Thomson looks for maximum points at Coromandel

Thomson looks for maximum points at Coromandel

Waiuku’s Dylan Thomson heads to round four of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, the Mahindra Goldrush Rally Coromandel, looking to take maximum points in his hunt for the NZRC two-wheel drive title.

Thomson, 22, along with 16-year old co-driver Amy Hudson of Christchurch, made the best possible start to their 2017 campaign with two round wins at the opening two rounds. However the pair got stuck off the road at round three in Christchurch and exceeded their maximum lateness, meaning they were only able to score five points in the power stage.

While Championship rules allow competitors in the NZRC two-wheel drive class to drop one of the first five rounds, Thomson is well aware that he has now used up his ‘life’, meaning he needs to finish and finish well at each of the final three rounds, starting with this weekend’s Whitianga based event.

Last season saw Thomson record his best result of the year at Coromandel, including setting fastest two-wheel drive stage times in the Total Lubricants Ford Fiesta ST despite taking on rivals with far more powerful cars.

This year’s event also sees a new stage as well as existing stages being run in the opposite direction to the previous three years. This means all competitors start on a level playing field, something that Thomson is looking forward to.

“Traditionally we seem to go fairly well when it comes to producing a good set of notes straight out of the box, so that should work well for us with all the stages effectively being new for this year,” says Thomson. “It will be an interesting event for sure, we’ve got to score points and plenty of them after Canterbury, which is a two-edged sword. Ideally we’d like to win, but we also need to make sure we are at the finish.”

The Mahindra Goldrush Rally Coromandel sees teams leave the Mercury Bay Sports Park from 7am on Saturday 26 August, with teams taking on 125 kilometres of special stages all over the Coromandel Peninsula before returning to the finish in Whitianga’s Blacksmith Lane from 5pm.

Dylan Thomson Rallysport’s campaign is supported by Total Lubricants, Riordan and West Transport Pukekohe, Drew + Accounting, Harrier Signs, Absolute Spray Painting, Mark Rose Construction, LJ Hooker, Fowler Homes, Waiuku Beaurepairs, Ford Ultimate Motor Group, Stadium Finance and GHL Tempfence.

ENDS

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