By BOB PEARCE
Todd Bawden used to have a reputation for being fast and furious, but not always a finisher.
Not any more. In the past two rounds of the national championship he has been fast, not so furious - and first.
So when the 34-year-old Aucklander starts the Rally of Rotorua today,
he lies third in the championship behind defending champion Bruce Herbert, who won in Rotorua last year, and the consistent Geof Argyle.
Bawden believes he has lost none of the aggression which cost him consistency in the past, and he has no regrets.
"How many great rally drivers haven't crashed?" he asks. "I've learnt a lot as I've got older. You learn by falling off the road. I'm older and more experienced now. Last season most of my non-finishes were mechanical problems."
This season continued those problems when a broken gear-selector cable put him out of Rally New Zealand after just six stages. That was a big blow to his national championship hopes because it was a high points-scoring rally.
He buried the disappointment and dominated the next two rounds in Dunedin and Invercargill.
Even Bawden was surprised how relaxed he had become by the time of the Southland event.
"I didn't sleep at all in Dunedin," he reveals. "But in Invercargill I slept all night. In the past we've won rallies, but this was the first time we had backed up."
So what has changed this season to make him a realistic threat to win his first national championship?
First there is the car. He has a brand-new Mitsubishi Evo6, which after the Rally New Zealand glitch has performed impeccably.
"Then there's the driver," Bawden says. "I'm fitter this season. I've been working with Jim Blair with regular early-morning sessions in the gym.
"I'm a builder, which means early starts anyway, so I've been going to the gym at 5.30am."
Bawden is no stranger to rigorous training. As a teenager he was a promising 2000m steeplechaser with aspirations to national honours.
His dream took him to the United States, where a knee injury ended his running career but led him into motorsport, through friendship with Rod and Steve Millen. He started in karts and then chose rallying ahead of circuit racing.
"Rallying is a passion," he says. "Equipment is everything in circuit racing and you need to have a big budget to succeed.
"I've never had a big budget, but in rallying I think skill and passion can take you a long way."
Since he got seriously into rallying seven years ago, he has put together a team run by his father, Linden. The set-up has been strengthened this season by the addition of experienced Waiuku rally driver Stumpy Holmes.
"That has allowed me to step aside and concentrate on the driving," he says. "Stumpy runs a good ship and it helps that dad has great respect for him. It's working well and we all gain from his experience."
Bawden's co-driver, Damon McLachlan, is a comparative newcomer to the sport but a long-time friend.
"We both went to Orewa College and we used to race the school bus on our 10-speeds," he says.
Two years ago Bawden had to drop out of the Rotorua Rally on the final day when his co-driver was concussed. Last year he was fastest over the Motu on day one, but was sidelined by a broken cross member.
"I'm quietly confident this time," he says. "I think there's more pressure on the other guys."
Herbert, who has won in Rotorua for the past four years, leads the national championship with 95 points, Argyle has 92 and Bawden, with no points from Rally NZ, has 73.
"I'd like to think we can win again," Herbert said. "The pace in the championship has been a lot harder this year."
Herbert is looking at an improvement in speed after rebuilding the engine of his Subaru. "We're back to the performance we had last year."
The rally is the second round of the Asia Pacific championship. Argyle is in the unusual position of being second in both the national and Asia Pacific standings and can head both championships with a good result in his Mitsubishi.
He was pipped in the first Asia Pacific round by German Armin Kremer, a former European champion, who won the Canberra Rally in his Mitsubishi. This will be Kremer's first competitive outing in New Zealand.
Top seed for Rotorua is the defending Asia Pacific and world Group N champion, Malaysian Karamjit Singh.
He missed the Canberra round and will be competing here in a leased Mitsubishi rather than his works Proton.
Weather permitting, the competitors will tackle two Motu stages this morning and the long Whakarau and Rakauroa tests out of Matawai in the afternoon.
Tomorrow, there are six stages around Kawerau.
The finish is in central Rotorua at 3.30pm on Sunday after five stages near the city.
When and where
TODAY
8.00: Leave Parc Ferme, Rotorua.
9.50: Opotiki service.
10.38: Motu 1 (SS1), 19.18km.
11.11: Motu 2 (SS2), 26.81km.
12.01: Matawai service.
12.44: Whakarau (SS3), 32.71km.
13.52: Rakauroa (SS4), 25.04km.
14.37: Matawai service.
18.30: Parc Ferme, Rotorua.
TOMORROW
9.00: Leave Parc Ferme, Rotorua.
10.18: Rotoehu Forest (SS5), 12.17km.
10.46: Manawahe (SS6), 24.23km.
12.00: Kawerau service.
12.43: Matahina (SS7), 20.35km.
13.11: Waiohau (SS8), 8.62km.
14.10: Kawerau service.
15.03: Pylon (SS9), 27.61km.
15.41: Troutbeck (SS10), 11.78km.
16.41: Kawerau service.
18.30: Parc Ferme, Rotorua.
SUNDAY
9.00: Leave Parc Ferme, Rotorua.
10.03: Waiotapu (SS11), 24.13km.
11.21: Rotorua service.
12.19: Parsons 1 (SS12), 11.28km.
12.42: Totara 1 (SS13), 9.75km.
13.10: Parsons 2 (SS14), 11.28km.
13.33: Totara 2 (SS15), 9.75km.
14.23: Rotorua service.
15.30: Ceremonial finish.
By BOB PEARCE
Todd Bawden used to have a reputation for being fast and furious, but not always a finisher.
Not any more. In the past two rounds of the national championship he has been fast, not so furious - and first.
So when the 34-year-old Aucklander starts the Rally of Rotorua today,
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