Five young New Zealand rally drivers are attacking the roads of Malaysia this weekend in a desperate hope of gaining entry to a number of World Rally Championship races in 2009.
As part of a worldwide FIA rally initiative, the Pirelli Star Driver scheme is a global searchfor 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 are allocated according to the driver's finishing position on each stage of the two-day rally held near Johor Bahru in southern Malaysia.
Making the trip to the event, which is also a round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship as well as being part of the domestic series, are: Hayden Paddon, 21, Geraldine; Kirsty Nelson, 18, Whangarei; Brad Ayling, 26, Inglewood; Mark Tapper, 27, Auckland; and Patrick Malley, 24, Auckland.
Paddon, along with Ayling, Malley and Nelson, will be driving in Malaysia for the first time, and Tapper took part 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.
"I can't wait to get in to the first stage," said Paddon. "Ever since this scheme was announced back in May we have been really excited about having a good crack at it. I think even after our successful New Zealand campaign we can still lift our game higher and challenge for the top spot here too."
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.
"It's an informative course, very similar to the elite sports academy we have in New Zealand that I attended in 2006," said Paddon. "On Wednesday and Thursday we had a two-pass reconnaissance over the rally roads to get a good set of pace notes."
Along with the five Kiwis having a tilt at the big prize are Rizal Sungkar, Indonesia, Arjun Rao Aroor, Indonesia and James Russell, Malaysia.
The drivers will fight it out over 14 stages through palm oil and rubber tree plantations where the local climate will either be frying the skin off the back of the hands, or drenching everything in a massive downpour. All in the space of half a day.
The rally is the sixth of seven APRC rounds and it's also the sixth round of the local championship. The leader in the APRC is local driver Katsu Taguchi, who leads the 2006 and 2007 APRC champion, Australian Cody Crocker, by six points.
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