West the one to watch says Mason

Surprise, surprise.
Ace Masterton driver Richard Mason doesn't see current New Zealand Rally Championship leader, Hayden Paddon, as his main threat in this weekend's Rally of Wairarapa.
Not that Mason doesn't have the greatest respect for Paddon, it's just that he believes his arch rival over many years, former national champion Canterbury's Chris West, could be about to have a welcome change of luck.
"He (West) will be driving a new car and he will be blood thirsty after some average recent results by his standards, I'm picking he is going to fly," Mason said.
"Obviously I'm backing myself to win but if I don't I reckon he (West) might be the go..
Winning the Wairarapa rally is, of course, nothing new for Mason who has made it pretty much his own since it became part of the national championship and he readily admits the course suits his style of driving.
"You don't have to focus too much on looking after the car, you can basically go flat out all the way," he said.
"It's a speed course and I enjoy that."
Mason doesn't believe though that local knowledge gives him any advantage over the other main contenders for the title.
This was because most, if not all, of them had driven the course many times in the past and would have notes on what skills were required where.
"Frankly, I don't think the home advantage comes into it," he said.
"And anybody who says it does is really just looking for excuses."
Mason agrees that if he and co-driver, wife Sara, don't take the spoils this weekend their chances of winning the national rally championship for 2009 will be severely dented.
Right now they are 27 points behind Paddon and there are only the Wairarapa and Nelson (in September) events to go for them to make up lost ground.
Mason doesn't see that situation placing more pressure on him, however, as he takes the view that every time he competes at this level he is out to succeed, and this weekend will be no different.
"The whole idea is to drive as hard and as quick as it takes to get the possible best result and that's what we will be doing," he said.
"If you don't happen to win you at least want to know you have given it your best shot."
Wins in the national rally championship are by no means foreign to Mason.
He took the title in 2005 and 2006, was second in 2002 and again last year and third in 2007.
Paddon, from Geraldine, has already
won the Otago and Whangarei rallies this
year but he has been quoted as saying that beating Mason this weekend will be a huge challenge.
"Wairarapa is probably the hardest place to beat Richard ... it's like trying to beat the Finns in Finland," Paddon said.
"But we have made some good improvements in the loose surfaces at recent rallies and I believe we have a car to challenge for the win."
Emma Gilmour is also coming to Wairarapa with an impressive formline.
She will certainly be match fit after battling rough, rutted roads to finish third in the Asia-Pacific Rally in Japan, her sixth podium finish in succession.
Gilmour says the Wairarapa rally is one she always looks forward to and after competing in Japan she will be approaching it with a new appreciation for the smoother conditions she will strike here.