Stewart Taylor defeated Patrick Malley to claim his third title. Photo/Duncan Brown
Stewart Taylor defeated Patrick Malley to claim his third title. Photo/Duncan Brown
Hawke's Bay's Stewart Taylor had a third consecutive Rally Hawke's Bay title secured with two stages remaining yesterday.
As big a feat as that was in the 40 plus car Tomoana Warehousing-sponsored event the fact Taylor, 39, and his co-driver Warwick Searle hadn't raced his Mitsubishi Evo 10 since lastyear's rally added to the significance of the win. It was a similar situation when the pair won last year's event.
"We had no training ... we just jumped in the car and went out. It was if we hadn't been out of the picture," Taylor explained before the event's prizegiving.
However he was full of praise for the battle he had with Whangarei-based former Hawke's Bay driver Patrick Malley during the first five stages. Malley, who had his mother Linzi as a co-driver in a Peugeot 208 won the second stage after Taylor had won the first.
These two teams were first equal after the third stage. Taylor was first after the fourth, fifth and sixth stages and his 10th equal placing on the final stage was enough to give him the title by almost 15 seconds from Malley.
Malley had gear box issues on the 17km fifth stage which takes in the Mohaka Coach Road. This stage has regularly seen Taylor's closest rivals come to grief over the years.
This was the first of five rounds in The Total Lubricants Rally Xtreme national series and Taylor will decide next week whether he will tackle the remaining rounds.
An eagerly awaited tussle between Taylor and Coromandel's Alex Kelsey in his new home-made Peugeot supercar didn't eventuate as Kelsey, who finished seventh on stage one, withdrew with mechanical issues on the second stage.
