Their banter was a highlight of the last round of the New Zealand Rally Championship, but don’t mistake the smiles on the faces of Andy Martin and Gavin Feast as a sign they aren’t serious about success.
The two Bay of Plenty locals epitomise what makes a good rivalry in sport as the two good mates jab each other with good-natured ribbing, but the pair are also fierce competitors who are desperate to succeed on their home roads at the upcoming Rally Bay of Plenty.
Martin and Feast had a bet on which of the two would do better at the Dayle ITM Goldrush Rally Coromandel, with Martin earning the right to a dinner on his mate’s dime.
“Apart from joking and asking when the $1000 dinner will take place for my win on our bet, I have tried not to rub it in too much,” Martin laughed.
“It’s amazing what a couple of wines can do for sensible decision making.”
But while the friendly bet proved a nice side angle for rally fans at Coromandel, there is a steely determination from both drivers to come out on top.
That battle is set to continue on their home roads next month.
“The rivalry was pretty fierce last year with [fellow Bay of Plenty local] Jay Pittams in the mix with Gav and me,” Martin explained.
“We were all in different classes, but still a good, healthy rivalry between us. Jay hasn’t been competing in the full NZRC this year – probably to rest the bank balance for a bit – but we are sure to see him going hard at the upcoming Bay Rally.”
Martin has endured a challenging couple of seasons as he struggled to find his best form while competing in his Volkswagen Polo Rally 2, while he battled mechanical gremlins upon switching to the Ford Escort earlier in this campaign.
But a move to his Subaru WRX and the Rally Challenge class proved just the tonic as he secured a superb third in class result at Coromandel.
“For me, it was great to be in the Subaru again – for the second time. The car spent some time with Hayden [Paddon] and the PRG boys in Cromwell to make some much-needed changes to make it more drivable, as the first time I drove it last year at BOP, it was hard work with minimal front diff, a crazy anti-lag, and then driving with no clutch for the second half of the rally.
“We actually did ok considering, but couldn’t get it off the start line in the last stage using the key, in gear, so Gav managed to pip us in the end – lucky we didn’t have money on that one!”
While Rally Bay of Plenty will use some roads not seen in the championship in many years, Martin has some recollection of competing on them before.
“I always look forward to our home rally. I used to drive a lot of these roads 30 years ago in a manual Falcon when I was a fat stock buyer for AFFCO, although I don’t have a photographic memory like guys like Hayden and Deane Buist, but some parts of some roads are familiar.
“Gav mustn’t have liked losing as his car is currently at Speedhub getting a new Stroker engine for some more boogie, so it may be a job for me running against the stroker club of Caleb Macdonald, Ben Huband, Gav and others as my engine is quite standard.
“The big decision for me is if I run in all-comers or Cat 5 for this rally as with Ben and Gav having been in that class all year, and chasing Caleb, competing for points when I am only doing two of the rounds, I don’t think it is in the spirit of things, so I’ll make that call next week.”
Header Image: Geoff Ridder
