love watching the BDA’s [Ford Escort’s] out on the stages,” said Judd.
The team now shifts their focus to the remainder of the NZRC rounds, starting with the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally set to be held out of Pukekohe later this month. This round also sees former New Zealand rally champion Neil Allport join the historic class championship race which will make the championship battle even tougher for Judd and his team.
The next round of the New Zealand Rally Championship is the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally, set to be held on Saturday 7 September around Pukekohe. The event marks the 10th anniversary of the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally, which celebrates the achievements of New Zealand’s iconic rally driver, Possum Bourne, arguably one of New Zealand’s most respected and well known rally drivers.
Judd’s 2013 NZRC campaign is supported by BNT, Magnum Compliance, Fuchs and Waimate Pharmacy.
Media Release: Alana McIsaac (August, 2013)
