Reigning New Zealand Rally champion Ben Hunt believes championship organisers have made the correct call to cancel the 2020 season in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Long lead-in times to organise rallies and a likely lack of entries as small business owners and sponsors look to overcome the economic hit of Covid-19 forced the abandonment of the 2020 season. Hunt, a Glenbrook Beach resident, was naturally disappointed he won’t get the opportunity to defend his crown this year in his Hyraulink Subaru but supported the tough call.
“I think the organisers and everyone definitely made the right decision,” he said. “There’s a lot more important things out there than the New Zealand Rally Championship in terms of people’s health and safety. “It is a bit a shock but we understand and we all need to get through this together. “We can take some time now to go and do the other things we love and get ready for 2021.”
The two-time national champion receives significant financial support from a number of key sponsors to campaign his car, some of which have already committed that assistance. That means Hunt is obliged to deliver on that support even without a championship in which to compete. “We had signed a contract with all our amazing sponsors for 2020 and while we don’t have a championship we have made a commitment to them to be a brand ambassador so we will do everything we can to give them as much coverage as possible,” he said. “And we want to secure everyone again for 2021 so we have got a few strategies that we want to trial with them. “There is still a lot of stuff we can do with them.
“The NZRC was just six weekends of our one-year deal with sponsors and there was a lot more stuff outside of that that we had to do.” While there will be no official national championship this year a number of local club events are still likely to run while there have been suggestions one or two bigger one-off events might still be possible in the latter part of the year. “If there is the right event at the end of the year we may or may not do it but if the sponsors are keen for us to do it then we will definitely be there,” Hunt explained. He is already thinking about next season and doing whatever he can to put his best foot forward and aim for a third title.
“That’s the plan – we rely highly on sponsorship and funding we get to do it. That will be the first thing to sort out. The car is ready to go and it looks like a World Rally Car in a late model production-based shell. “The team at Speedhub have done a great job and I can’t wait to test it and throw some stones.”
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