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2006
Hella International Rally of Rotorua
26th - 28th May 2006
28
May 2006
Attention
Sports Editors
Mighty Mason scores
victory in Hella Rally of Rotorua
New Zealand’s leading driver Richard Mason drove brilliantly
on the final afternoon to claim the Hella International Rally
of Rotorua today.
The
Masterton driver overcame a 13 second deficit on overnight leader
Cody Crocker of
In
a two-horse race, Mason reduced his deficit to 11 seconds after
three stages east of Rotorua today, before producing a devastating
second pass through the 19km Pinnacles stage nearly 18 seconds
faster than the three-times Australian champion. The current New
Zealand Rally champion then held firm to win his first international
rally honours.
“It
went better than I expected. The approach was to try hard but
not dangerously hard,” Mason said. “It was strange to go from
attacking to defending.
“I
am very happy to win against Crocker. He is one of the best drivers
in the world, up with the Europeans. I think it was a big home
advantage for me. “The reason we are quicker than the other
The
Kiwi finished 8.9 seconds ahead of Crocker with another New Zealander
Sam Murray (Palmerston North) claiming the best result of his
career in third.
With
first round NZRC winner Chris West forced out with mechanical
problems, Mason now takes a sizeable lead in the
Crocker
was content with his second placing overall as he won the Asia
Pacific honours and now claims the provisional lead in that championship
on 32 points from Malaysia’s Rifat Sungkar.
“I
was surprised by Richard Mason pulling it out of the hat,” Crocker
said. “I had a few moments with braking today. Overall though
the Motu stage was an amazing experience – it was tight and twisty
while the rain made it tough. We had 50 pages of notes for the
Motu stage alone. It was the longest and most challenging stage
I’ve done in a long time.
“It
is a very different rally that in
“Overall
I am thrilled to be in the lead in the Asia Pacific Championship
and looking forward to the next rally in
It
proved a strong rally for Subaru who claimed the first four placings
with Bawden (Hamilton) in fourth spot.
Mason
won four of the final six special stages but it was his stunning
drive on special stage 10 that proved the difference when he was
16 seconds faster than his morning time to blitz the field.
The
two trans-tasman rivals dominated, claiming 11 of the 12 fastest
times, with West claiming a stage record on stage four on Saturday.
Murray enjoyed a consistently strong performance, especially
on the second day when he was third fastest in five of the six
special stages.
The
New Zealanders dominated the international field, claiming seven
of the top 10 placings. Other Kiwis to perform strongly included
Bawden with his fourth placing overall in his return to top level
rallying while Hawera’s Glenn Smith and Dunedin’s Emma Gilmour
both recovered from a raft of punctures and mechanical problems
on the first day to finish seventh and ninth respectively overall.
They
were split by colourful
Crocker
was in a class of his own among the internationals with
The
Richard
Mason & Sara Randall
Photo: Euan Cameron
Provision
leading overall results:
Richard
Mason – Sara Randall (Masterton, Subaru) 3:12.38, 1; Cody Crocker-Ben
Atkinson (Australia, Subaru) at 8.9secs, 2; Sam Murray-Rob Ryan
(Palmerston North, Subaru) at 8m21.7s, 3; Todd Bawden – Damon
McLachlan (Hamilton, Subaru) at 9:15.4, 4; Brett Martin – Raymond
Bennett (Taihape, Mitsubishi) 12:27.5, 5; Rifat Sungkar-Herkusuna
Mohamad (Indonesia, Mitsubishi) at 15:20.8, 6; Glenn Smith-Colin
Smith (Hawera, Subaru) at 15:45.0, 7; Mark Tapper – Jeff Cress
(Auckland, Ford Fiesta) at 16:29.5, 8; Emma Gilmour – Chris Cobham
(Dunedin, Subaru) at 18.00.3, 9; Grant Barber – Bede O’Connor
(Foxton, Mitsubishi) at 18:46.9, 10.
Championship
points, full results www.rallyrotorua.co.nz
For further information:
Ian Hepenstall, Sports Media
NZ, Tel 0275 613181, E: ianhep@xtra.co.nz
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