| Fri, Jul 30 5:41AM (NZ) |
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This website is now dedicated to covering the Black Bullets. Current Black Bullets news is now provided on iSportz » with past news archived here for your continued reference.
After the first two whirlwind rounds of the New Zealand Rally Championship, NZ Truth Ford Fiesta driver Patrick Malley finds himself heading back to school – motorsport style.
The 24 year old rally driver was one of 43 applicants to the prestigious Elite Motorsport Academy that counts Brendon Hartley and Hayden Paddon amongst its previous graduates. He was chosen to be among the 9 finalists for the week long course.
Malley will be joining 5 circuit and 3 rally drivers for the duration of the course, all of them looking to best their peers in what will be a very competitive environment. The drivers are be encouraged to compete in teams and also as individuals.
Before the young Aucklander heads to Dunedin, he must tackle the third round of the national championship – The NAC Rally of Whangarei. Based on arguably the best roads in the country, Malley will be looking to put behind him the disastrous second round result in Otago.
"Otago was a difficult event, with crests and jumps requiring the utmost respect, but having problems from the start of the first stage was a blow" says Malley. "Even though we didn't finish either day I took more experience out of the event than I would have done in finishing."
Taking into account the excellent first round at Wairarapa, Malley is still in a strong second position and only 24 points off current series leader Ben Jagger. "This is Ben's home event, but we will push him as much as we can to take back that first position in the championship."
Joining the Fiesta contingent for the round will be Australian driver Brendon Reeve's. Run by NZ based team Kayne Barrie Motorsport it will be good to see what the Australian youngster will be able to do against the New Zealand field with a competitive package.
The Whangarei Rally will run on the 7-8th June and as well as being the third round of the New Zealand Rally Championship, it is also the third round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship. The crews will tackle 15 stages over two days, covering 256 kilometres of fast and flowing special stages. "This is always a great event with excellent roads." Comments Malley, "Some say they are the best roads in the world."
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