Derek Ayson won the Otago Rally three times between 2009 and 2013 in his Ford Escort.
Ayson said switching it up with his new Opel Manta 400 this year, led to a few bumps along the road.
Ayson said at the rally earlier this month, while racing the car for the first time with his co-driver Gavin McDermott, they were set back by a near engine fire on the second stage and a punctured tyre on Sunday.
The seasoned driver said the minor setbacks were to be expected, as the car was having its first real test that weekend, and they had a few kinks to iron out.
"A new car, a new build, it’s always a few little teething problems to fix, so that’s what this season’s about, just to fine tune it a bit," he said.
During the second stage, Ayson saw smoke coming from the bonnet and it turned out an oil fitting had come loose and was spraying on to the exhaust.
The pair managed to remedy the issue quickly and get back on the road but on the final day, he said he came in "reasonably committed" to a spectator junction corner and popped the tyre off the rim, causing a puncture.
He said you lose about four minutes changing a tyre and on top of the smoking engine earlier, it took them out of the lead.
This took the pressure off, he said, and the pair just focused on having some fun and continued to test the car.
Overall the driver said he was happy with the car, how it went and that his co-driver did a great job on his first time reading pace notes.
He said the Irish import was similar to his previous vehicle and very predictable, which was good.
The pair will sit out of the next few rallies while they do some fine tuning on the new car before hitting the neighbouring Wyndham Rally in August.
