Malley gains wild card entry to scholarship shootout

Patrick Malley has taken the ‘wild card’ spot in November’s Rally New Zealand Development scholarship shootout that could offer a $50,000 helping hand to Malley’s career.

Over the year, Malley has shown himself to be the in-form driver in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy and will come up against two of his main rivals from this year Ben Jagger and Ben Hunt during the 21-22 November shootout.

Although Malley set a furious pace during the season, including dominating the field by 5 minutes at the season opener several issues prevented him from winning the championship two times running and put him out of the running for the top two shootout qualifying spots.

Faced with a nervous wait and unable to score points at the season finale – the Rally of Nelson – Malley was determined to show his speed and capability amongst the national field. Stepping up into the Citizen sponsored Evo 9 he intends to run in 2010, Malley stunned the field and established drivers by winning the first stage and finishing the event third overall.

Upon hearing the news, an excited Malley said “This is the icing on the cake of what has been a difficult season to date. I would really like to thank Rally New Zealand for the opportunity to compete and we are determined to show our class and fight for the top honours in next season’s championship.”

Malley would like to thank his sponsors for the 2009 season: Truth Weekender newspaper, Racetech Seats, Citizen Watches, Dunlop Tyres, Drury Tyre and Alignment and M Rally Team.

The Rally New Zealand Rising Stars Development scholarship shootout takes place on November 21-22 in the Maramarua forest. The scholarship offers one of the richest prizes in New Zealand Rallying, including a $50,000 assistance package and mentoring to help the step up to a four-wheel drive car for the 2010 New Zealand Rally Championship.