Winning habit hard to beat

NATASHA MARTIN/Timaru Herald

HARD TO BEAT: RX7 driver Jarrod Parmenter is getting used to seeing black and white chequered flags.

Relevant offers

Timaru's Jarrod Parmenter has kept his incredible record going in the South Island RX7 championships.

The 28-year-old clocked up three further wins at the Timaru International Motor Raceway at the weekend.

He has won 11 out of 12 starts this season. The only time he hasn't taken the chequered flag was when he finished second, in a reverse top 10 start, in the first championship contested at Levels.

Parmenter is unbeaten at Ruapuna and Teretonga.His aim is to secure South Island honours and then chase the New Zealand title in March.

What makes Parmenter's run extraordinary is that the cars, all powered by the 1200cc rotary motors, should all be very similar.

"Really it's a cheap, competitive form of motor racing. You're not looking at $2000 a round or anything like that," Parmenter said.

As well as being a skilled driver, Parmenter, a motor mechanic by trade, also looks after his own car.

He bought it just over 12 months ago after it had been sitting around for three years.

"The biggest thing for me is I'm really happy with the speed I'm getting from the car."

Parmenter is back into motorsport after several years away.

His first success was in his father's Mazda 323 in the 2000-2001 season when he won the South Canterbury championships. He was back after a year's absence to win the South Island RX7 title and finish third in New Zealand.

"I guess the secret is I'm a bit older and driving better, in a better car that I only have to tweak here and there."

A new championship points format means that, despite his success, Parmenter has not yet sewn up the South Island championship.

He is also aware how fickle motorsport can be but is aiming to take it to the North Islanders.

"There's likely to be 20-plus cars lining up and the rumour is a couple of ex-New Zealand champions [will be there] which would be good."

Eventually Parmenter would like to follow the path of Eddie Bell, a former RX7 and Mini Challenge champion who moved into V8s.

"The problem is the size of the budget needs to be competitive," he said.

Parmenter said he is only able to compete at Manfeild thanks to his local sponsors Scarlett Hydraulics, Paul Smith Earthmoving and Auto Gas.

- © Fairfax NZ News