International Driver Trophy – mid-season update
A new award in 2024, the International driver trophy of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship has seen a strong uptake with five drivers based overseas already having started at least one round.
Four International drivers lined up at the opening round, Rally Otago. For Stewart Reid it really was a case of out with the old and in with the new, having moved into an AP4 Mitsubishi Mirage after last season campaigning a Mazda RX-7 in the classics. He’d be up against the sister Mirage of regular New Caledonian visitor Eugene Creugnet, plus the Rally Challenge class Subaru’s of Julien Lenglet (Vanuatu) and Brandon Semenuk (Canada), the latter in a one-off appearance as a guest of the event.
Semenuk was impressive early, jumping into the lead after stage two despite a power disadvantage in the H6 Subaru however he’d strike trouble in SS3 with a puncture, promoting Reid into the lead. Behind him, Lenglet jumped in front of Creugnet, the pair just 6.5 seconds apart. That gap would widen when the New Caledonian suffered a turbo failure before service, although a second turbo failure in SS7 would end his day. That would finalise the results, Reid a comfortable victor just over two minutes clear on Lenglet with Semenuk unable to claw back the time lost early.
Round two, South Canterbury Rally, saw just the two Mitsubishis going head to head, however a puncture in SS3 for Creugnet that cost him 10 minutes soon put an end to that battle. So Reid would again top score, while Creugnet would bank some points, this time in second.
The third round, the Southern Lights Rally, missed Creugnet, who was forced to miss the event due to the civil unrest in New Caledonia. Joining the class however was another AP4 car, the Mazda of Vanuatu’s Nelson Law.
While Reid would overcome the challenge of night stages on his way to a third successive victory for the season, Law potentially proved his closest competitor to date and with the return of Lenglet and potential entries from further overseas driver, plus the hopeful return before long of Creugnet, this class is set to have an exciting conclusion in 2024.
Currently Reid leads on 75, heading off a three way tie on 22 points between Creugnet, Lenglet and Law, while Semenuk sits fifth on 20 points.
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