Summerfield banks solid points at Coromandel
The Summerfield pairing finished the Mahindra Gold Rush Rally of Coromandel in 4th overall. Photo: Jason Byrne
Rangiora’s Matt Summerfield has secured another consistent finish at the weekend’s Mahindra Goldrush Rally Coromandel, coming home fourth to leave him well in contention for third place in the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship.
Summerfield and co-driving sister Nicole came to the event looking to avenge an off-form run at last year’s event and a third fastest time on the opening stage was a good start.
Stage two provided the team with the biggest drama when hitting a rock saw a bent suspension arm, dropping the pair down to eighth place.
Across the next two stages, Summerfield mounted a comeback in the Castrol Edge Subaru and by the time he returned to the service park, had climbed back into fourth place.
A consistent run across the afternoons stages saw Summerfield secure the fourth spot and with the fourth fastest time on the power stage, were able to secure a solid haul of points.
“It was another solid result for us this weekend, we struggled a little to get the tyres to work so we couldn’t quite keep up with the front guys,” said Summerfield. “It puts us in a great place to fight for third in the championship.”
The result means Summerfield retains his fourth place in the NZRC standings and moves to within four points of third place heading to the final round, Rally Wairarapa, on October 3.
Matt Summerfield Rallisport would like to acknowledge their sponsors, without whom their 2015 campaign would not be possible: Castrol Edge, Autotech Services, Brita Safety, Clearwater Painting, North Canterbury Energy Centre, The Gearbox Company, Chatterton Builders, Liquorland, I C Frith Insurance Brokers and No Limit Construction.
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