MOTOR RACING - UK trial hopes look on the skids

A bid to win a coveted trial spot in an overseas rally driving squad is all but over for Northlander Ben Jagger after he crashed during the Repco Rally of New Zealand in Waikato last weekend.
Competing in the NZ Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy series - which has a trip to the UK to drive for the M-Sport team there up for grabs - Jagger remains in second place, but had the opportunity to move into the lead if he went well at the Rally of NZ.
A determined effort by the 18-year-old from Whangarei was rewarded with an 18-second lead early on day one. Unfortunately, it all came crumbling down for Jagger in the final stage of the day, when Jagger hit a soft spot on the road, putting the rally car on to its side.
He lost around 16 minutes and consequently handed the lead to second-placed Brendon Reeves, who went on to win.
The Northland pair were quickest on all previous stages bar the Mystery Creek Super Special Stage and were looking to close the championship gap to NZ Ford Fiesta series leader Patrick Malley, before heading to the final round in Nelson in just over two weeks.
Jagger, along with his co-driver Ben Hawkins, had been on fire on Saturday and led the Fiesta pack through the most important points-scoring leg of the weekend from the opening stage.
The unlucky break was not unlike the cruel twist of fate which was to ruin the rally for the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team the next day.
On Sunday, the team's two WRC cars entered the final special stage of Rally of New Zealand holding first and second place.
In that stage, with only the Mystery Creek Super Special remaining, both Miko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala had incidents, which ultimately allowed Citroen to claim first and second places for themselves.
Latvala never made it to the end of the stage and, although Hirvonen overcame a puncture, he was only able to pick up the pieces to narrowly hold on to third place for the rally.
Before the Rally of NZ, Jagger was trailing Malley by 13 points.
That gap is now extended to 21 points. Jagger will now need to win the final round at Nelson to have any chance of a series title.
With no more than three Ford Fiesta rally cars expected to compete at Nelson, it appears Malley only needs to finish the rally in order to secure this season's championship.