Suzuki's Junior Rally Championship driver,
Urmo Aava put in another very good performance in New Zealand last weekend eventually finishing eighth overall and scooping the final 'senior' point.
The Estonian, who was only competing in his privately entered Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 for the fourth time, ran in the points from around the half-way stage on day two, after
Stobart Ford's
Henning Solberg made a crucial error in SS8 and lost over 3 minutes.
Speaking at the finish, Urmo was delighted with the result, which followed on from his first ever 'senior' WRC points finish in Finland and his second place in the JRC in Germany.
He did concede though that it wasn't an easy event to discover for the first time, although he still managed to set some good stages times, including seven top ten efforts.
"I didn't want to set any targets before I came to this rally, but if I had done, getting eighth place and a point would have been a very good result for me,” he reflected.
“We didn't have any problems at all on day 2, but this has been a tough rally to come to for the first time. I enjoyed the faster roads on Saturday afternoon, but I was not so sure how to drive in the rain on Sunday.
"There is certainly nothing wrong with the car – the Lancer went very well again. All-in-all to get the point at the end was just fantastic,” he summed-up.
Aava will now switch back to using the Suzuki Swift Super 1600 next month, when he heads to Spain and Corsica, the final two rounds in the
FIA Junior Rally Championship, where he will be out to defend his 4 point lead over his team-mate, Per-Gunnar Andersson at the top of the JRC standings.
Urmo will then skip the Rally Japan and the inaugural Rally Ireland, before taking in the Wales Rally GB, when he will use the Lancer WRC05 for the fifth and final time this year.
