SUMNER NEW ZEALAND CHAMPION

September 2010.

Rotorua's Dean Sumner has driven a fast and disciplined drive at Rally Wairarapa to not only finish the last event of the season in second place, but also secure the title of 2010 New Zealand Rally Champion.

He joins a notable list of other New Zealand rally drivers such as Possum Bourne, Rod Millen, Neil Allport and Joe McAndrew, and in more recent times Hayden Paddon, Richard Mason and Chris West and Bruce Herbert.

Following a season that took the teams as far South as Dunedin and to the northern town of Whangarei, Sumner has returned to competition after a year off to perform a calculated drive from the start to the finish, covering over 1300km of competitive stages to win the crown.

Leading from the outset of the 2010 season, Sumner finished every Leg of competition in the series, stood on the podium at every Round and won two Rounds outright to build a final points margin of 31 over his closest rival Emma Gilmour.

By winning outright at the opening Otago Round in April, Sumner then concentrated in consistently building on his lead. He finished a credible third at Rally New Zealand and although he struggled at Whangarei, still managed to finish third again, and then set his mind on his dominating performance at Nelson last month where he stamped his authority on the championship by winning both days and banking maximum points.

Sumner still needed to finish both days at Wairarapa. Running as first car on the road and acting as road sweeper, Sumner didn't let the pressure get to him and set a steady pace on Day 1 to come home second behind Masterton driver Richard Mason, and extending his lead in the championship ready for the final day of the season.

On Day 2, it came down to the last stage however, with Emma Gilmour making a late charge to move into second for the day and close up on the 26 second lead Sumner had in the overall results heading into the final test. Sumner pressed on and maintained his position, only having to finish the day to secure the title.

Keeping his focus, he pushed a bit harder in the afternoon winning two stages including the final 13km test to cross the line second overall in the rally and as New Zealand Rally Champion. Proving he is worthy of the champion status, he also set the Group N record for the final stage in the process.

Sumner’s long-time co-driver Paul Fallon also secured the 2010 New Zealand Rally Champion Co-driver’s Title.