Motorsport: Defending champ expects Mason to chisel away at his title

The first round of the New Zealand Rally championship hits the dirt roads in and around Napier this weekend for the Tomoana Warehousing Rally Hawkes Bay.

Defending champion Hayden Paddon is well aware his biggest challenge will be in the daunting form of two-time NZRC winner Richard Mason.

"This year we've got a different perspective. Last year we were out to win the championship but this year we're out to win stages and rallies," said Paddon.

"There's no more being conservative, it's going out there on max attack from the first corner of the first stage. We won the championship last year, so now it's about developing our speed. We know Richard's [Mason] the man to beat but we want to be the fastest this time around."

Mason and co-driver wife Sara are out to redeem, by their standards, a frustrating past two seasons and want to see their names back on the New Zealand rally championship trophy.

Mason and his team have rebuilt their Subaru over the summer in preparation for the Hawkes Bay event, which promises plenty of new challenges with most of the stages run in the reverse direction from recent years.

"We haven't had our hands on the trophy for a couple of years," said Mason. "We've been winning rallies but not gaining enough points to win the championship. The cunning plan this year is to get more points than anyone else. We got maximum points from four rounds last year but zero points from the other two."

Don't rule out the fastest Kiwi woman on dirt roads, Emma Gilmour, who has a full schedule this year competing in both the New Zealand series and the Asia Pacific Rally Championship. Like Paddon, who is also doing APRC events, she'll be getting a lot of seat time over the ensuing months but it's the opening round of the NZRC title chase that's uppermost in her mind.

With defending champion Paddon and former champions Mason and Chris West all wanting another title, Gilmour is under no illusions it's going to be an easy task to get herself on the podium.

"We're doing both championships this year but our aim is to win the New Zealand title and the APRC is a bit different as it's about gaining more experience and learning to go faster," said Gilmour.

"We've had a few ups and downs over the last two years starting with my big accident two seasons ago and last year there were a few issues with the car. This year though, it's the best prepared I've felt both with the car and the team."

The Hawkes Bay Rally will be run over 13 stages totalling more than 300km over two days.