Thomson aims to keep building at Whangarei

Christchurch’s Dylan Thomson heads to the second round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, the ENEOS International Rally of Whangarei, confident he will continue to move forwards in his transition to a four-wheel drive car.

After three successful seasons in his two-wheel drive Ford Fiesta, the opportunity to move into the Specialised Auto Services Subaru Impreza resulted in eighth place amongst the four-wheel drive cars at Rally Otago.

In the short turn around between events, the team has made several key set up changes and while the 2019 season is one to learn the car, Thomson is confident he and co-driver Amy Hudson will be closer to the front running pace at the second round.

The Whangarei event is one that Thomson has enjoyed good results in previous years, taking a class podium in each of his three attempts, although this year he is realistic about his expectations.

“I think continuing our run of podiums at Whangarei is a bit of a long shot, but this season is all about learning what is quite a different car. We’ve made quite a few changes since the opening round to make the car nicer to drive,” says Thomson. “We’ve already made some big steps forward at Otago and hopefully we can continue to move forward at that pace in Whangarei.”

The ENEOS International Rally of Whangarei gets underway with a ceremonial start on the Te Matua a Pohe Bridge from 5pm Friday, closely followed by two super special stages around Pohe Island. The following day, teams tackle eight stages north of Whangarei, with a further eight stages on Sunday before the ceremonial finish at the Whangarei Town Basin from 3pm.

Dylan Thomson Rallysport’s campaign is supported by Total Lubricants, Riordan and West Transport Pukekohe, Drew + Accounting, Harrier Signs, Specialised Auto Services, Steelrite Framing, LJ Hooker, Fowler Homes South Auckland and New Zealand, AA Autocentre Hornby, Jivan Produce, Dunlop, Dixcel and Braketech.

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