The talented Matt Summerfield will carry recent form into November’s Battle of Jacks Ridge after confirming his participation.
The Cantabrian will be one of the drivers to watch in his Mitsubishi Mirage AP4 after taking a commanding victory at the weekend’s Spring Rally in South Canterbury.
Summerfield, who was named one of the 25 greatest drivers in the history of the New Zealand Rally Championship earlier this year, is still in the early part of his career but he has showcased the talent to be a national champion at some point in the future.
“We have got good momentum at the moment so having that going into Jacks Ridge is a definite plus,” Summerfield said. “It is going to be quite a different event but even going in being more familiar with the car will be a big help.”
Summerfield dominated the South Canterbury event last weekend as he cruised to a comfortable victory.
“Yea really happy with how it went,” he said. “We just went about driving our own rally. It is sort of hard to tell if we had much of an advantage without the dust out front but we made the most of where we were on the road and swept a lot of gravel.
“It was good to have a good consistent day with no dramas really.”
Summerfield is yet to visit Jacks Ridge and has only got a picture in his mind from what he’s seen on screen from media days and feels it will take him a little time to adjust.
“Just seen some pictures and a bit of video – it looks like there are quite a few jumps and more like a BMX track than a rally stage so it will be interesting,” he said nervously.
“I haven’t done a lot of jumping so I am going to have to take some time and ask the pros how that is done.
“It will take me a few runs to get there. After doing all the Ashley Forest stuff you get used to looking where there is time to be made or not.”
Summerfield will contest the City of Auckland Rally on November 14 as well and will use that event to help springboard him into a title tilt in the national championship next year.
The Battle of Jacks Ridge will be broadcast live on Sky Sport on November 15. Tickets can be purchased here through Ticket Fairy.
