Eighteen year old Daniel Harris of Nelson now sits second in the New Zealand Group N 2WD Rally Championship after a successful drive at the Rally of Otago last weekend.

Harris finished a solid second place after a close battle with Ben Jagger/Ben Hawkins of Whangarei, especially over the latter stages of the rally, as part of their round two plan for the championship.

“We aimed to start the pressure at round two as we used round one as the rally to learn everything we could to be competitive in the championship," Harris said.

"In round one we were third and this time we stepped it up one spot which we are very pleased about. We are in a good position in the championship, lying second overall.�

Finishing both legs in second overall, Harris and Jagger battled hard, with Harris achieving five outright stage wins – the top stage being stage 12 where the Harris/Green combination recorded a winning margin of nine seconds.

Leg two was too close to call between the series' two young drivers, with the final margin being a mere 2.8 seconds over the 124 kilometres of special stages.

“That’s what we wanted, a more consistent performance, and I am happy with the improvement. We had two positive days of rallying, we had a couple of minor problems that cost us valuable time, but we fought back and maintained our podium. This championship class is intense! You have to have a good stage every stage to stay in the running. You have to be at your best all rally.�

Next for the Harris Rallysport team in The House of Knives Ford Fiesta is the International Rally of Whangarei on June 6 and 7, which is also a round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship.

“We aimed to do this event, especially for the international exposure; however we require further support to make sure we are there at the end of the season, which comes to a close in Nelson in September,â€� Harris added.

Keep up to date at www.harrisrallysport.co.nz – the latest news, photos and videos.

Fellow Nelson drivers Ben Hunt and Dominick Unterberger were third and fourth respectively in the class, with Unterberger experiencing brake problems early into day one.

Harris Rallysport would like to thank all their sponsors for enabling them to get the chance to compete so far: The House of Knives, Hall Engineering Ltd, Total Oils, Victory Automotive, Freeparking.co.nz, Novus Auto Glass, Richmond Panelbeating Service, MS Ford Nelson, Designart Nelson, Seabed Mapping and Motorsport Logistics.