Rotorua's Sloan Cox career as a rally driver will be taken to a whole new level if he wins the inaugural Hyundai New Zealand Young Driver Shootout this weekend.

The shootout is a mentoring programme developed by Kiwi world rally star Hayden Paddon in partnership with Hyundai NZ and the Hyundai-backed Pinnacle Programme for talented teens.

The winner will benefit from the opportunity to drive the Hyundai NZ AP4 i20 rally car run by Paddon Rallysport in two rounds of the 2017 New Zealand Rally Championship, testing and training with Paddon, plus the potential for an expanded programme in 2018.

Cox, one of five young drivers selected to contest the shootout,started rallying at age 15, won the junior driver NZ Rally Championship title in 2010 aged 19, and following a three-year break, finished runner-up in this year's NZRC and won the junior NZRC title for the second time.

The now 25-year-old says this weekend's shootout is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from New Zealand's best.

'I knew I had to enter because it was such a great chance to work alongside Hayden and learn from him over the two-day shootout and ultimately be mentored by Hayden for the whole year if I was to win the shootout.”

The two-day programme includes lessons and assessments on fitness, identifying and looking after sponsors, nutrition, media presence, career planning, writing pace notes and car set-up. The finalists also get a day in the forest where they'll write and drive to their own pace notes in the Hyundai AP4.

Assessing them will be Paddon, rally driver Reece Jones, talented teens Pinnacle Programme leader Bernice Mene, Newshub senior sports reporter Shaun Summerfield and former Rally New Zealand chairman Chris Carr.

Paddon says they want all finalists to take as much as they can away from the shootout weekend.

'We are not looking for the fastest driver – we are looking for someone with that X factor who has the ability to learn and develop into a leading rally driver, both nationally and internationally, while representing the Hyundai brand.”

Cox knows he'll will learn a lot this weekend and wants to take away as much as he can to take his rally career to the next level with Hayden's help.

'The whole shootout programme will benefit me in the future because Hayden is a rally star who has worked so hard to get to where he is now. To have the chance to work and learn from him is something you can't buy and will help me with incredible knowledge.”

Cox will be joined by Sarah Coatsworth as his co-driver for the in-car section.

Hyundai NZ Young Driver Shootout and Scholarship was open to drivers aged 16-25 with applicants having contested a minimum of 10 rallies, including four pace-noted rallies.

The Hyundai NZ Young Driver Shootout and Scholarship winner will be announced on 11 December.

Rotorua rally driver Sloan Cox. Supplied Photo.