KEY POINTS:
Aucklander Mark Tapper has won the Pirelli Star Driver competition at the Rally of Malaysia, after Australian hopeful, Eli Evans, crashed on the final day.
Tapper, 27, was the fastest in three stages yesterday and in four stages yesterday, finishing in a total time of 3 hours 2
minutes and 57 seconds, Rally Sport magazine reported. His consistent performance throughout the rally won him the chance to drive in the World Rally Championship in 2009.
"It was a battle to keep my mind on the job in the last few stages. I just stuck to a place where I felt comfortable and didn't take any risks. It's pretty hard to describe my feelings right now. But yeah - awesome!" said Tapper.
His fellow Pirelli Star Driver competitors didn't have such a dream run.
Another New Zealander, Hayden Paddon, 21, of Geraldine, did some major damage to his car in Leg One after sliding into an oil palm, and then lost a lot of time in the first Stage of Leg Two when his car had an electrical problem.
"We regrouped after the first service stop but Mark was too far in front for us to even think about winning the Pirelli Star Driver competition," Paddon said.
Australia's Eli Evans had gone into the last day of competition confidently, having scored the most number of points in the first leg.
But his hopes were crushed when he flew off the track and did some major damage to his car, and he and co-driver, Chris Murphy, retired from the event.
As part of a worldwide FIA rally initiative, the Pirelli Star Driver scheme is a global search for five young drivers from the 2008 and 2009 FIA regional rally championships.
One driver from the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions, and two from Europe, will win the opportunity to compete in six WRC rallies in 2009 using a supplied Group N or Super 2000 car.
Competitors must be under the age of 27 on January 1 in the year of the regional championship. Rally Malaysia is the Asia-Pacific Pirelli star driver final where the winner gets to go to Europe. Points were allocated according to the driver's finishing position on each stage of the two-day rally held near Johor Bahru in southern Malaysia.
Other New Zealand contenders were Kirsty Nelson, 18, Whangarei; Brad Ayling, 26, Inglewood; and Patrick Malley, 24, Auckland.
Tapper was the only one of the five to have previously competed in Malaysia, after driving there in an event there earlier in the year.
The Asia-Pacific Pirelli star driver competition began in New Zealand with a qualifying round run as part of the Hella International Rally of Whangarei in June this year.
New Zealand rally champion Paddon came away from Whangarei with the most Pirelli points, with Ayling in second and both drivers received $10,000 towards the cost of getting up to Malaysia.
Part of the scheme also judges the fitness levels of the star driver scheme participants, along with how they handle the media and overall speed throughout the rally.
- NZPA