409industries
10-02-2007, 02:57 PM
Sam Murray has won the National Rally Championship at Nelson today by the narrowest of margins - a single point.
The Palmerston North driver finished sixth on the event in his Subaru Impreza WRX STI, while his closest rival Hayden Paddon won the rally.
“It was a bit close,” admitted Murray, “but we knew seventh was a fair way behind us.”
Murray went into the event with a 20 points advantage and had to finish sixth or better to prevent Paddon from taking the title.While the victory was Murray’s first overall national championship, after winning the Group A crown at Nelson in 2004, co-driver Rob Ryan was victorious for the sixth time, equaling the number of national co-driver’s championships won by Bob Haldane.
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/images/uploads/article_images/NRC_Nelson_07_01.jpg
Photo: Subaru New Zealand
Their victory came as a result of consistency and reliability. They were the only crew to finish every heat and round of the series. Ironically the sixth place at Nelson was their worst performance of the season.
They had a scare on the day’s second stage when the car spun and the consequent slow stage time dropped them to 8th overall."Then we concentrated on staying out of trouble and not making any mistakes,” said Murray. “We were probably a bit too cautious at the start, but then we picked up the pace a bit and got back into the top six and just maintained that place.”
“It was frustrating seeing Hayden and Richard (Mason) going faster, but I didn’t attempt to try and match them. We had to finish to make sure of the championship.”
Richard Mason, the defending double champion and the only other driver with a chance of winning the title was running second just 23 seconds behind Paddon with two stages remaining. But the Masterton driver lost the use of his Impreza STI’s brakes for the final two tests and dropped to fifth overall.
American Ken Block, who has contested four round of the series, had his best result of the season with a trouble free run, finishing third in another Impreza WRX STI run by Murray’s team.
The Palmerston North driver finished sixth on the event in his Subaru Impreza WRX STI, while his closest rival Hayden Paddon won the rally.
“It was a bit close,” admitted Murray, “but we knew seventh was a fair way behind us.”
Murray went into the event with a 20 points advantage and had to finish sixth or better to prevent Paddon from taking the title.While the victory was Murray’s first overall national championship, after winning the Group A crown at Nelson in 2004, co-driver Rob Ryan was victorious for the sixth time, equaling the number of national co-driver’s championships won by Bob Haldane.
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/images/uploads/article_images/NRC_Nelson_07_01.jpg
Photo: Subaru New Zealand
Their victory came as a result of consistency and reliability. They were the only crew to finish every heat and round of the series. Ironically the sixth place at Nelson was their worst performance of the season.
They had a scare on the day’s second stage when the car spun and the consequent slow stage time dropped them to 8th overall."Then we concentrated on staying out of trouble and not making any mistakes,” said Murray. “We were probably a bit too cautious at the start, but then we picked up the pace a bit and got back into the top six and just maintained that place.”
“It was frustrating seeing Hayden and Richard (Mason) going faster, but I didn’t attempt to try and match them. We had to finish to make sure of the championship.”
Richard Mason, the defending double champion and the only other driver with a chance of winning the title was running second just 23 seconds behind Paddon with two stages remaining. But the Masterton driver lost the use of his Impreza STI’s brakes for the final two tests and dropped to fifth overall.
American Ken Block, who has contested four round of the series, had his best result of the season with a trouble free run, finishing third in another Impreza WRX STI run by Murray’s team.