Rally's Rising Stars set for Wairarapa season finale

Whangarei’s Ben Jagger and Kerikeri resident Stephen Barker, two of Rally New Zealand’s Rising Stars, are geared up and ready to go for the final round of the Vantage New Zealand Rally Championship, Rally Wairarapa, on 11 and 12 September.

For Scholarship winner Stephen Barker, there is plenty to play for. Barker currently holds a 35 point lead in the Group N (production class) two-wheel-drive championship and needs to finish the Masterton-based event to wrap up his first national title. As well as this, Barker is only 11 points off the lead of the junior driver championship despite being up against more powerful four-wheel-drive rivals.

Twenty-one-year-old Barker has contested Rally Wairarapa just once previously, finishing sixth overall in that attempt and setting several top three stage times in a 4WD car. This year, at the wheel of the Rising Stars-backed 2WD Ford Fiesta, Barker’s focus is to take the 2WD championship title home to Kerikeri.

“Richard [co-driver Richard Ellis] and I are opting for the ‘drive to survive’ attitude,” says Barker. “We will let Ben [main 2WD class rival Ben Hunt] set the pace. At the end of the day, that’s what we need to do to wrap up the championship.”

While Barker has a championship title in his sights, Rising Stars Development Award winner Ben Jagger is looking to return to the form he showed earlier this season. After a top five finish on the opening round of the championship, Jagger and co-driver Ben Hawkins have had a string of DNFs, plummeting the pair down the points-table. Although it’s still a mathematical possibility, Jagger is realistically out of contention for the junior championship, so the 20-year-old is just looking to finish a challenging season on a positive note and regain some confidence.

With only three weeks between Rally Nelson and Rally Wairarapa, Jagger’s whole team has been hard at work to repair the Subaru Impreza for the season finale.

“The whole crew has put in a lot of work to get the car ready for Wairarapa, so now it is up to Ben and me to repay their work with a good result,” says Jagger. “As well as that, we would really like to score another strong result like we got at Otago to finish a tough season on a high note and rebuild our confidence.”

“Obviously Stephen is in a strong position to clinch the Group N 2WD championship and that is very exciting for us, it would be the best possible reward for our investment,” says Rally New Zealand clerk of the course Willard Martin. “On the other hand, Ben has had a tough year and I think he is due for the luck to swing his way.”

Trusthouse Racetech Rally Wairarapa gets underway with a ceremonial start at the rally base, Solway Park Copthorne resort, at 6.00pm on Friday 10 September. The first rally car leaves the same venue at 8.00am the following morning, where, in a new twist, crews head south of Masterton for the first two stages, before returning to the more traditional roads north of the host town. Crews service their cars twice in the Alfedton Domain during day one with a final service in Masterton after the last of day’s six special stages. Day two comprises of a further eight stages based around the service park in Eketahuna before the crews return to Solway Park for the ceremonial finish at 3.30pm.