MATTHEW’S HOPING KIWI RALLY WILL BEAR FRUIT

By Amanda Little

Last updated 11:46, Tuesday, 26 August 2008

MATTHEW WILSON reckons the heat will be on in next week’s Rally New Zealand.

Ready for Kiwi battle: Matthew Wilson in his Ford Focus RS WRC

The 21-year-old Cumbrian will be competing in his favourite event and has the added pressure of being nominated as a points scorer for the Stobart Motorsport team.

Wilson – the only British driver contesting all 15 rounds of the World Rally Championship – has already flown out to the southern hemisphere for round 11.

This will be Wilson’s third start in the Rally New Zealand with the youngster’s best result coming last year when he finished 10th.

The son of Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson, from Cockermouth, who will pilot the Focus with Cumbrian co-driver Scott Martin, from Wetheral, near Carlisle, is currently lying ninth in the drivers’ championship.

Wilson said: “This is probably my favourite event so I’m really looking forward to it.

“We’re also nominated to score points on what is one of my stronger events so hopefully we can help the Stobart team out in New Zealand.

“I like the nature of the stages and the camber of the corners plus the high speeds which give the event a Finland sort of feel.

“I have heard reports of quite bad weather recently in Hamilton so it will be interesting to see how the stages hold up once we are out there.”

Ford No1 driver Mikko Hirvonen will be aiming to boost his chances of winning the WRC drivers’ crown on roads which will resemble those in his native Finland.

Fast, smooth as a billiard table and cambered, the North Island roads gently wind through lush, green countryside and are similar to Finland – and invite drivers to attack.

Hirvonen is lying just four points behind Citroën’s Sébastien Loeb after top spot changed hands for the sixth time this season in the thrilling title duel, and is relishing the New Zealand round which gets underway on Thursday.

This will be Hirvonen’s fifth start in New Zealand, with his best result coming in 2006 when he finished second.

He said: “The roads in New Zealand have a good rhythm to them and they are so smooth that there's no need to worry about damaging the car on rocks.

“The cambered corners encourage attacking driving but it's important not to position the car on the wrong side of the camber coming into a corner. If that happens then the car ends up sliding wide or perhaps not even making it round at all.”