Campbell looks for points at Canterbury
Phil Campbell currently sits second in the NZRC points standings. Photo: Jason Byrne – alittlebitsideways.co.nz
Tauranga’s Phil Campbell heads to the third round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, Lone Star Rally Canterbury, looking for another solid haul of points.
Currently sitting second in the NZRC standings after topping the four-wheel drive class at Rally Otago, Campbell and co-driver Venita Fabbro head to the Christchurch-based event with the knowledge that a strong result will cement their position towards the top of the championship leader board heading into the second half of the season.
Last year, Campbell missed out in a battle for fourth place that went right down to the final stage and this year will be looking to move slightly further up the field, still well aware that getting The Roofing Store Mitsubishi Evo 9 home for a solid finish is crucial.
Despite the short turn around between events, the Campbell Rally Sport team have done plenty of work to ensure the car is in the best possible shape, including a precautionary head gasket change after the car consumed plenty of water during a standout performance at Otago.
One challenge only offered up by the Canterbury NZRC round is the use of two forestry stages to kick the event off under the cover of darkness on Saturday night, before returning to the forests the following day to cover a further eight stages.
“Night stages are certainly a challenge and something we are looking to improve on,” says Campbell. “We’ve had a great start to the championship so far and it is now really important that we put together another strong result to really boost our chances of a strong championship result.”
The Lone Star Canterbury Rally gets underway with a ceremonial start at Lone Star Manchester St in Christchurch from 5pm on Saturday with two night stages to be completed before overnight parc ferme in Rangiora. Sunday sees a further eight special stages before returning to Lonestar for the finish at 4.45pm.
Release by BB Media.
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