By BOB PEARCE
Bruce Herbert earned an unexpected bonus for his win in the International Rally of Rotorua yesterday - leadership of the Asia Pacific championship.
The Palmerston North driver dominated the event in his new Subaru, leading from start to finish and cruising home for his third Rotorua win in a row with a 1m 57.7s margin over Aucklander Andrew Hawkeswood in a Mitsubishi.
Third, 1m 20s further back, was former national champion Geof Argyle in the latest specification Mitsubishi.
Herbert, a 42-year-old company director, is the reigning national champion. But despite competing in the first two rounds of this year's championship he came to Rotorua with no points because his car had yet to be ruled eligible.
The three days in the forests were make-or-break for his title hopes and he never let up.
"Competing in those two rounds earned us no points but allowed us to shake down the car and learn some new things," he said yesterday.
"We had to win here and get as many bonus points as we could so there was no chance of easing up.
"This morning we slid off into a farmer's mailbox and it was a bit of a scare. From then on we didn't push as hard."
Business commitments will prevent Herbert from competing in any other Asia Pacific rounds and his focus will be the last two national championship rounds, the international in Auckland and the Daybreaker Rally in the Manawatu.
Championship leader Lewis Scott finished sixth yesterday and has a 32-point lead over Argyle, with Herbert a further 11 points adrift. Hawkeswood, who was penalised for a technical infringement in the last round, is nine points behind Herbert despite his fine showing in Rotorua.
With top seed Possum Bourne dropping out on Saturday with a blown head gasket after a horror run in a hastily prepared Subaru, Malaysian Karamjit Singh was the main Asia Pacific contender left in the field.
He powered his Proton expertly through the twisting stages of the Motu on the first day but faded when the roads became faster. He was leading the Group N class until the final stage when Northlander Reece Jones edged past in his Mitsubishi.
Singh admits he was driving to finish after the first day and he retains fourth place in the Asia Pacific championship, with none of the drivers above him likely to contest any more rounds.
The major casualty of the final day was Aucklander Todd Bawden. He had shared fastest time in the first stage of the day and won the second to have a real prospect of taking the bonus points for fastest on the day.
But on Poutakataka Rd, near Atiamuri, a pace-note mixup saw him crashing heavily backwards into a bank.
The car was driveable, but his co-driver, Ray Bennett, suffered concussion and was taken to hospital when they returned to the service area. Bawden had to withdraw.
The Rotorua event, sponsored by Parker Enzed, enjoyed brilliant weather and plenty of spectator interest on some of the best rally roads in the country.
Only 21 cars of the 41 starters finished.
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