Kiwi rally driver Mark Tapper and co-driver Jeff Judd, are in the final stages of preparing for the first event of the six Pirelli Star Driver rounds which also doubles as part of the Production World Rally Championship.

The pair head to Portugal next weekend for round 4 of the WRC and are keen to make their presence felt on the world stage. Last weekend, Tapper was familiarising himself in a left hand drive rally car and taking advantage of expert advice and tuition from Scottish ace, Alistair McRae, brother of rally legend, Colin McRae.

Tapper and Judd will be competing in a Left hand drive Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X in the PSD series. This weekend the duo will be fine tuning their pace notes and in car routines as they drive a Reece Jones Rallysport prepared left hand drive Evo 1X in a local Rallysprint as their final shakedown prior to the tough Portuguese event.

An added bonus has come from long time motor sport supporter, BNT, this assistance has allowed Reece Jones to attend Rally Portugal and to support the Kiwi Challenge. BNT and Reece Jones Rallysport worked together previously promoting a “Young Driver Development “scheme. Greg Horne, General Manager of BNT suggested that this would was taking driver development to the highest level and offered support to enable Jones to attend the event.

Jones said “It is fantastic that BNT have supported this program, Mark and Jeff are a great combination with massive potential, they need to be well prepared and make the very best of this opportunity. My role is simply from the background, observing and offering advice when required, a familiar face that the boys can discuss things with “.

Last year the team of Tapper , Judd and Jones worked well together in winning the PSD award for the Asia Pacific region, now the same combination aim to enjoy similar success at the highest level.